LONG BEACH, Calif. – Long Beach State Director of Athletics Andy Fee announced that Eric Valenzuela has been hired as the new head coach for Dirtbags Baseball.
“This is an exciting day for our Dirtbags baseball program,” said Fee. “Eric is an outstanding coach and a first-class person. During his tenure at St. Mary’s College, he has developed a program that had just three winning seasons in the previous 22 years prior to his arrival and has made the Gaels into annual contenders, reaching the West Coast Conference tournament in three of the last four years. He is arguably the finest developer of pitchers in the college game, his teams swing the bat well and play fundamentally sound baseball.
“Eric is a relentless recruiter and has helped sign some of the highest-ranked recruiting classes over the past 17 years. He has a track record second to none in development, and has seen numerous players at each of his programs drafted and succeed in professional baseball. We are thrilled to bring him to the Beach.”
Valenzuela is a well-regarded pitching coach and recruiter, and comes to Long Beach State after six successful seasons at St. Mary’s, bringing unprecedented success to the Gaels program.
Under Valenzuela’s leadership, St. Mary’s has recorded four consecutive 30-win seasons after recording just three seasons at .500 or better in the 22 years proceeding his arrival. In three seasons, Valenzuela led St. Mary’s to their first ever West Coast Conference title and the program’s first NCAA Regional appearance in 2016 and has gone on to record 136 wins over the last four seasons.
“Being the head baseball coach at Long Beach State is a dream!” said Valenzuela. “My family and I couldn’t be happier to join Dirtbag Nation and we can’t wait to get started. I’d like to thank University President Jane Close Conoley, Andy Fee and their awesome staff for having the faith in me to lead this special program. I am honored to continue the tradition of greatness on and off the field and am ready to give my heart and soul to this program and University.”
This past season, 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 saw 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.
Valenzuela was tabbed for the top job with the Gaels 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 winning a program-high 44 games. 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 St. Mary’s 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.
