REGGIE CHRISTIANSEN PROMOTED TO ASSOCIATE HEAD BASEBALL COACH 8/20/2009 SACRAMENTO, Calif. - Sacramento State baseball coach John Smith announced today that assistant coach Reggie Christiansen has been promoted to associate head coach for the 2010 season. Christiansen, who will begin his second season with the Hornets this spring, played a key role this past season in helping lead Sacramento State to its best record since 2003. Serving as the team’s hitting coach, the Hornets posted their fourth highest batting average (.318) and fourth highest home run total (63) in school history. Eight Hornet players posted career-best averages at the plate, and seven posted career-highs in home runs and RBI. “Reggie has been a real key to this program’s success in his short time here,” coach Smith said. “With his four years experience as a Division I head coach and his seven years of overall experience at this level, it seems only natural to elevate him to this position. As associate head coach, he will have an even greater opportunity to impact the baseball team on a day-to-day basis, and be extremely involved in each decision we make.” Christiansen came to Sacramento last year from South Dakota State, where he had served as the team’s head coach for four seasons. There, he was given the task of building a Division I baseball program, taking over at the beginning of the Jackrabbits reclassification period. Christiansen posted a 96-113 record at South Dakota State, turning a 12-win team in Division II a year previous to his hire in 2004 into a team that won the Division I Independent Tournament in 2007, posting a 34-19 record. Prior to his time in South Dakota, Christiansen was as an assistant coach at Kansas, working under Ritch Price for two seasons. He served as the team’s first base coach and hitting instructor while also overseeing the outfielders. Christiansen has worked at all levels of baseball, serving as head coach at his alma mater, Menlo College, in 2002 and head coach of Ferndale High School in 2001. He also worked as an assistant coach for three summer collegiate teams, the San Mateo Bulldogs, the Humboldt Crabs and the Topeka Capitals