Stankiewicz takes charge of struggling Trojans program

USC announced its new head baseball coach Sunday, hiring former major leaguer Andy Stankiewicz after he spent 11 seasons in the same role at Grand Canyon.

Stankiewicz, 57, is a four-time Western Athletic Conference coach of the year and led Grand Canyon to postseason appearances in each of the last two seasons.

“Andy has a proven record of success in building a winning program,” USC athletic director Mike Bohn said in a statement. “Andy's leadership, relationship-building abilities, and player development make him a terrific fit to lead our program. Furthermore, his integrity and commitment to student-athletes align perfectly with our vision and guiding principles.”

Replacing Jason Gill after his three seasons at the helm of the Trojans, Stankiewicz comes to Los Angeles after winning five regular-season WAC titles. In 2021, he helped Grand Canyon to its first Division I postseason appearance by winning the conference tournament.

After a 41-21 record in 2022, Stankiewicz's team earned an at-large bid to the postseason tournament, eight years after he helped guide Grand Canyon through the transition from Division II to Division I.

He inherits a USC program that has won a record 12 College World Series titles but has not appeared in the NCAA tournament since 2015, or won a regular-season conference title since 2002. And he again is expected to be at the helm of a program during a transition as USC moves to the Big Ten for the 2025 baseball season.

Prior to Grand Canyon, Stankiewicz served as minor league field coordinator for the Seattle Mariners and as a coach at Arizona State from 2007-09.

An Inglewood native, Stankiewicz played football and baseball at St. Paul High in Santa Fe Springs before going to Pepperdine for baseball. A 12th-round pick in the 1986 MLB draft, Stankiewicz spent six seasons in the minors before being called up and playing seven seasons with the Yankees, Astros, Expos and Diamondbacks.