Hall of Fame
Back To Hall of Fame
Back To Hall of Fame
The school’s all-time leader in hits, Matt Peters was the starting shortstop at California from 2012-15. He was a consensus first-team all-region selection as a senior and was voted a CSC First-Team Academic All-American. Peters closed his career ranked among the top 10 in school history in hits, runs scored and RBI.
In 2012, Peters was the lone freshman starter on a team that qualified for the PSAC Tournament and finished with a 26-24 overall record. He ranked second on the team with a .316 average after hitting at a .359 clip in conference play. During a 13-game stretch in March, Peters posted a .475 average with the Vulcans playing seven different teams with five games against nationally-ranked opponents. The following year, Cal tied for first place in the PSAC West standings and posted the second-most wins in school history. The Vulcans closed the spring with a 35-18 record after winning a pair of elimination games in the PSAC Tournament. Peters again finished second on the team with a .346 average behind 17 extra-base hits. As a junior, he collected All-PSAC West First-Team laurels and ABCA first-team all-region status after leading the team with 35 RBI despite missing the only six games of his career due to injury. Peters finished with a .325 average and a .492 slugging percentage in the spring. Always difficult to strikeout, he ranked fourth in the country in 2014 in terms of toughest to strikeout with only four strikeouts in over 125 at-bats. The Vulcans recorded a winning season for the 15th-consecutive year despite missing the conference tournament. As a senior, Peters tallied the program’s highest batting average in over three decades and ranked second in the PSAC with a .446 mark. He amassed 70 hits, including 23 extra-base hits, and set career highs in virtually every offensive category. Peters finished among the league leaders with a .505 on-base percentage and 16 steals in 2015. He helped the Vulcans return to the PSAC Tournament and collected five hits with two homers, seven RBI and four runs scored over the final two games while at Pullman Park. Peters finished his career with 224 hits after tying and breaking the all-time hits record in an elimination game against Seton Hill. He was a consensus first-team all-region honoree in 2015 after receiving laurels from the ABCA, D2CCA and NCBWA, plus was a D2CCA Third-Team All-American. Peters repeated as a CSC Academic All-District honoree as a senior before becoming the initial First-Team Academic-American in program history.
Peters earned his bachelor's degree in liberal studies with a minor in criminal justice in 2015. He is the eighth baseball player in the last decade selected to the Athletic Hall of Fame (six modern-era).
updated April 5, 2025
Back To Hall of Fame
