Sacramento State

Juliana Santos enters her first season as assistant coach at Sacramento State for the start of the 2026-27 academic year.

Santos spent the past 10 seasons at Dominican, including nine straight years as the Penguins’ head coach (2018-26). A four-year starter and two-time team captain at LSU (2009-12), Santos has 12 years of collegiate coaching experience, and will oversee Sacramento State’s defense while also working closely with the Hornets’ hitters and slappers. 

The all-time winningest coach at Dominican (San Rafael, Calif.), Santos helped elevate the Penguins into a contender in NCAA Div. II play. That includes the program combining to win 58 games over the last two years, highlighted by a 2025 season in which the team set school records for wins (32), ERA (2.60), home runs (23) and RBIs (194). Prior to becoming head coach at Dominican, she spent one season with the program as assistant in 2017.

Santos began her collegiate coaching career as an assistant for two years at Stanislaus State (2014-15). The Newman, Calif., native was part of a staff that coached the program to dramatic improvements in both batting average and fielding percentage.

Santos also served as the head varsity coach at Modesto’s Gregori High School for one season (2013) where she led the team to a historic year, which included a second round playoff appearance and three first team all-league selections.   

As a player, Santos started 208 games (162 at shortstop) over four seasons at LSU, where she helped the Tigers to a combined record of 159-77 overall and 69-40 in the SEC. That included four straight NCAA Regional appearances, and a 2012 trip to the College World Series. 

She racked up numerous accolades during her career, including first team all-South Region in 2009, two time all-Louisiana, two-time SEC Academic Honor Roll, four-time all-tournament, and an SEC all-Freshman Team nod. During the team’s 2012 run to the World Series, she had a walkoff RBI-single in a 1-0 win over Texas State to begin NCAA Regional play. She would later add a double in the Tigers’ 1-0 win over South Florida in the College World Series.

Santos tied a program record with five hits in a win over Arkansas in 2011, and had a grand slam vs. Kentucky in 2009. In 56 starts at shortstop during her senior season, she committed just three errors in 167 attempts - good for a .982 fielding percentage. Santos finished her career with 99 runs, the 15th best mark in program history at the time.

A two-time conference MVP at Orestimba High School in Newman, Calif., Santos led Orestimba to a pair of section championships and an undefeated season in 2007. In 2008, she was named Small School California Player of the Year and Sacramento Bee Player of the Year after hitting .667 with 11 home runs, 21 doubles and 55 RBIs.

Santos graduated from LSU in 2012 with a sports administration degree, and is currently working on her master’s in public administration from Stanislaus State.