Former Tennessee shortstop Ricky Martinez is rejoining Vol baseball’s support staff, KnoxNews Mike Wilson first reported on Thursday morning.
Martinez was Tennessee’s starting shortstop in 2019 when the Vols returned to the NCAA Tournament for the first time in 14 years. An 18th round pick in the 2019 MLB Draft, Martinez played two years of professional baseball in the Arizona Diamondbacks farm system before retiring from professional baseball.
After retiring, Martinez joined Tony Vitello’s staff at Tennessee as a Student Assistant Coach in 2021 and 2022. Martinez remained with Vol baseball in a support staff role during the 2023 season before leaving Tennessee for a full-time assistant coach job at New Mexico State.
But after a year with the Aggies, Martinez is returning to Tennessee and the Vol baseball program. Martinez exact role is uncertain at the moment. The Vols are looking to replace Director of Baseball Operations Chad Zurcher who left the Volunteer program for a job on the academic side at the university. Martinez helping fill that void is one of the options for his potential role.
In his previous stint at Tennessee, Martinez worked with the infielders and was the first base coach during the 2022-23 seasons after Ross Kivett left for Houston.
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As a player, Martinez hit .279 with 18 doubles, one triple, one home run and 28 RBIs in his lone season in Knoxville. Martinez’ lone home run was a massive one, giving Tennessee a late game lead in a crucial series finale at Florida. The long ball and series win was one we featured in our piece on eight moments from early in Tony Vitello’s tenure that helped turn the program around.
It’s been a busy week for Tennessee baseball coaching news. Earlier this week, Vitello re-hired Kivett as a full-time assistant coach to replace Richard Jackson who is leaving the Vols’ program for a job in the business world. Then Vitello added Cincinnati pitching coach Josh Reynolds as a support staffer to help fill the role Jackson had helping with Tennessee’s pitchers.
With Kivett returning to Tennessee, Vitello’s first staff at Tennessee is completely intact. Director of Baseball Performance Quentin Eberhardt was on Vitello’s original staff and left for the 2022 season before rejoining the program ahead of the 2023 season. Jackson was an in house hire who played for Vitello.
Other support staff members include Director of Player Development Luke Bonfield, Student Assistant Coach Parker Serrano and Assistant Director of Sports Nutrition Beth Schwartz. Bonfield played for Vitello at Arkansas, Serrano is the son of former Tennessee head coach Dave Serrano and Schwartz left Tennessee for the 2023 season before returning in 2024.
