University of San Francisco Athletics

4th Season
San Francisco '11

Former Don Matt Hiserman was named USF's pitching coach on July 28, 2015, and is now in his fourth year coaching the Dons in 2019.

Hiserman has been key in molding the Dons' pitching staff into one of the best in the West Coast Conference during his four seasons on The Hilltop. During the 2018 campaign, USF was No. 3 in the nation with eight shutouts, just one behind national leaders Stetson and UCF. He led the USF pitching staff to its second straight top-three finish in team ERA in the WCC with another improved mark at 3.78 - the lowest by a USF team in seven seasons. The Dons were also third in the conference in strikeouts-to-walks ratio at 2.08. The staff had nearly as many strikeouts (435) as it gave up hits (473) in 518 2/3 innings. Opponents batted just .243.

The Dons' 2018 weekend starting rotation was one of the most consistent in the country, with Riley Ornido, Thomas Ponticelli and Landen Bourassa all combining to make 42 starts and post a combined 3.09 ERA. Ornido emerged as one of the nation's best starters in his first year in the rotation, earning all-WCC First Team honors and finishing among the nation's top-100 in hits allowed per nine innings (17th, 5.81), WHIP (23rd, 0.97), wins (58th, 8), ERA (74th, 2.58) and strikeouts (93rd, 95). Ponticelli was a Second Team all-WCC honoree and was drafted in the 12th Round of the MLB First Year Players' Draft by the Cleveland Indians. Working his entire three-year career on the Hilltop with Hiserman, Ponticelli finished with 187 career strikeouts - a program all-time top-10 mark. Bourassa was one of the most solid Sunday starters in the conference in 2018, going 8-4 with a 3.02 ERA and 61 Ks to anchor the Dons' weekend rotation. Senior closer Brendan Jenkins climbed high in the school record book with 10 saves (second-most in a single season) 30 appearances (tied for third).

Hiserman also leads the baseball program’s academic efforts and the Dons placed nine players – seven of them pitchers -- on the WCC’s All-Academic team.
 
Hiserman inherited one of the nation’s least experienced staffs in 2016, and he helped produce an ERA drop of more than 1 1/3 runs per game from his first year (5.28 in 2016) to his second (3.92 in 2017). The improvement was the most dramatic for a USF pitching staff since 2005, when the Dons gave up 1.99 fewer earned runs than the previous season.
 
Hiserman, a pitcher for the Dons from 2009-11, returned to the Hilltop after two seasons as an assistant coach at Cal State Northridge under former longtime USF assistant Greg Moore. In addition to his on-field responsibilities, he assisted in recruiting and daily operations, including team travel, fundraising and community service.
 
Before his appointment at CSUN, Hiserman spent the 2012 season as USF’s director of baseball operations while completing his master’s degree in sports management. He also served as the pitching coach for the Green Bay Bullfrogs of the Northwoods Leaque in 2012. He spent the summer of 2011 as he associate head coach of the Fontanetti Athletics in the Far West Collegiate Baseball League,
 
In his first season at Northridge in 2013, Hiserman played a large role in establishing The Diamond University program, which included a series of classes combining lessons from behavioral sciences and academics necessary to help student-athletes build life skills. The following season, he was promoted to an on-field coaching role, working with the Matadors’ catchers, coaching first base and assisting Moore with a pitching staff that produced a 2.61 ERA, which was the sixth-best in the nation.
 
Hiserman’s USF playing career started after he spent the 2007 season at Santa Clara University. In three seasons on the Hilltop (2009-11), he made 37 career appearances, including 15 starts. He was a mainstay in the rotation on the Dons’  2011 WCC championship team, posting a 6-4 record and a 4.00 ERA in 18 appearances, including 14 starts. His six wins tied first-round MLB draft pick Kyle Zimmer and Elliott Waterman for the team lead. He led the staff with 94 1/3 innings pitched. In his final game, he threw a 98-pitch complete game against UC Irvine in an NCAA regional at UCLA.
 
Hiserman was a WCC honorable mention selection as a sophomore in 2009 after posting a 4-6 record with a 3.43 ERA in 19 appearances, including 10 starts. He struck out 88 batters in 89.1 innings and earned WCC Pitcher of the Week honors three times.
 
A native of Mission Viejo, Calif., Hiserman attended Capistrano Valley High School where he played baseball and basketball. Hiserman earned his degree in finance from USF in 2010 and added a master’s degree from the University’s highly-acclaimed sports management program in 2012. Matt, his wife Molly, a 2011 USF graduate, and son Evan reside in Sausalito, Calif.