David Flores, who enters his 13th season in the green and gold as both a student-athlete and a coach, begins his ninth year alongside Head Coach Reggie Christiansen in the dugout as an assistant in 2026, assuming the title of Associate Head Coach with the program.
He is in the midst of his third stint with the Hornets after playing four seasons from 2005-08 and serving as a volunteer assistant coaching the infielders from 2015-16.
Flores returned to the green and gold in the summer of 2019 after serving as the hitting coach for the Seattle Mariners' Dominican Academy in 2018 and 2019 and lists Julio Rodriguez, Noelvi Marte, and Luis Rengifo among those Major League players he has had the opportunity to mentor during that time. Prior to that, he was the hitting coach for the team's affiliate in the Midwest League in 2017.
During his time as an assistant with the Hornets, Flores has worked with a number of future Sacramento State professionals in Nathan Lukes, Sam Long, James Outman, and Travis Adams during their collegiate careers. 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 in the summer of 2025.
In 2021, under Flores’ guidance, Sacramento State turned in one of its best offensive seasons in recent history. Sacramento State hit .283 and led the Western Athletic Conference with a .383 on-base percentage. The Hornets also led the league in RBIs (336) and doubles (113) while ranking second in home runs (52). The team’s .283 batting average was its best since 2012 (.298) and the 52 home runs, 113 doubles, and 336 RBIs were all the team’s most since the 2009 season (63, 116, and 355, respectively).
Aside from the team accomplishments, he helped current assistant coach Matt Smith to a conference batting title that season after the senior hit .393 — including a .436 average in league play -- while Steven Moretto shared the league lead in doubles with 22.
Two years later, his 2023 Hornet lineup slugged a school record 92 home runs — which also paced the WAC — with a league-high 68 of those coming against conference opponents.
In 2025, he helped lead his alma mater to a share of the WAC regular season title — the third overall in program history and the first since 2014. Infielder Luis Pimentel-Guerrero finished among the top 10 in the league in average (.351) and on-base percentage (.475), while Tyler White was tied for second in the league in runs (56) and tied for seventh in hits (75) along with teammate Jakob Poturnak (72), who himself ranked among the top 10 in both RBI (52) and home runs (13).
In 2026, Flores and the Hornets reached the championship game of the WAC Tournament for the first time since 2019 where hitters Pimentel-Guerrero, Ryan Ellis, and Jace Jeremiah were named to the all-tournament team. Outfielders Erick Dessens and Sam Harry were both All-WAC honorees, with Dessens ranking among the league’s top 10 in average (.356), hits (88), RBI (64), doubles (17), and home runs (10).
Ellis also was among the league leaders in average (.351), slugging (.590), on-base percentage (.491), OPS (1.081), and doubles (19), while Harry finished fourth in runs scored (59), sixth in hits (78), and tied for fourth in doubles (19) as a true freshman.
Prior to joining the coaching staff at his alma mater, Flores played four years for the Hornets from 2005-08 and was drafted by the Houston Astros in the 18th round of the 2008 MLB First-Year Player Draft. He was a first-team All-WAC selection as a junior and a second-team pick as a senior while also earning WAC All-Academic honors and helping Sacramento State to three berths in the conference tournament.
Upon graduation, Flores held school records for at-bats (719), doubles (57) and being hit by a pitch (39), while ranking second in hits (226) and runs (128), and fourth in RBI (108). He then embarked on a four-year professional career, reaching as high as Double-A in 2011. He totaled a .258 batting average with 47 home runs and 192 RBIs while playing for three pro teams before retiring in 2011.
