by Steven Fernandez
Daily Lobo
The baseball team added another member on Thursday when Trent Petrie was hired as a new assistant coach.
Petrie takes over the job vacated by Mark Martinez, who left to join Tony Gwynn's staff at San Diego State University.
Petrie has 10 years of coaching under his belt, including a head coaching stint with Clarendon College in Texas from 2001‑2003. As an assistant coach at Hill Junior College, he led the team to the Junior College World Series in 1997.
Head coach Rich Alday said Petrie's experience will be a nice addition to the team.
"Without a doubt it's going to help us," he said. "He's going to be able to add something in all parts of the game."
Alday said Petrie's love of baseball will be an asset to the team.
"He really likes the game and is very knowledgeable," he said. "We're really excited about Trent Petrie coming here and helping us."
Alday said Petrie will help in the recruiting process. Petrie spent the last two seasons at Oklahoma State University as the Director of Baseball Operations. In that position, Petrie saw OSU win the Big 12 Tournament title and qualify for the NCAA tournament.
With that, Petrie said he has plenty of contacts and has been busy trying to add to the Lobos' roster.
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"I think you're only as good as your players," he said. "With all of my experience, I feel like I've got a lot of connections. I'm just trying to do the best I can to make this team better."
Alday said he is pleased with the amount of work Petrie has done to recruit players.
"He's been on the phone a lot doing some recruiting for us," Alday said. "That's probably the key, he has good recruiting skills to go along with his coaching."
Petrie also brings some playing experience to the team, having played high school and college baseball. He spent his freshman and sophomore seasons at Hill Junior College and was a Junior College All-Star in 1991. He played his junior season at Texas Tech, and finished his collegiate career playing for Lubbock Christian.
Petrie said his playing years can help him connect with the players.
"I think it's always good when the players can relate to you," he said. "Experience is invaluable."
Alday agreed that Petrie's playing experience is something that will play a significant role in helping the team.
"It's going to help tremendously," Alday said. "He's very energetic, and the players are going to love working with him."
Petrie joins the Lobos as Alday is entering his 16th year as head coach for the Lobos. He has the most wins in UNM history with a record of 405-393. Alday has a career record of 901-613-2, having also coached at Pima Community College in Tucson, Ariz., before coming to New Mexico in 1990.
"He's a great guy to work for," Petrie said. "He's a great person and a very smart baseball mind."
Petrie said he's excited to finally reach the pinnacle of college coaching.
"I'm very appreciative of the opportunity," he said. "This is something that I've always wanted to do, to be able to coach at a Division I school."
