Serra graduate Ian Josephson hits for cycle for Saint Mary’s College baseball

The left-handed hitting Josephson hit for the cycle in Saint Mary’s 14-4 win over Cal State Bakersfield at Gallagher Stadium. It is cited as the first cycle in the history of the 154-year-old baseball program.

“This program goes over a hundred years, so there’s a lot of history and a lot of players to come out of here,” Gaels manager Eric Valenzuela said. “So for that being the first one, that’s pretty amazing.”

Josephson went 4 for 5 with six RBIs in the abbreviated seven-inning, mercy-rule win, improving his batting average 79 points to .387 (12 for 31) through 17 games, including six starts. He opened the day with an RBI single in the first. In the second, he connected for a three-run home run to right, the first homer of his collegiate career.

Then, after grounding out in the fourth, Josephson made things interesting by wheeling and firing on a triple into the right-field corner. Saint Mary’s sent seven batters to the plate in the sixth to up the lead to 12-4. Then in the seventh, Half Moon Bay graduate Jared Mettam sparked a rally with a one-out single. Brayden Gutierrez walked and Nick Allred got hit by a pitch to load the bases, bringing Josephson to the plate with a chance to hit for the walk-off cycle.

Josephson had never previously hit for a cycle, but came close during his senior year at Serra. In the Padres’ 15-5 win over Lincoln-Stockton, March 7, 2025, he went 4 for 4 with two doubles and a home run. His second double came in his final at-bat, with a line drive off the Frisella Stadium netting in left-center, which didn’t give him enough time to try to stretch it out for a triple.

“That was kind of flashing through my mind as I was coming up for my last at-bat,” Josephson said. “I told myself if I hit anything short of a double, I’m stretching it out. I’m not coming up short again.”

Josephson sent an opposite-field line drive over the head of Bakersfield shortstop Elijah Pelayo, and went into second base standing as Mettam and Gutierrez scored to end it.

“I saw the boys jumping up and down,” Valenzuela said, who noted the celebration seemed out of proportion with a mercy-rule win. “It was like: ‘What is going on?””

It turned out to be history in the making. It also marked the Gaels’ fourth win in their last five games, a span that bumped their overall record comfortably over .500 at 18-14. Saint Mary’s kept rolling Friday night with an 8-1 win at Santa Clara University in the first of a three-game West Coast Conference series. Josephson got the start at third base and moved up to the No. 8 spot in the order, going 1 for 3 with an RBI.

“We’ve kind of found our stride here,” Josephson said. “Hopefully that carries into the weekend and we can get another sweep here against Santa Clara. That would be awesome.”

Mettam — who went 2 for 4 with a pair of doubles Friday night to improve his average to .346 — isn’t the only San Mateo County player on roster at Saint Mary’s. Josephson is one of three Serra graduates in the mix, including returning All-WCC second-team catcher Ian Armstrong, and sophomore right-hander Sam Kretsch, who made his first start of year the previous Friday, April 3, taking a no-decision in the Gaels’ 6-4 win over University of the Pacific.

Josephson reunited with another former Serra teammate Friday night in Santa Clara shortstop Ben Cleary, who went 1 for 5 in the game. The two played together with the Padres in Cleary’s senior season of 2023.

“It will be exciting being on the same field with him,” Josephson said prior to Friday’s game. “Kind of a full-circle moment. So, I’m excited to see him. That will be awesome.”

With the senior Mettam anchoring shortstop, Josephson has moved between second, third and short. He made his collegiate debut in the field Feb. 14 as an early defensive replacement for Mettam, when the latter committed two errors in the first inning of an eventual 9-8 loss to Creighton.

“Which was probably good, because if I knew I was playing the night before I would have been a wreck,” Josephson said. “So, it kind of worked out for the best that way.”

With the Gaels’ depth chart featuring a pair of seniors in Mettam and Cody Kashimoto at shortstop, Josephson is ticketed as the shortstop of the future.

“Our middle guys ... they’re both seniors,” Valenzuela said. “And our shortstop is a four-year starter. So, we definitely see [Josephson] as the future there at short.”

Until then, Josephson is forcing his way into the lineup with his gap-to-gap bat.

“You match that with ability to play defense at a high level, especially for a freshman, we’re lucky,” Valenzuela said. “It’s nice to have.”