MORAGA, Calif. — Saint Mary’s Director of Athletics and Recreation Mike Matoso has announced the signing of head baseball coach Eric Valenzuela to a five-year contract extension, following a tremendous turnaround since Valenzuela’s arrival on campus.
“Eric has been an incredible asset for the program, and his great work ethic along with his intense passion for the job have made a great impression on the team,” Matoso said. “We are excited to have Eric stay on as part of the program and continue to support Saint Mary’s Athletics as well as the entire Gael community.”
Entering his sixth year as head coach, Valenzuela has a rich history with the program that extends beyond his time as head coach. He served two seasons as an assistant at Saint Mary’s from 2002-03, and filled a variety of roles for head coach John Baptista. During his time as head coach however, he has led the baseball program to 30-plus wins the last three-consecutive seasons for the first time in program history.
“I’d like to thank President Donahue, our support staff and especially Athletic Director Mike Matoso for their continued support of our program,” said Valenzuela “There is huge momentum throughout campus and we are extremely lucky to continue to build our program. What a great time to be a Gael!”
In his previous five years as head coach, Valenzuela has had eight Gaels selected in the Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft, as well as five in the top-10 rounds. He has coached four All-Americans and eight All-WCC First Team players. 22 total All-WCC awards have been collected under Valenzuela, including four Second Team honors, six honorable mentions and five WCC All-Freshmen team honorees.
During 2016 and ’17, Valenzuela led the Gaels to back-to-back postseason appearances — the first in program history — while recording their first-ever West Coast Conference regular season title, WCC Tournament title and NCAA Regional appearance in 2016.
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