COACHING STAFF

Under the Direction of Head Coach Cliff Godwin

Head Coach Cliff Godwin

Cliff Godwin, a four-year Pirate letterman who has been a part of seven NCAA Regional and two College World Series appearances coaching at the Division I level, was appointed head baseball coach at East Carolina University on June 25, 2014.

With his hiring, Godwin becomes ECU's 16th head baseball coach in the school's history.

Raised in Snow Hill, N.C. and a prep product of Greene Central High School, Godwin most recently served as Ole Miss' assistant coach and recruiting coordinator, where he helped lead the Rebels to their first College World Series appearance since 1972. During his three-year tenure in Oxford, Godwin was an integral part of NCAA Regional teams all three seasons and spearheaded recruiting efforts that garnered four Top 22 recruiting classes, including a No. 5 ranking in 2013 by Perfect Game, and had nine Major League Draft selections - three of which went in the first five rounds.

En route to a share of third place at the 2014 CWS, Godwin's Rebel hitters ranked first in the Southeastern Conference in batting average (.303) and second in both home runs (42) and runs scored (396) on its way to the league's West Division crown.

A former catcher for the Pirates from 1998 to 2001, Godwin mentored 2013 Johnny Bench Award Winner and first-team All-America selection Stuart Turner, who batted .374 and threw out 52 percent of base runners on steal attempts.

He continued to develop some of the top hitters in recent program history in 2014 as senior Will Allen and junior Auston Bousfield earned All-America accolades, while J.B. Woodman garnered Freshman All-America status. Allen, the Rebels leading hitter (.341) and top RBI man with 64, is a finalist for the `14 Johnny Bench Award.

Prior to joining the Rebels, Godwin spent three seasons as the associate head coach at the University of Central Florida, where he directed the Knights' offense and also served as recruiting coordinator.

In his three years at UCF, Godwin helped put the Golden Knights on the map with the nation's fourth-ranked recruiting class in 2010 before following with a Top 20 class in 2011. He also helped lead the Knights back to NCAA Regional action in 2011 for the first time since 2004. Paced by First-Team All-Conference USA sluggers Jonathan Griffin and D.J. Hicks, UCF led the league in home runs, slugging percentage, hits, runs, RBI and doubles. In addition, his development of Beau Taylor, who batted .325 with five home runs and 47 RBI, earned him inclusion on the 2011 Johnny Bench Award Watch List.

In 2010, SEBaseball.com named Godwin C-USA Assistant Coach-of-the-Year as he played an integral role in the Knights' school-record and C-USA-record .343 batting average. The squad also posted 78 home runs and a .538 slugging percentage, both school standards.

Assistant Coach/Recruiting Coordinator Jeff Palumbo

Jeff Palumbo, a nine-year coaching veteran at the Division I level, was named assistant coach and recruiting coordinator at East Carolina University on July 1, 2014.

Following coaching stints at George Mason (2006-08), UCF (2009-11) and Virginia Commonwealth (2012-14), Palumbo will oversee all aspects of the Pirates' recruiting efforts, serve as the base running and infield coach, while assisting Godwin with the hitters.

During the last three seasons with the Rams, Palumbo has mentored three ABCA/Rawlings All-East Region and six all-conference selections, while helping the program rank among the NCAA leaders in seven key statistical categories.

Pitching Coach Dan Roszel

Dan Roszel just completed his fourth season on the East Carolina baseball staff after being promoted to associate head coach on July 16, 2012.

During his four-year tenure with the Pirates, Roszel has mentored one of the top pitching staffs in the country, which has included seven Major League Draft picks, three All-America and 12 All-Conference USA selections, as well as helped ECU to 141 wins with a pair of NCAA Regional appearances.

Roszel's staffs have consistently ranked among the national leaders in three of the last four years in regard to ERA, which included a 2.67 mark in 2011 that stood seventh. After ranking 43rd (3.37 ERA) in 2012 and 114th (4.07) in 2013, his group of hurlers posted a 3.01 earned run average that ranked 29th in the country and fifth in the league standings.

Assistant Coach/Camp Coordinator Frankie Everitte

Everitte joined Cliff Godwin’s  staff in 2014, and will serve as the program's assistant baseball coach and camp coordinator. 

Everitte, came to ECU after two years as an assistant coach at Campbell University. In 2013, he coached the CU outfield, guiding All-American and national stolen bases leader Ben McQuown. He also aided associate head coach Justin Haire with hitting instruction and on-campus recruiting.

Prior to Campbell, Everitte spent two seasons at Brunswick Community College. During his two seasons at BCC, Everitte assisted in coaching two All-Americans, six all-region selections and helped send 14 players to four year institutions, coaching the Dolphin outfield and hitters, while coaching first base and handling recruiting duties.

Prior to his time at Brunswick, Everitte spent two years at Coastal Carolina working as a student manager for head coach Gary Gilmore. While at CCU, Everitte was responsible for assisting the Coastal coaching staff with day to day operations and aiding with camps.

Director of Operations Pete Buscaino

Pete Buscaino was named Director of Baseball Operations at East Carolina University on July 1, 2014.

Buscaino will handle a variety of administrative duties, including team travel, game-day organization, summer and winter camps, special events coordination and community outreach efforts with the Pirate program.

Prior to his appointment at ECU, Buscaino spent the last four years at UCF where he served as a student manager for the Knights baseball team. During his tenure, he was responsible for organization of all equipment, field preparation at Jay Bergman Field, and statistical analysis for coaching staff, while also organizing community outreach events.

Strength & Conditioning Coach Blaine Kinsley

Blaine Kinsley begins his second season with the East Carolina strength and conditioning staff, where he is primarily responsible for working with baseball, softball and tennis, while assisting with football.

Kinsley comes to ECU after spending 16 months working in the Chicago Cubs organization as the head strength coach for the Peoria Chiefs, the Cubs Low Class A affiliate. While in Peoria, he was responsible for implementing the strength and conditioning program and injury prevention. Following the 2012 season, Kinsley was named Midwest League Strength and Conditioning Coach-of-the-Year.

Athletic Trainer Zac Womack

Zac Womack joined the East Carolina Athletic Training staff in January of 2008 dealing primarily with the nationally ranked baseball team and in the Fall of 2012 was promoted to ECU's Head Athletic Trainer, where he oversees the daily operation of the athletic training facility and its staff members

A native of Jamestown, N.C., Womack returned to ECU after spending seven years in the New York Yankees minor league organization. While in the Yankees organization, he spent time with the Gulf Coast Yankees (2001), Greensboro Bats (2002), Battle Creek Yankees (2003-04) and the Trenton Thunder (2005-07).

Womack has worked alongside some of the farm systems top prospects (Robinson Cano, Joba Chamberlain, Brett Gardner, Philip Hughes and Chein-Ming Wang) as well as working Major League rehabilitation assignments in Trenton with Roger Clemens, Octavio Dotel, Hideki Matsui and Gary Sheffield.

His main area of concentration is the thrower's arm care/ maintenance program, which focuses on keeping the Pirates arms healthy and strong. He is a certified by the National Athletic Trainers Association (NATA) and is licensed as an athletic trainer by the state of North Carolina.