Cal baseball’s David Esquer to become Stanford head coach

Now we know who will replace Mark Marquess - one of his former players.

Cal baseball head coach David Esquer, a Stanford alum who played for the Cardinal’s 1987 National Championship team, will make the leap across the Bay after 18 years leading the Golden Bears.

The story was first reported by Baseball America.

Esquer has had success with the Golden Bears, winning 525 total games and leading Cal to the College World Series in 2011. He’s reached the NCAA tournament five times in total (most recently in 2015) and coached four first-round picks.

Cal’s berth in the 2011 College World series came after a budget crisis almost led to the University cutting baseball from its athletic programs, and Cal sports are still losing money, which has led to speculation that the baseball team’s future is at risk once again.

Esquer did previously coach at Stanford, as an assistant under Marquess from 1991-1996.