The Toledo baseball team has added Ethan Landon to its coaching staff as an assistant coach, Head Coach Rob Reinstetle announced.

Landon, who will oversee the Rockets' pitching staff, comes to the Glass City following two successful seasons at Troy University as the Trojans' pitching coach. He helped Troy to an NCAA regional appearance and 40-win season in 2023, followed by a 37-22 record last year.

"I couldn't be happier to announce Ethan Landon as our new pitching coach," said Reinstetle. "He has a tremendous amount of pitching knowledge and is a very energetic individual to be around. That energy and passion will pay huge dividends not only with our current players, but also in recruiting. We cast a wide net when looking to fill this position and talked to coaches from all levels of collegiate and professional baseball, and Ethan was highly recommended to us. We wanted to make the transition for the players to be as seamless as possible with our new hire. Ethan is the right person at the right time for Toledo baseball. We have a very talented group of pitchers and I'm excited to watch them flourish under his watch."

Troy's pitching staff earned a pair of 2023 All-Sun Belt selections in first-team pick Grayson Stewart and second-team pick Noah Manning. Landon also coached three of the top-seven pitchers in strikeouts in the Sun Belt that season in Stewart, Ben Thompson and Zach Fruit. Fruit went on to be drafted by the Baltimore Orioles and Thompson signed with the Los Angeles Angels that summer.

Troy set program records with 636 strikeouts and 21 saves in 2023. The Trojans also led the SBC with 191 strikeouts looking, placed second in the league in saves (21) and fourth in ERA (5.51). Individually, Stewart was fourth in the league in ERA (3.65) and innings pitched (91.1), and ninth in opponent batting average (.247).

Last spring, Landon coached Luke Lyon to an All-Sun Belt Second Team selection. The right-hander won eight games for Troy and was tied for ninth in innings pitched (73.2), with a 4.40 ERA and 54 strikeouts. As a team, the Trojans finished with a 5.60 ERA and 490 strikeouts, both in the top half of a Sun Belt Conference which sent four teams to the NCAA Tournament in 2024.

Prior to Troy, Landon was part of travel baseball organizations Motor City Hit Dogs (Michigan) and GRB Rays (Wisconsin). His first Motor City team produced seven DI commits.

Landon played collegiately at Kansas State (2014) and Michigan State (2015-18). He posted a 3.98 overall ERA with 14 wins in 72 appearances and 39 starts in his college playing career. He had a 3.26 ERA in 30.1 innings pitched as a freshman at KSU, leading Big 12 freshmen with 24 appearances. In 2016, he led Michigan State's pitching staff with eight wins, including a school-record six victories in Big Ten play. Landon logged a 2.75 ERA in 85.0 innings pitched and 15 starts that season.

He will take over a Rockets' pitching staff which set a program record with 514 strikeouts last season. Toledo led the Mid-American Conference in opponent batting average (.270) and was second in strikeouts, ERA (5.66) and saves (18).

"I'm incredibly excited to join the Toledo Rockets' baseball family," said Landon. "I can't wait to start building relationships with our players and helping them develop into leaders in the community and high-level competitors on the baseball field. Under Coach Reinstetle's leadership, I believe we are a program on the rise that's heading towards competing for MAC championships. Go Rockets!"