The team began play in the 1958 season as an independent school in the
NCAA College Division, made up of the athletic programs of small universities and colleges. The school, founded in the early 1950s, was then known as the San Diego College for Men, and its athletic programs were known as the Pioneers. Mike Morrow was the program's head coach for its first six seasons (1958–1963), and the team had an 82–64 record during his tenure.
John Cunningham era , the team's home venue from 1970–2012. In 1964, John Cunningham became the program's second head coach. In 1966, the team joined its first conference, the College Division's Southern California Athletic Conference (SCAC). In four seasons in the conference (1966–1969), the team had a conference record of 25–26–1. Prior to the 1970 season, the Toreros left the SCAC to become a College Division Independent again. Also in 1970, the team began playing in a
new venue, which would eventually be dedicated to John Cunningham. San Diego, which had previously competed as a College Division Independent, became a
Division II Independent. The SCBA, which began play in the 1977 season, was the southern division of a baseball-only merger of the
Pacific Coast Athletic Association (PCAC) and the
West Coast Athletic Conference (WCAC). The SCBA's counterpart, the
Northern California Baseball Association (NCBA), also began play in the 1977 season. pitching for
MLB's
Baltimore Orioles.
Rich Hill era In 1999, Rich Hill's first season, the WCC split into two, four-team divisions, the West Division and the Coast Division. The Toreros finished third, second, and second in 1999, 2000, and 2001, respectively. The team then won the West Division and the West Coast Conference Championship Series in both 2002 and 2003, appearing in its first two NCAA tournaments. San Diego again qualified for the tournament in 2006. Individually, in both 2007 and
2008,
pitcher Brian Matusz was named a First-Team
All-American. Matusz is the only San Diego player to be named to the First Team. On June 18, 2021, Hill resigned from his head coaching position to become the head baseball coach at
Hawaii.
2012 MLB draft In the
2012 Major League Baseball draft, the following four Toreros were selected:
P Paul Sewald by the
New York Mets (10th round), P James Pazos by the
New York Yankees (13th round),
OF Bryan Haar by the
Minnesota Twins (34th round), and P Calvin Drummond by the
Oakland Athletics (38th round). Sewald, Pazos, and Haar signed professional contracts.
Brock Ungricht era Brock Ungricht joined San Diego as a hitting coach and recruiting coordinator in 2019. Upon long-time head coach Rich Hill's departure at the end of the 2021 season, Ungricht was elevated to the head coach position.
Conference affiliations • Independent (College Division) (1958–1965) • Southern California Athletic Conference (College Division) (1966–1969) • Independent (College Division/
Division II) (1970–1978) •
Southern California Baseball Association (
Division I) (1979–1984) •
West Coast Conference (1985–present) • Known as the West Coast Athletic Conference from 1985–1988 ==San Diego in the NCAA tournament==