RENO, Nev. – Nevada baseball head coach T.J. Bruce has elevated Abe Alvarez to an assistant coach on his staff, and has brought back former Wolf Pack player Kyle Hunt as a volunteer assistant coach. That fills all positions on Bruce’s staff, after bringing in Troy Buckley in early July as an associate head coach.
Former college standout and World Series champion Alvarez spent last season as the Wolf Pack’s volunteer assistant coach, serving as the first-base coach on gamedays.
“We are very excited to elevate Abe Alvarez to an assistant coaching position on our staff,” said Bruce. “He did a phenomenal job last season and is more than deserving of this promotion after all his hard work and dedication to our program.”
With Alvarez on staff last season, Nevada posted a team ERA of 4.60, the lowest in Bruce’s four-year tenure with the Pack. Two of the Wolf Pack’s pitchers from last season, Grant Ford and Ryan Anderson, were drafted in the 2019 MLB Draft. Ford was selected in the fifth round by the Pittsburgh Pirates, the highest by a Wolf Pack player since 2013.
Returning to the program is Hunt, who played from 2012-15 and posted a career batting average of .244 with 203 starts, 37 doubles, eight homers and 86 RBI. Hunt was part of the Pack’s first ever Mountain West regular-season championship in 2015 where he had a career-best fielding percentage of .971 and batted .261 with 27 RBI.
“We could not be more excited to bring Kyle Hunt back to the Wolf Pack as a volunteer assistant coach,” said Bruce. “Kyle bleeds Silver & Blue from his playing days and his recent coaching experience will make him an invaluable asset to our team.”
Hunt is no stranger to serving on the Pack coaching staff, serving as an undergrad assistant in 2016 before being elevated to Director of Player Development and On-Campus Recruiting in 2017. Hunt then spent two seasons as an assistant coach at Irvine Valley Community College coaching the infielders.
