SAN DIEGO – San Diego State baseball head coach Kevin Vance announced his third staff hire on Thursday with the addition of Blake McDonald as assistant coach.
In his role, McDonald will coach the Aztec catchers and will assist with all position player development while coaching first base on game days.
A native of Santa Rosa, California, McDonald arrives in “America’s Finest City” after spending the 2025 campaign as a catching and hitting analyst at the University of Arizona, where he worked alongside Vance.
“Blake is a rising star in the coaching world,” Vance said. “His ability to connect with people and his advanced understanding of the mental game are second to none. He will play a huge role not only with the development of our catchers, but with implementing our mental skills curriculum as well.”
With McDonald on staff, Arizona compiled a 44-21 record this past season, winning the Big 12 tournament championship in its first year in the conference before punctuating a successful postseason run with a berth in the NCAA Men’s College World Series.
Individually, McDonald worked closely with Wildcat catcher Adonys Guzman, who was drafted by the Pittsburgh Pirates in the fifth round of the 2025 MLB Draft after earning all-tournament honors at the NCAA Eugene Regional and College World Series.
McDonald played three years of collegiate baseball as a catcher, finishing his career at Arizona in 2024 after spending two seasons at Saint Mary’s College.
In his lone season with the Wildcats, McDonald started 26 of 27 games, batting .297 with two home runs, 18 RBIs and 15 runs scored, as the Wildcats captured the Pac-12 regular-season and tournament titles. Additionally, he registered a sparkling .996 fielding percentage, committing just one error in 225 total chances all season and did not allow a passed ball.
Prior to his move to Tucson, McDonald started 78 of 97 games at Saint Mary’s, where he combined to hit .297 with 16 doubles, four triples, one home run, 39 RBIs and 37 runs scored. With the Gaels, he led the squad with a .303 batting average in 2023.
McDonald began his career at Santa Rosa Junior College, where he garnered ABCA Rawlings All-America accolades in 2020 and 2021 to go with a pair of all-state and all-region honors. As a sophomore with the Bear Cubs, he hit .386 with three home runs and 21 RBIs.
McDonald graduated from Saint Mary’s in 2023 with a bachelor's degree in business administration before receiving a real estate development certificate from Arizona in 2024.