´óÏóAPP

Kevin Vance — who elevated the Wildcats’ performance from the mound and helped the team reach the College World Series this season — is headed to San Diego State to become the head coach for his hometown Aztecs. . SDSU followed with an official announcement.

Vance was Arizona’s pitching coach the past two years and played a pivotal role in the staff’s turnaround.

In his first season, 2024, the Wildcats’ ERA dropped from 5.97 to 4.46. Arizona also led the nation in strikeout-to-walk ratio (3.46-1) and fewest walks allowed per nine innings (2.56).

Arizona finished this season with a 4.85 ERA, which ranks 51st nationally. The Wildcats are 11th in strikeout-to-walk ratio (2.83-1) and eighth in BB/9 rate (3.27).

Vance, 34, is a proponent of analytics and using data to hone pitch shapes and avoid injuries. He was a driving force in the UA building a pitching lab, the Arizona Baseball Pitching Wing, inside the Terry Francona Hitting Center.

With the infrastructure in place, two questions remain unanswered: Whom will Hale hire to replace Vance? And will any of Arizona’s young, talented pitchers follow him to San Diego State?

Vance worked closely with John DeRouin, another data guru who’s been Arizona’s director of pitching performance and strategy. that Arizona is expected to promote DeRouin as Vance’s replacement — a move that would ensure continuity.

Former UA pitcher Nathan Bannister is another logical candidate for the job. Bannister has spent the past three seasons as the pitching coach at Grand Canyon. Bannister, who’s from the Phoenix area, helped the Lopes notch their first NCAA Tournament victory — a win over the Wildcats in the ´óÏóAPPRegional in 2024. He was the ace of the 2016 UA squad that came within a hit of winning the CWS.

Bannister’s former teammate, Cameron Ming, is a pitching coach in the Seattle Mariners organization.

As of now, whoever the next UA pitching coach is will inherit a staff that could be among the country’s best next season.

Starters Owen Kramkowski and Smith Bailey just completed breakout seasons. Kramkowski (Walden Grove High School) will be a junior next year, Bailey a sophomore. Bailey’s classmate, Mason Russell, who struggled as a freshman, was an even higher-rated recruit in the class of 2024.

Additionally, Arizona conceivably could bring back closer Tony Pluta, who was named the NCBWA Stopper of the Year as a junior.

As Vance’s departure was not a surprise — he was listed as a candidate for the SDSU job as soon as it opened and had opportunities to leave last offseason — expect Hale to move quickly to fill the position. The faster a replacement is named, the better chance Arizona will have to keep its top arms.

4 to MLB Combine

Four Arizona players are participating in this week’s MLB Draft Combine at Chase Field in Phoenix.

The four are infielder Mason White; outfielders Brendan Summerhill and Aaron Walton; and right-hander Collin McKinney.

Summerhill is expected to be a first-round pick in next month’s MLB Draft. White (Salpointe Catholic High) and Walton are projected to be high-round picks as well. McKinney is a bit of a wild card. He’s extremely talented but struggled to throw strikes in his first year in Tucson.

The Combine features 300-plus participants and runs through Thursday with TV coverage on MLB Network.