Catching Up with Former Reliever Jose Mata

Jose Mata has gone from being recruited to being a recruiter. South Carolina’s former bullpen sidearm stalwart during its two national championship seasons of 2010 and 2011 now lives in Charlotte and manages the campus recruiting team for Vanguard Financial Services. He credits his post-baseball success to networking with fellow Gamecocks.

“I won a national championship, came back for the parade, and then realized I was unemployed,” Mata said with a laugh. “It just hit me like a ton of bricks. So, I took my resume and posted it on Twitter where I was followed by tons of Gamecocks fans. I had 10 or 15 people reach out to me that said they’d love for me to come work for them.”

Mata graduated with a degree in sociology but his first job out of school was working for a loan company, and that excited him about talking to people and learning about their jobs.

“A friend of one of my roommates in college that followed me on Twitter contacted me, and I interview and got that job,” Mata recalled. “That was just one way that Gamecock Nation came in for me big-time for that first job. After that, I stayed connected with the Charlotte Gamecock Club. In the middle of that first job, I met some other Gamecocks, and they told me about the company they work for, and two months later, I’m working for them! Gamecock Nation has really helped me, not just on the field, but in my career. They take care of you.

“It’s amazing to me how Gamecocks have taken care of me and my family. That’s one of the beauties about being a Gamecock. The community that is built is second to none.”

Now, he manages the campus attraction team for Vanguard, which is one of the largest investment management companies in the world.

“We go all around the country looking for university students to come work in our jobs,” Mata said. “It’s our responsibility to make sure we’re going to the right schools for the right jobs and really setting them up for success as we continue to grow.”

The Miami, Florida, native transferred to South Carolina from Broward Community College and made an instant impact out of the bullpen, but it almost didn’t happen.

“I didn’t play baseball my freshman year of college at Florida International University,” Mata said. “I tried walking-on my freshman year and did not make the team. I was just a regular business student. I started training with a buddy just to get into shape. A few months later, I got the itch to try baseball again and ended up walking on at Broward Community College.”

His fortunes continued to change for the better on the diamond. In his first season with the Gamecocks in 2010, he made 33 relief appearances and posted a 7-1 record with a 2.40 ERA, striking out 83 hitters in 55.2 innings. He was clutch in the postseason, tossing 4.1 scoreless innings with five strikeouts in a win over Virginia Tech in the NCAA Regional and worked two scoreless innings with a strikeout in the 2-1 win over UCLA in the national championship series victory at the College World Series. As a senior in 2011, he went 3-0 with a save and a1.76 ERA in 30.2 innings pitched.

“I have a lot of core memories, but I’ll never forget my last outing at Founders Park,” Mata said. “That was against UConn in the Super Regionals. I came in to face George Springer, and I got a ground ball out. Coach Tanner comes out to get me after, and the standing ovation on my way out from the crowd is a moment that I still remember.

“(Former pitching coach) Mark Calvi doesn’t get enough credit for what we did. He was great. The reason I went to South Carolina was because of Coach Calvi.”

Now, he and his teammates from both squads are being inducted in the University of South Carolina Association of Lettermen’s Athletics Hall of Fame in the fall. It marks the first time that teams are being inducted into the Gamecocks’ Hall of Fame.

“I’m super-excited,” Mata said. “It’s something I never thought I would be a part of. I’m excited to be a part of South Carolina history.”

Mata is married to former Gamecock Cheerleader Kate Kelly, and the couple lives in Charlotte with their two sons, six-year-old Julian and three-year-old Jonas.