Baseball | 6/30/2021 11:57:00 AM

ANNAPOLIS, Md.—Navy pitching coach Bobby Applegate accepted the head coaching job at his alma mater, Colorado State Pueblo, it was announced today by CSU Pueblo athletic director Dr. Paul Plinske.  Applegate served as Navy's pitching coach for the last seven years.
 
"I would like to thank Coach Kosty and Mr. Gladchuk for their guidance over the last seven years and it was an honor to work at such a great institution as the Naval Academy," said Applegate.  "Being a small part of the growth and development of the midshipmen in becoming future officers in the Navy and Marine Corps was a humbling experience that I will never forget."
 
"I, as well as the entire Navy baseball program, am extremely happy for Coach Applegate in becoming the head baseball coach at Colorado State University Pueblo," said Navy head baseball coach Paul Kostacopolous.  "Bobby is an outstanding coach and an even better person.  He has made a tremendous impact within our program over the last seven years and has my thanks and sincere gratitude.  On behalf of Navy baseball, we wish Coach Applegate and his family all the best and much success in his new endeavor."
 
Under the direction of Applegate, Navy was one of just six programs nationally to finish among the top 50 in both ERA and winning percentage on four separate occasions from 2015-19. In 2018, Navy's staff ERA ranked No. 8 in the country at 3.10 and the team won at a .710 clip (38-16) to place 12th. Only Oregon State, who won the national championship that year, had a lower combined Win% (No. 1) + ERA (No. 12) total in 2018. 
  
Applegate began playing collegiately at Southwestern Community College in San Diego (1991-93) before transferring to the University of Southern Colorado (now Colorado State Pueblo). He completed a distinguished career in 1995 after earning accolades as the Colorado Athletic Conference Pitcher of the Year ('95) and on the All-Mile High Intercollegiate Team ('95). In recognition of his success as a player and a coach, Applegate was inducted into the USC Diamond of Fame in 1999.


After playing professionally for the Pueblo Bighorns of the Texas-Louisiana League during the summer of 1995, he returned to CSU Pueblo and finished his kinesiology degree in 1996.