Oct. 27, 2015
SAN DIEGO, Calif. - San Diego State baseball coach Mark Martinez has been honored as a recipient of one of Colorado Mesa University's 2015 Distinguished Alumni Awards. The native of Aurora, Colo., who has been a member of the SDSU coaching staff since 2005, is in his second year as head coach of the Aztecs.
Martinez played shortstop at CMU (formerly Mesa State) from 1982-84 where he earned all-conference and all-region honors his senior year. He remained at his alma mater as an assistant baseball coach until 1988 when he went to the University of New Mexico to work on his master's degree and serve as an assistant coach.
During his tenure as a hitting and infield coach at New Mexico, Martinez was a key member in leading the Lobo offense that became one of the most prominent in the nation under his tutelage. New Mexico was ranked among the top 11 teams in the nation in hitting his final four seasons. He also helped lead the Lobos to the 2000 Mountain West Conference regular-season title.
At San Diego State, Martinez helped the late Tony Gwynn transform and build the baseball program into what it is today. In his first season as head coach in 2015, Martinez led SDSU to its third straight Mountain West Championship and NCAA Regional berth as the team finished with a 41-23 overall record.
Along the way he produced three All-Region selections, a freshman All-American and seven all-conference honorees. In addition, five of his players were drafted by Major League clubs last June.
Martinez has also helped build an academic program that has seen the highest APR in the history of the program as well as the most scholar-athletes and highest team GPA in the history of the program.