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57  Gregg Swenson Hometown: Olympia, Wash. High School: Olympia HS '88 Last College: Western Washington '94 Position: Assistant Coach Experience: Seventh Season

Gregg Swenson begins his seventh season on the Washington State bench, working with the Cougar pitching staff. A master of the mental aspect of baseball, he has mentored 10 hurlers while on the Palouse who have gone on to pitch at the professional level.

Swenson's staffs have twice set the school record for strikeouts in a season, including the current record of 453 set in 2009. That same season, the Cougars recorded an earned run average of 4.34, their best mark since 1988 and a 2.46 strikeout-to-walk ratio, the second best in school history. In 2010, Cougar hurlers yielded 9.66 hits per nine innings, their best mark since 1994.

Four of top five season totals for saves have come under Swenson's tutelage, including Adam Conley's record-tying 12 in 2010. Conley's Cougar career concluded after he signed with the Florida Marlins after being selected in the second round of the 2011 MLB First-Year Player Draft.

Turnarounds have been a staple of Swenson's time at Washington State. In his first season, he inherited a staff that allowed a Pacific-10 Conference-high 6.17 ERA in 2005. During the 2006 campaign, with a staff consisting of 15 underclassmen or first-year players, the Cougars improved their ERA to 4.87 and fanned a then-school record 404. Part of the 2006 squad was Travis Webb.

Before Swenson's arrival, Webb had a 0-5 record with a 9.08 ERA in 2005. After one season under Swenson's guidance, Webb went 4-0 with a 2.17 ERA and an opponent batting average of .214. He added eight saves and was an eighth round selection by the Cincinnati Reds and last year pitched at the AAA level before taking part in the prestigious Arizona Fall League.

After battling injuries that limited him to 30 and two-thirds innings during his first three seasons at WSU, Jeremy Johnson flourished under Swenson in 2009. Johnson posted a 6-2 record with 10 saves, a 2.90 ERA and 61 strikeouts in 28 appearances. His season was rewarded with a 13th-round selection by the Cleveland Indians.

Matt Way's breakout year came in 2009 when he went 8-4 (more wins than his first three seasons at WSU) and posted a 2.43 earned run average, 15th-best nationally. He said a school record with 124 strikeouts and the Philadelphia Phillies made him a fifth round draft pick last summer.

"Through Swens's program, I was given every tool and every option to succeed," Way said. "His enormous dedication to teaching the mental side of pitching has taught me how to stay calm and collected in the most adverse situations both on the pitching mound and in life."

In 2008, Swenson coached Jayson Miller who went 8-1 with 74 strikeouts in 99 and two-thirds innings and a 4.06 earned run average. The Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim selected Miller in the 30th round of the 2008 Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft and the southpaw went on to earn Pioneer League Pitcher of the Year.

"The biggest impact that coach Swenson had on me in the three years as my pitching coach is teaching me the importance of the mental game," Miller said. "Being successful on the mound is not about having the best stuff; rather, it's believing you're better than the guy at the plate."

A teacher of baseball and life to his student-athletes, Swenson's helped the Cougars reach the NCAA postseason during back-to-back seasons (2009-10).

Swenson joined head coach Donnie Marbut's staff in June, 2005, after spending the previous four years as an assistant coach at cross-state rival Washington. While at Washington, Swenson worked as the director of Washington Baseball camps, while overseeing the outfielders and serving as first base coach. During his tenure with the Huskies, Swenson helped produce 10 All-Pac-10 players, including standout Brent Lillibridge, and saw several of his players drafted by major league teams. The Huskies also reached three-straight NCAA Championships (2002-04) for the first time in school history.

Prior to his tenure at Washington, Swenson served as the head coach at Tacoma Community College, where he also played two seasons (1990-91). Swenson spent five seasons as the Titans skipper after joining the staff as a pitching coach in 1996. He led the Titans to the NWAACC Tournament in three (1997, 2000, 2001) of his five seasons at Tacoma. Prior to Swenson's arrival, TCC had not been to the tournament since 1988 and he was the first coach to guide the Titans to three tournament appearances. He won 124 games at TCC was named the Northwest Athletic Association of Community Colleges Western Division Coach of the Year in both 1997 and 2000.

He began his coaching career as the pitching coach at Sehome High School in Bellingham in 1992. As an assistant under coach Gary Hatch, Swenson helped the 1992 Sehome club to a second-place finish in the state playoffs while both the 1993 and 1995 teams earned fifth-place finishes.

While in Bellingham, Swenson coached the 1993 Bellingham Post 7 American Legion team to a second-place finish in the state tournament and also guided the 1994 British Columbia White Rock Tritons to the Washington Palomino Baseball state championship.

Swenson earned a degree in physical education/exercise science and physiology/sports psychology from Western Washington in 1994. In 1997, he completed his master's degree in teaching from City University. Swenson and his wife Diane are the parents of daughter, Megan (eight), and son, Jacob (six).