Sacramento State baseball coach Reggie Christiansen grew up in one of the largest redwood mills in the world — now he’s found himself planted in the “City of Trees” for the next seven years.

Christiansen, 42, signed a contract extension offered by Sac State Athletic Director Mark Orr on Oct. 19 to keep him coaching the Hornets until 2024.

“My family and I are excited to be here,” Christiansen said. “Excited about the leadership of Mark Orr and (President Robert) Nelsen. Really excited to see the whole campus continue to grow and get better in the department.”

In his seven years as head coach at Sac State, Christiansen has led the program to an overall record of 219-200 and 96-78 in the Western Athletic Conference. He has led the Hornets to a WAC Tournament Championship in two (2014, 2017) of the last four seasons. Christiansen has also achieved individual success after earning WAC Coach of the Year honors in 2012 and 2014.

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Christiansen has put his players in successful situations for years, but Sac State right-handed senior pitcher Austin Root said he’s well-liked due to his upfront nature.

“He’s not going to sugar coat anything, he’ll tell you how it is,” Root said. “From a player’s standpoint, that’s what you want to know, you want to know where you stand.”

Christiansen established this mindset growing up on the coast of Northern California in Scotia, a small lumber town based in Humboldt County. He played little league baseball as a child, and his passion for the game grew over the years, leading him to play in junior college and then at Menlo College.

He graduated from Menlo in 1998, earning a degree in business administration. Despite earning his degree in business, Christiansen chose to chase his real passion in life.

“I decided right when I graduated that I wanted to get into coaching and pursue that from the get-go really,” Christiansen said.

Christiansen served as an assistant coach for Menlo from 1997-1999. In between, he coached high school, but in 2002, he got his first collegiate head coaching opportunity at Menlo for one season.

He got his first job in coaching at the Division I level as a first base coach with the Kansas Jayhawks for two seasons from 2003-2004. Christiansen also earned his master’s degree from Kansas in 2004 in health, sport and exercise.

Before coming to Sac State in 2009, he served as the head coach of South Dakota State University from 2006-2009. As coach of the Jackrabbits, Christiansen turned the team around from a 17-38 record in his first season to 34-19 in his third.

After helping South Dakota State transition from Division II to Division I in his fourth season, Christiansen came to Sacramento in 2009 to be an assistant under coach John Smith.

“When I got here in 2009 as an assistant coach, the goal was to see the program improve each and every year,” Christiansen said.

He was then promoted in 2011 to head coach following Smith’s retirement.

Sac State senior first baseman Vinny Esposito said Christiansen keeps a level head in most situations, which helps the Hornets during an up-and-down season.

“He never really raises his voice or gets down really, so I think that’s important in coaching,” Esposito said.

Christiansen said he attributes the winning culture at Sac State to his coaching staff.

“I think we’ve done a good job of surrounding ourselves with the right type of people that care about the players with their development on the baseball side and as a person,” Christiansen said. “We’ve done a good job of recruiting the right type of person for our program.”

Christiansen will be entering his eighth season at the helm of Sac State in 2018 and will host the PAC-12’s Washington Huskies to open the season on Feb 16.

“We don’t always get the blue-chip kid or the best player, but we get the right fit for us,” Christiansen said.