Dave Serrano. Photo by Arkansas Democrat-Gazette/MICHAEL WOODSKNOXVILLE – Tennessee’s baseball program got its man.
UT announced the hiring of Cal State Fullerton’s Dave Serrano as its new baseball coach on Wednesday afternoon. Serrano, who’s taken two different schools to the College World Series in the past decade.
He becomes the Volunteers’ 24th baseball coach, replacing Todd Raleigh, who was fired in May after missing the Southeastern Conference tournament for the fourth consecutive year.
“Dave is a proven winner and is a perfect fit as the head baseball coach at the University of Tennessee,” interim athletic director Joan Cronan said in a UT release. “He has taken two programs to the College World Series as a head coach, and we are confident that he is the right coach to lead our program to national prominence.”
UT will hold a news conference at 2 p.m. on Thursday to introduce Serrano, who took the Titans to Omaha in 2009 after taking California-Irvine there in 2007. Serrano was an assistant coach at UT for two season (1995-96). The Vols, behind current Major Leaguers Todd Helton and R.A. Dickey, reached the World Series in 1995.