Mervyl Melendez Named Head Coach of FIU Baseball
Executive Director of Sports and Entertainment Pete Garcia announced the hiring of Mervyl Melendez as the new head coach of FIU baseball on Tuesday. Melendez becomes the fourth head coach in FIU baseball program history. Melendez brings 17 years of head coaching experience. He has posted 537 wins, recorded 13 30-win seasons, claimed 12 conference championships, while earning 12 NCAA Tournament appearances.
Melendez claimed victories over a number of ranked opponents, including wins over No. 4 Miami, No. 17 Cal State Fullerton and No. 28 South Alabama. With over 500 victories to his name, Melendez is the third-youngest coach in Division I history to reach 500 wins and was the second-youngest coach in NCAA history to reach 300. "We are excited to have Mervyl Melendez leading our baseball program," Garcia said. "He has been successful everywhere he has been. We look forward to our baseball program growing under the guidance of Coach Melendez." "I am extremely excited to have the opportunity to lead the FIU baseball program," Melendez said. "I am looking forward to meeting the players personally. This is a great opportunity given to me by Pete Garciaand Dr. Mark Rosenberg. I can't say enough about how exciting it is, not only getting back to Florida, but working for an institution that I know a lot about and have competed against in the past. I'm here to get it going; get on the recruiting trail and bring in the student-athletes that I think will represent FIU to the fullest."
Melendez comes to FIU after spending five seasons at Alabama State where he posted a record of 158-117, leading the program to unprecedented accomplishments. Among the first-time achievements, the Hornets posted four-straight, 30-win seasons, including three-straight SWAC Eastern Division Championships. During the 2016 season, the Hornets were the only Division I baseball team to go undefeated in conference play, setting a school-record 38 victories, winning the program's first SWAC Championship and earning the first NCAA Division I Tournament appearance in the school history. A two-time SWAC Coach of the Year (2014 and 2016), Melendez was selected to the coaching staff of USA Baseball's 17-and-under team in the summer of 2015 and was most-recently named to the USA 14-and-under coaching staff this summer.
Before joining ASU, Melendez spent 12 years at Bethune-Cookman where he won 11 Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) titles and was named the MEAC Coach of the Year nine times (six-straight from 2006 to 2011). Melendez led the Wildcats to 46 consecutive MEAC regular season wins, including back-to-back undefeated league seasons in 2010 and 2011 (18-0 both seasons). An all-confrerence third baseman and relief pitcher for his alma mater, Melendez began his coaching career as an assistant at B-CU from 1997-1999, helping the Wildcats to MEAC titles in 1997 and 1999. Melendez is a native of Carolina (pronounced kah-ro-LEE-nah), Puerto Rico (known as La Tierra de Gigantes aka "Land of the Giants"), located in the northeast corner of the country. Carolina is also home of Baseball Hall of Famer Roberto Clemente. Melendez moved to Orlando, Florida, at the age of 13, and attended Lake Howell High in Winter Park. He is married to the former Aixa Alicea, a native of San Juan, Puerto Rico. Together, they have two sons in Mervyl S. "MJ" Melendez, Jr., and, Jayden Savier.
### What They Are Saying About Coach Melendez "Mervyl Melendez is without a doubt the perfect hire for FIU. His work ethic, personal values and ability to lead young men have made him one of the nation's elite coaches. I have no doubt that he will very quickly establish FIU as a contender, but most importantly, he will recruit and develop high character men who will leave the program even better than when they arrived." – Brooks Webb, Senior Director of Baseball Operations, USA Baseball "Mervyl is a tremendous hire for FIU. He has been successful everywhere he has been. He will build FIU into a consistent post season program." – Kevin O'Sullivan, Head Baseball Coach, University of Florida