GREENVILLE, N.C. – Eric Tyler has been named Volunteer Assistant Coach at ECU, while Pete Buscaino returns as Director of Baseball Operations according to an announcement by fourth-year head coach Cliff Godwin Wednesday.
Tyler, a four-year letterwinner for the Pirates, will work directly with the outfielders while assisting Godwin with the catchers and hitters, and Jeff Palumbo with the infield. He will also coordinate all of ECU’s summer, fall and winter camps.
Buscaino, who spent the last two seasons as the volunteer coach, will handle a variety of administrative duties, including team travel, game-day organization, special events coordination and community outreach efforts with the Pirate program.
“We are very excited to announce that Pete Buscaino has returned as our director of baseball operations and Eric Tyler will be our new volunteer assistant coach,” Godwin said. “Pete has been a great asset to our program the last three years and has been a part of great success on and off the field. Eric steps into a coaching role after being a key part of our 2015 American Conference Tournament and 2016 Charlottesville Regional Championship teams. Off the field, Eric was also a member of consecutive teams (2016-17) that earned The American Team Academic Award, which recognized the highest GPA in baseball. We are very fortunate to have great people like Pete and Eric be a part of our program!”
A three-year starter at third base for the Pirates, Tyler appeared in 219 games (206 starts) over four seasons batting .296 (225-for-760) with 14 home runs, 43 doubles and 107 RBI. He finished his career ranked among the program’s all-time leaders in hit by pitches (37/second), at-bats (10th) and starts (10th).
During his junior campaign, Tyler set ECU and AAC single-game records with eight RBI against Jacksonville and earned Charlottesville All-Regional Team honors after batting .545 (6-for-11) with a home run and three runs scored. As a senior, he earned First-Team All-American Athletic Conference honors leading the Pirates with a .343 batting average, which also ranked sixth in the league. Tyler, a team co-captain, tallied 83 hits to stand second on the club (fourth in AAC), belted six home runs and drove in 38. He started 56 of 59 games at third base, while also making three starts in left field.
Off the field, Tyler was a six-time ECU Director of Athletics Honor Roll, three-time member of The American All-Academic Team (2015-17) and completed his bachelor’s degree in recreation & park in the summer of 2017.
As ECU’s Volunteer Assistant Coach the last two seasons, Buscaino worked directly with the outfielders. In 2016, he helped mentor Freshman All-America and First-Team All-American Conference selection Dwanya Williams-Sutton, who led the league in batting average (.360) and on-base percentage (.455), while standing second in slugging (.551).
Senior Garrett Brooks earned his second-straight all-regional team selection after batting .500 with two doubles, two RBI and eight putouts in the 2016 Charlottesville Regional. Fellow classmate Parker Lamm was named the 2016 Williams Jungle Offensive MVP after batting .287 in the leadoff position with 28 RBI and 28 runs scored. Defensively, he registered 94 putouts, two assists and did not commit an error in 96 chances.
