SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Sacramento State head baseball coach Reggie Christiansen announced updates to his coaching staff in advance of the 2026 campaign on Friday.

Following the hiring of former Hornet Grant Kukuk as pitching coach and recruiting coordinator on Sept. 5, long-time assistant David Flores has been elevated to Associate Head Coach, while Tony Bloomfield and Casey DeMello were named the program's Director of Player Development and Director of Operations, respectively.

Flores, who enters his 13th season in the green and gold as both a student-athlete and a coach, begins his ninth year alongside Christiansen in the dugout as an assistant, assuming the title of Associate Head Coach in 2026. He is in the midst of his third stint with the Hornets after playing four seasons from 2005-08 and serving as a volunteer assist coaching the infielders from 2015-16.

He returned to the fold in the summer of 2019 after serving as the hitting coach for the Seattle Mariners' Dominican Academy and lists Julio Rodriguez, Noelvi Marte, and Luis Rengifo among those Major League players he has had the opportunity to mentor during that time. He also had the opportunity to help develop Sacramento State Major Leaguers Nathan Lukes, Sam Long, James Outman, and Travis Adams.

In addition, he recruited former Hornet All-Americans JP Smith and Wehiwa Aloy, both of whom were selected in the Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft this past summer. 

One of the most successful coaches at the junior college level, Bloomfield enters his second season working alongside Christiansen in the Sacramento State dugout following a decorated junior college career that saw him amass over a quarter century of experience at LA Harbor College and Cosumnes River College. He has won over 700 games in 27 years as a head coach and helped lead his teams to the postseason in 17 of his 19 years as a head coach.

He helped lead the Hawks to five conference championships and won the school's only State Championship in 2012. He has coaches more than 100 all-conference players, more than 20 All-Northern California players, more than 30 All-Americans, and 15 players who have gone on to reach the College World Series at the Division I level. Bloomfield has been adept at graduating players to the next level as 40 of his charges have been drafted by Major League Baseball clubs, including six in the first eight rounds of the draft. 

Former players under Bloomfield who have gone on to play in the big leagues include Chad Qualls, Justin Miller, David Hernandez, Kris Negron, David Freitas and Bud Smith, who threw a no hitter is rookie year for the St Louis Cardinals in 2013.

DeMello enters his second season on staff, assuming the title of Director of Operations for the program. Prior to arriving on campus, he served as an assistant coach at Whitman College in Walla Walla, Wash., from 2022-24, working with the hitters and outfielders. He helped the Blues lead the Northwest Conference in home runs in 2024 and had four players reach double digits in the category while also helping the program to a Northwest Conference regular season championship — the school's first in 72 years.

A native of Roseville, Calif., DeMello was also an assistant at Eastern Oregon University for one season in 2022, where he served as the hitting coach and recruiting coordinator, following a playing career that started at American River College before he transferred to Clarke University in Dubuque, Iowa.

Returning for his 11th year overall as a Hornet, Matt Smith enters his third season as a full-time assistant coach following a decorated playing career as a student-athlete from 2016-21 and stints as a graduate assistant and volunteer assistant coach under Christiansen in 2022 and 2023. A five-time WAC All-Academic Team selection and a three-time All-WAC honoree who helped the Hornets to the 2019 conference title and NCAA Regional appearance as a player, Smith assists in all aspects of the program while helping develop the outfielders, working with the hitters, and coaching first base.