Diego Gutierrez was five years old when he first picked up a baseball. Playing alongside his friends drew him to the sport, and as he got older, he dreamed of playing at the highest level.

The CSUN right-handed pitcher has had to deal with some challenges, such as moving away from home and moving into a starter spot on the team.

Gutierrez also played in the infield at Lakewood High School and entered CSUN as a two-way player, alternating between position players and pitchers.

Current head coach Eddie Cornejo recruited Gutierrez, and after an unofficial visit, he was sure CSUN was the place for him.

Gutierrez said, “It instantly felt like home and [I] made a pretty quick and easy decision.”

Other teams in the Big West were recruiting him, but CSUN showed interest in him early and provided an opportunity for Gutierrez to play right away, so he couldn’t turn down their offer.

“It was a winning culture coming in, it was getting built,” Gutierrez said. “I had a lot of teammates coming here so I think it was a good choice for me to be around really good guys.”

He jumped on the offer and packed his bags, moving from Norwalk to Northridge, which wasn’t the easiest thing to do.

“It was kind of tough. I’ve never really been away from home so [it] was definitely a learning curve but I got adjusted right away,” Gutierrez said.

After talking with Cornejo, he decided to become a full-time pitcher, primarily working out of the pen.

He had a stellar freshman year. He pitched in 16 games, going 3-1 with a 2.92 ERA. He struck out 36 batters in just over 49 innings of work.

Athletes are bound to get injured; more specifically, UCL tears are common among pitchers. Gutierrez tore his at the end of the fall of his sophomore year.

Gutierrez said, “At first it was devastating. That team was good my sophomore year so it kinda hurt not to help that team out.”

He took about 10 months to heal and was back on the bump during his redshirt sophomore season.

“Mentally I think I took it pretty well. I had a good group of teammates and friends to kinda get me through it and coaches as well,” he said. “Especially my trainer Joey, it was everyday grinding back and kinda just getting a feel for things again.”

Gutierrez said the injury was a blessing in disguise as he realized it helped him become a better pitcher and develop a stronger work ethic.

His goal was to come back healthy for his redshirt junior season, and he did just that, although Gutierrez said it was a challenge.

“I didn’t really throw myself out there, I was kind of holding back a little bit just because I was nervous and scared to get hurt again,” he said.

It took him a while to let go of that fear, but through training at Chapman Baseball Compound in Irvine, he was able to give it his all again.

Gutierrez is now finishing up his redshirt junior season. Although his ERA currently sits at 7.26, he’s thrown a career-high of 65 strikeouts and pitched 65.2 innings this season, during which time he’s transitioned to the team’s ace.

He also had to adjust to changes in the pitching staff this season. He worked with Elliot Surrey for the entirety of his time at CSUN up until this year, when Jon Strauss became the new pitching coach.

“I’ve been with Elliot for three years so it was definitely newer to me,” Gutierrez said. “Being able to adjust to a new pitching coach I think isn’t easy at all but I think he [Strauss] came in with a very strong emphasis on being good.”

Looking to walk the stage in about a week, Gutierrez will graduate with a bachelor’s degree in Business Management, but his baseball career isn’t over just yet.

With one more year of eligibility left, Gutierrez plans to attend graduate school and compete in his final collegiate year.