The baseball team began play in the 1958 season as an independent school in the NCAA College Division, made up of the athletic programs of small universities and colleges. The school, founded in the early 1950s, was then known as the San Diego College for Men, and its athletic programs were known as the Pioneers.[3][4] Mike Morrow was the program’s head coach for its first six seasons (1958–1963), and the team had an 82–64 record during his tenure. In 1961, the school’s athletic programs were renamed the Toreros, for the Roman Catholic school’s connections to Spain.