-- Story provided by Olivet College Athletics --
OLIVET, Mich. – After conducting a national search, Olivet College Athletic Director Haley Diringer has found a familiar face to lead the baseball program. An assistant coach for the last three seasons, Santiago Mendez has been promoted to head coach.
"I am thrilled about being able to promote Santiago," said Diringer. "We did the national search, but he emerged as our top candidate. Santiago did a great job leading the student-athletes in the baseball program following the resignation of our previous coach. Even more, I also liked his vision for the future of the program. The future looks bright with Santiago leading the Comets."
During his three seasons as an assistant coach for the Comets, Mendez worked with the pitching staff and team defense. He also served as the third base coach. Prior to joining the Olivet staff in January 2020, Mendez was a volunteer assistant baseball coach at Gannon (Pa.) University for two years.
"I am excited for the opportunity to be the next head baseball coach at Olivet," said Mendez. "It is an honor to be a mentor on and off the baseball field to student-athletes. We will continue to build off the ROLLCOMETS mantra and those foundations which will make Olivet a great program. I would also like to thank my previous coaches and worked with for building in me the fundamentals of what it takes to lead a great program."
A native of Lansing, Mendez graduated from Lansing Eastern High School. He played baseball for one season at Grand Rapids Community College before transferring to Lansing Community College (LCC). At LCC, Mendez pitched for one season and was named a 2015 All-Michigan Community College Athletic Association Second Team honoree.
After LCC, Mendez played two seasons of baseball at Gannon. He was in the starting rotation and won eight games for the Golden Knights. Mendez earned 2016 All-Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Second Team honors and helped Gannon win a school-record 31 games.
Mendez earned a bachelor's degree in sports management and marketing from Gannon in 2018.
