LACEY — Few head coaching vacancies were as tough to attract candidates in all of NCAA Division II baseball than Saint Martin’s University following the 2025 season.
The Saints finished with a 3-46 record, seemingly rock bottom for a program that only had one winning season in the previous 22 campaigns, excluding the shortened 2020 season. Saint Martin’s opened that spring with 13 consecutive defeats and endured another 23-game skid after winning its first game.
In stepped Jacob Garsez, who was announced as the next head baseball coach at Saint Martin’s after stints at Sonoma State, Oregon Tech and Antelope Valley. His resume spoke for itself: a 61% career winning percentage and three straight 30-win seasons at Oregon Tech after the program had sputtered through 11 consecutive losing seasons.
It wouldn’t be an easy turnaround, but Garsez was no stranger to those. And after year one, it’s clear that a blueprint is in place for growth.
The Saints saw a 10-win improvement from 2025, finishing 13-38 overall in 2026 with a 5-27 mark in the GNAC. They capped off the regular season with a four-game series against Western Oregon and were swept Thursday and Friday. After losing 7-4 and 19-0 Thursday, Saint Martin’s was defeated 7-3 and 9-2 Friday on senior night.
Once the final contest was completed, the Saints, who boasted nine seniors this season, exchanged hugs on the field with teammates and coaches. Senior pitcher Blaze Wong took one final step onto the mound he called home for four years and threw an imaginary pitch to the batter’s box. Senior Spencer Siegel sat in right field with his family, facing the scoreboard as his three years at Saint Martin’s came to a close.
Amid all the emotions on the turf, one thing was clear to Garsez: this team laid the foundation for what’s to come.
“This team has done a really good job of bonding and building relationships. They care about each other a lot,” he said. “We have high expectations for this program moving forward, and we couldn’t have asked for a better group to come together and lay the foundation. I thought we made some good progress this year, and it was because of the seniors’ leadership.”
Saint Martin’s online record book, which goes back to the 2002 season, doesn’t include as big of a leap in wins from season to season like what the Saints accomplished in 2026. And while the season still had its share of disappointments, Garsez saw plenty of exciting moments, including a four-game win streak in February — the longest for the program in seven years — and a walk-off victory over Montana State Billings in April.
“I just felt like they bought in. We had some moments where we played some really good baseball, and then we had some moments where we struggled,” Garsez said. “What this group did a good job at is we didn’t continue to struggle. We found our moments again and continued to compete. There’s some good leadership, and they care.”
When Garsez stepped into the program in July, the first thing he wanted to establish was a team culture. He wasn’t focused on wins and losses, but if the collective mindset was improved, wins would come naturally.
“The main thing with our culture is we want 40 guys that are pulling on the same rope in the same direction and they want to be part of something bigger than themselves and build a foundation based on their work ethic and trust in each other,” Garsez said.
That turnaround in the win column and in team culture can certainly spark an uptick in interest along the recruiting trail. Garsez said the coaching staff is “recruiting our tails off right now.” The Saints will have plenty of gaps to fill with nine seniors graduating: Isaac Hoag, Kyle Schabot, Aidan Bray, Kelton Tom, Nikki Scott II, Alohi Arecchi, Blaze Wong, Zen Staszkow and Spencer Siegel are all moving on from the program.
Two of those seniors, Scott and Wong, took the mound for the Saints as the two starters for the double-header against Western Oregon Friday afternoon. Seniors helped the Saints take a 2-0 lead in the fourth inning of game one, as Tom and Hoag picked up RBIs. Hoag added another RBI with a single in the sixth as Saint Martin’s regained a 3-2 lead. But the Wolves overwhelmed the Saints in the final two innings, tallying two runs in the seventh and three in the eighth to win 7-3.
Scott pitched into the eighth inning, churning through a season-high 7.1 innings and 114 pitches while allowing seven runs (five earned) on six hits, two walks and four strikeouts.
In game two, Western Oregon consistently plated runs throughout the first five innings to jump in front 6-0. Saint Martin’s produced two runs in the fifth behind RBI singles from Hollabaugh and Noah Albanese before the Wolves put the game away with a three-run seventh.
In 2027, the Saints will return their top hitter in Albanese, who led the team with a .304 batting average and 52 hits. Carson Dunn, the Saints’ top home run slugger with five, will also be back.
Of the seven pitchers who started at least one game for Saint Martin’s, five will suit up next spring.
“We have some guys in the program that we really like and that got really good experience out on the field and are the right guys to help us build that culture,” Garsez said.
