MORAGA, Calif. — Saint Mary's College Vice President for Intercollegiate Athletics Mike Matoso, announced today the hiring and return of head baseball coach Eric Valenzuela to lead the Gaels' program.
 
The most successful coach in Saint Mary's history, with the highest winning percentage and the only coach to lead the Gaels to the NCAA Tournament, returns to Moraga after spending the past four seasons at Long Beach State.
 
"We are excited to announce Eric Valenzuela as our new head baseball coach at Saint Mary's College," Matoso said. "With the completion of our stadium there is no better person or coach to lead this program to consistently perform at the top of this conference and compete on the national level. That is our commitment, to put ourselves in position to compete to be in Omaha every year. We welcome back Eric, Betty and the kids back home to Saint Mary's."
 
Valenzuela won 180 games during his stretch as head coach from 2014-19. At Long Beach State, Valenzuela went 100-69 in four seasons, including having nine players drafted and coaching six all-Americans, the Big West Pitcher of the Year, the Big West Defensive Player of the Year and the Big West Freshman of the Year.
 
Under Valenzuela's leadership the first time around, Saint Mary's recorded four consecutive 30-win seasons after recording just three seasons at .500 or better in the 22 years proceeding his arrival. Valenzuela led Saint Mary's to their first ever West Coast Conference title and the program's first NCAA Regional appearance in 2016.
 
"My family and I are so excited to be back in Moraga and guiding the Saint Mary's College Baseball Program once more," Valenzuela said. "Saint Mary's is a special place to my family and I and we can't be thankful enough to have this wonderful opportunity. I want to thank Mike Matoso and his awesome staff, the alumni, and donors for making this possible. With the new hitting facility, new stadium and all the wonderful additions to facilities, this is one of the best hidden secrets in the country."
 
In 2019, the Gaels came up just one game short, falling in the WCC Tournament championship game and finishing just outside of at-large consideration. It was the fourth straight 30-win season for the program, however, capping a run of success that not only saw the team perform well but had four players selected in the Top 5 rounds of the MLB draft, including Corbin Burnes who made his debut with the Milwaukee Brewers in 2018 and won the National League Cy Young Award in 2021.
 
Valenzuela was tabbed for the top job with the Gaels in 2014 after serving for four seasons as the pitching coach and recruiting coordinator for Tony Gywnn at San Diego State. While with the Aztecs, Valenzuela was responsible for bringing in a pair of recruiting classes ranked in the Top 25 by Baseball America, classes that would help San Diego State go on to win the 2013 Mountain West Championship and advance to the NCAA Regionals.
 
Prior to working at San Diego State, Valenzuela spent six seasons across town at San Diego, helping the Toreros reach the NCAA postseason on three occasions, lastly in 2008 when San Diego visited the Long Beach Regional after a program-high 44 wins. Valenzuela also led the recruiting efforts to secure the No. 1 recruiting class in the nation as ranked by Baseball America in 2007.
 
Being hired at Saint Mary's in 2014 brought Valenzuela full circle, as he made his collegiate coaching start with the Gaels, serving as the recruiting coordinator for the Gaels starting in 2001. As a player, Valenzuela was a High School All-American at Bishop Amat HS before reaching the College World Series with Arizona State in 1998. He would go on to transfer to Pepperdine, where he was the captain on the 2001 team that went 42-18 and won the WCC title before graduating from Pepperdine and turning to coaching.

Valenzuela comes from an athletic family, as his father, Victor, was an assistant boxing coach for the United States in the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics. He continues to train boxers at the Duarte Boxing Club in Duarte, Calif. Valenzuela's sister, Nichole, was also an accomplished softball player at San Diego from 2005-08. Valenzuela and his wife Betty have three children, daughter Catalina Esmie and twin sons Benjamin Evan and Noah Matthew.
 
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