Camp Staff

Mark O'Brien - Head Coach

Bay Area native Mark O'Brien begins his sixth year as head coach at Santa Clara University. O'Brien has guided the Broncos to a 72-68 mark in West Coast Conference play the past four seasons. In only his second season he guided the Broncos to their first winning season since 1997, posting a 31-26 overall record and a 21-9 mark in league play. O'Brien became the school's 35th head coach in the 111 years of the program when he was hired on June 11th, 2001.

From that point on, O'Brien's fingerprints can be found all over the program. O'Brien completed his staff soon after his own appointment, hiring Mike Oakland and Mike Zirelli as full-time assistant coaches.

During his brief time on the Mission Campus, O'Brien has accomplished things that not many of his predacessors had. He became only the fourth coach in program history to win his 50th game in only his second season as head coach, joining Sal Taormina, Jerry McClain and John Oldham. The win was a savory one as he watched his team defeat the second-ranked Stanford Cardinal by a 2-0 score in Sunken Diamond, giving him his second career win over his former team.

Additionally O'Brien has produced four All-Americans in his first three years as skipper, becoming the first coach in school history to produce four All-Americans in his first three years at the helm. Joey Gomes was a first team selection in 2002 followed by Scott Dierks and Patrick Overholt in 2003 who earned honorable mention and Freshman All-American honors respectively. Last season, Anthony Rea was a second team honoree. Through out his extensive coaching career, O'Brien has tutored 20 All-Americans.

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Mike Zirelli - Assistant Coach

Mike Zirelli will begin his third season as the Bronco pitching coach after taking over the duties mid-way through the 2004 campaign. 2007 will mark his fifth season with the program after serving as the team's Director of Baseball Operations in 2002.

Continuing his duties from the 2005 season, Zirelli will tutor the Bronco pitchers and assist both O'Brien and assistant coach Mike Oakland in recruiting. Zirelli has already been an instrumental part of the Bronco recruiting efforts as he has been involved with the process throughout his time with the program.

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Chad Baum - Assistant Coach

Chad Baum begins his first season as part of the Bronco Baseball coaching staff. Baum, who joins O'Brien's staff after two seasons as an assistant at UC Irvine, will primarily handle tutoring the players on hitting and working with the team's catchers.

"Chad is an outstanding addition to our program in many ways," head coach Mark O'Brien said. "Number one, he has a phenomenal baseball pedigree, both playing and coaching for Cal State Fullerton and being a part of George Horton's staff that won the national championship. To also be at UC Irvine with Dave Serrano, he's had some wonderful guidance in his coaching career, and I couldn't be more thrilled. Chad has a great work ethic and tremendous knowledge of the game. I couldn't be happier to have him join our staff."

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Shawn Epidendio - Assistant Coach

Former Santa Clara baseball infielder Shawn Epidendio '05 enters his first year as assistant coach for the Bronco baseball team in 2007-08. Epidendio will work with the outfielders, assist with the hitters and coach first base. Epidendio played in 151 games, starting in 93, as a third baseman for the Broncos. He ended his collegiate career with a .269 batting average, 47 runs scored, 42 RBI and 100 hits. As a senior, he finished second on the team in on base percentage (.415) and recorded 42 hits in 149 at-bats. As a junior, Epidendio was first on the Santa Clara squad with a.443 on base percentage, second on the team after being hit by a pitch nine times and ranked third on the team with a .338 batting average. During his sophomore and freshman campaigns, Epidendio combined for 33 hits, 21 RBI and 20 runs scored.

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Chris Pert - Director of Baseball Operations/Camp Coordinator

Chris Pert begins his first season as the Director of Baseball Operations. Pert graduated from the University of Dayton in 2006, while he was at Dayton he spent three years as the Baseball Operations Assistant. Also he spent a year as a volunteer strength and conditioning coach for the Football program.

After Dayton, Pert joined the San Jose State Athletic Department as the assistant director of events and facilities where he was the primary event manager for the men and women's soccer, women's basketball and baseball teams. He also assisted with the daily upkeep for all of San Jose State's athletic facilities.

From there Pert joined the athletic department here at Santa Clara last year as a Facilities Assistant. He assisted the Director and Manager of Facilities and Operations with the Event Management for all of the Broncos intercollegiate sports. Chris worked with the Baseball Coaching Staff last season as one of the event managers for the Baseball program.

Pert will still assist with the Event Management of some of the Broncos' sports this upcoming year.

He is currently working on his masters' degree in Sports Leadership at Duquesne University in Pittsburgh, Pa.

Pert resides in San Mateo.

Email: cpert@scu.edu

phone: (408) 551-3000 Ext. 4207