Colorado State University Pueblo baseball head coach Bobby Applegate has addition of Jared Morton as an assistant coach for the ThunderWolves' baseball program. Morton will serve as the Pack's pitching coach.
Morton comes to CSU Pueblo after spending the past year as an administrative assistant and assistant baseball coach at the University School of Nashville in Nashville, Tenn.
"I'm very excited to bring Jared on board. I have been tracking Jared's progress from his playing days in high school to his coaching days in college," Applegate said. "He greatly understands the mechanical and mental side of pitching. He will bring a great deal of experience and will be a tremendous addition to the Pack Baseball program."
Prior to working at the University School of Nashville, Morton spent the 2023 season working as a pitching coach at Tarleton State University. In his one year at Tarleton, the program recorded a 26-26 overall record, which was the best in the school's Division I era and helped his pitchers compile a team ERA of 5.63, which is the best in the school's Division I era and was fifth-best in the Western Athletic Conference. In addition, Tarleton's pitchers finished with the lowest opposing batting average (.263) in the league and allowed the fewest runs (312) in the league.
"I'm thrilled to join CSU Pueblo as the new pitching coach. This opportunity to work with such a talented team is truly exciting. Coach Applegate gave me the opportunity to play college baseball at UC Riverside and I've been grateful to call him a mentor in my career ever since," Morton said. "Together, we are focused on not only developing our pitchers but also on achieving our goal of winning championships and bringing excellence to CSU Pueblo."
Before working at Tarleton State, he spent 10 months as the Director of Baseball Operations at the University of Evansville. In his role with the Aces, Morton served as the baseball program's camp director and helped managed the baseball program's budget and coordinated video for team meetings and scouting reports.
Morton served as a graduate assistant coach at Western Illinois University during the 2021-22 school year and before that he was a volunteer assistant coach at the University of Evansville during the 2021 season.
He took his volunteer coaching position at Evansville after spending two seasons as a pitching and first base coach with the Mankato Moondogs of the Northwoods League. Also, he spent nearly two years as a pitching coach at Mt. San Jacinto Junior College.
Morton has also spent time as the pitching coach at another Northwoods League team, the Rochester Honkers, and got his coaching start as the Assistant Director of Baseball Operations at his alma mater, UC Riverside.
As a collegiate baseball player, Morton pitched for four seasons at UC Riverside, which is an NCAA Division I school that is a member of the Big West Conference. In his time with the Highlanders, Morton holds the record for most appearances, including four starts, and posted a 6-9 record and a 4.01 ERA. He recorded 10 career saves and had 91 strikeouts and just 36 walks in 137 career innings.
During his freshman year in 2015, Morton was tied for third on the team in appearances with 22 and logged the most innings (25.2) as a relief pitcher, then as a sophomore in 2016, he posted the lowest ERA (2.32) and opponent batting average (.231) and was second on the team in appearances with 28. During his junior campaign in 2017, he led the team in appearances (27) and posted a strikeout-to-walk ratio of 3.88 (31 strikeouts and eight walks) and then as a senior in 2018, he made 23 appearances, including four starts and was fifth on the team in innings pitched (46.1) and had a strikeout-to-walk ratio of 4.13 (33 strikeouts and eight walks).
Morton, who prepped at Temecula Valley High School, earned his bachelor's degree in history from UC Riverside in June 2018 and earned his Master of Science in Recreation, Parks and Tourism Administration with an emphasis in Sports Management from Western Illinois University in December 2022.
