Clay Martin will return for his third season with the Griffin baseball program during the 2025 baseball season.
In his second season on the hill, the Griffins won their second straight PSAC Western Division title and advanced to the NCAA Atlantic Super Regional for the second straight season. The Griffins finished the season with a 3.70 ERA, the third best in the PSAC and fifth best in the country. Martin coached Aidan Layton who was drafted by the Oakland A's in the 17th round of the MLB Draft. Two pitchers earned All Conference honors while one was named to the All Region team.
His first season on the hill was a memorable one as the Griffins claimed their third PSAC Championship. Seton Hill won the PSAC Western Division title before sweeping thru the PSAC Tournament to earn the crown. The Griffins won the NCAA Atlantic Regional II and advanced to their first NCAA Super Regional. SHU finished the season with a 3.54 ERA, second best in the PSAC and the fourth best mark in Division II. Martin coached Kevin Vaupel who was drafted by the Miami Marlins in the 16th round of the MLB Draft. Three pitchers earned All Region honors while four pitchers earned All PSAC West honors.
Martin was previously an assistant coach and Director of Baseball Development/Operations at Division I Eastern Illinois.
At Eastern Illinois, Martin was a positional coach for the catchers and assisted with the pitching staff. Clay handled player development efforts for the program and performed data aggregation, analysis and implementation with coaching staff and players. In his one season with the Panthers, they finished with a 33-20 overall record, advancing to the Ohio Valley Conference Tournament.
Prior to Eastern Illinois, Martin spent two seasons as the pitching coach/recruiting coordinator as Westminster College. Martin handled all recruiting efforts for the program while managing the pitching staff. Clay also assisted with the catchers and infielders. He also prepared and supervised the strength and conditioning program at Westminster.
Martin had a stellar, four-year playing career at Washington and Jefferson College, where he is known as one of the most accomplished relief pitchers in school history. Martin appeared in 52 total games during his tenure with the Presidents, and currently holds the school record for career saves (13) and saves in a season (12 during senior season). Martin was a two-time Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC) Honorable Mention, and was named Team Captain during his senior season. In Martin's junior season, he compiled a 0.98 earned run average, giving up only three earned runs in 27.2 innings pitched while striking out 29 batters. During Martin's career, Washington and Jefferson were two-time PAC Champions, made two NCAA Division III College World Series appearances and were the NCAA Division III College World Series runner-up in 2017.
In 2019, Martin graduated from Washington and Jefferson with a Bachelor's Degree in Neuroscience. Martin earned an MBA in Business Analytics from Westminster in 2022.
