Trojan Great Seth Etherton Named USC Baseball Assistant Coach

LOS ANGELES – USC baseball head coach Andy Stankiewicz has announced another addition to his staff with the hiring of former big-leaguer and Trojan great Seth Etherton as an assistant coach.

Etherton, who led USC to a College World Series title in 1998 and was the National Player of the Year that season, returns to USC after most recently serving as the pitching coach for the Louisville Bats in the Cincinnati Reds minor league system. He played four MLB seasons between 2000 and 2006.

"We are very excited to name Seth Etherton as our pitching coach," Stankiewicz said. "His accomplishments as a player and as a coach are unparalleled. He brings experience and passion to our program. He was a great pitcher, and I know he is a great teacher. He is a Trojan coming home! Fight On!"

"I am extremely excited and thankful to be joining such a strong coaching staff led by Andy Stankiewicz," Etherton said. "The future is extremely bright for the USC baseball program, alumni and athletic department. Fight on!"

Etherton had a legendary career at USC, playing four seasons for the Trojans from 1995-98. The 1998 season saw Etherton win 18 games and post a 3.23 ERA, striking out 182 batters (a Pac-10 and USC record at the time) to just 29 walks. In addition to his 1998 NCAA Player of the Year award, Etherton was named a first-team All-American and the Pac-10 Pitcher of the Year.

He was a three-time All-American at Troy and two-time conference Pitcher of the Year. Etherton's 420 career strikeouts still rank second in USC history. His 399.1 innings are third in program history, and his 37 career wins still rank fifth. Only Mark Prior has more single-season strikeouts than Etherton's 182 in 1998.

Etherton was selected by the Anaheim Angels in the first round (18th overall) of the 1998 MLB Draft. He would make his big league debut with Anaheim on May 26, 2000, and went on to spend time with the Reds (2003), Oakland Athletics (2005) and Kansas City Royals (2006). Etherton also played professionally in Korea with the Kia Tigers (2007) and in China with the Uni-Lions (2011).

The Trojan alum broke into coaching in 2013 at the University of San Francisco, where he served as the pitching coach for two seasons. He was hired by the Reds as a minor league pitching coach in 2016 and had worked in their organization ever since, most recently being promoted to pitching coach of Triple-A Louisville.

Etherton is the second new assistant coach brought to USC by Stankiewicz, who also has Travis Jewett on his staff for the coming 2022-23 season.