East Carolina University Men's Baseball

Godwin, who has been a part of nine NCAA Regional and two College World Series appearances coaching at the Division I level, enters his third year as head baseball coach at East Carolina University. A four-year letterman for the Pirates, Godwin was appointed as ECUs 16th skipper in the schools history on June 25, 2014 after completing a three-year stay at the University of Mississippi. During his two years at the helm of the program, Godwin has guided ECU to a pair of NCAA Regional berths, a Super Regional appearance, an American Athletic Conference Tournament title and a 78-44-1 (.638) overall record. Three players have earned All-America honors, six were named to all-regional teams (five in Charlottesville), six took home all-conference honors (five first-teamers), seven were selected as AAC Player-of-the-Week, while three were drafted by Major League Baseball teams. Off the field, his teams have excelled in the classroom by registering a 2.87 GPA or better all four semesters, including three semesters of 3.05 or higher with a program-best 3.42 in the fall of 2015. Thirty-seven (37) student-athletes have been named to the ECU Director of Athletics Honor Roll (27 garnering multiple selections), while 11 Pirates earned inclusion on the 2014-15 AAC All-Academic Team maintaining a minimum 3.00 GPA. His club recently received the American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA) and The American Team Academic Excellence Awards after registering a collective 3.31 GPA for the 2015-16 academic year. In the community, the Pirates have donated over 1,000 hours working with programs in the Pitt County area such as the Food Bank of Central and Eastern Carolina, Hope of Glory Good Samarian 5K, Wintergreen Intermediate School, North Carolina Packs for Patriots, First Born Community Development Center and the James and Connie Maynard Children's Hospital. On July 29, 2016 Godwin signed a three-year contract extension securing his position through the 2022 season. Godwin made an immediate impact in 2015 leading the Pirates to a 40-22 record, which included a second-place regular season finish (15-9) in The American. The 2015 American Coach-of-the-Year became the first skipper in program history to win 40 games in his initial season, guided ECU to a conference tournament title in its first year in the league and directed a return to NCAA post-season play its first since 2012 as the No. 2 seed in the Coral Gables Regional. The Snow Hill, N.C. native followed with another NCAA Regional berth (No. 3 seed in Charlottesville) and a Super Regional appearance (Lubbock, Texas) in 2016. ECU, who posted a 38-23-1 record and finished second in The American (15-8-1), rolled through regional play picking up wins against No. 20 Bryant (9-1), No. 10 Virginia (8-6) and William & Mary (8-4) en route to claiming the Charlottesville crown its fourth regional title. The Pirates continued their magical run, defeating No. 5 national seed Texas Tech, 8-6, in the opener of the Super Regional and came 90 feet away from making their first appearance in the Men's College World Series. Ole Miss (2011-14) Godwin served as Ole Miss' assistant coach and recruiting coordinator, where he helped lead the Rebels to the 2014 College World Series, their first 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. UCF (2009-11) 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. LSU (2006-08) Before to his stint at UCF, Godwin's offense at LSU hit .306 in 2008 with 100 homers and 95 stolen bases. The squad recorded at least 10 runs in a game 20 times and sported a .509 slugging percentage. Towards the end of the season, including NCAA Tournament play, LSU posted a 23-game winning streak en route to a trip to Omaha. A year earlier, Godwin helped build the top-ranked recruiting class in the nation in 2007 for LSU according to Collegiate Baseball - a class which featured nine signees selected in that season's MLB Draft. Notre Dame (2005-06) While in South Bend, the Fighting Irish posted a .313 batting average under Godwin's tutelage and claimed the Big East Tournament title to go along with a berth in the NCAA Lexington Regional. He coached Craig Cooper to All-America and Big East Player-of-the-Year honors on the way to becoming a seventh-round draft pick. Vanderbilt (2004-05) Godwin moved to Vanderbilt where he served as the Commodores' Director of Baseball Operations for two seasons before joining the Notre Dame staff as an assistant coach under then head coach Paul Manieri in 2005. UNC Wilmington (2003-04) Godwin made immediate contributions in the dugout and in the batting cage, helping lead UNC Wilmington to the program's first CAA championship and an appearance in the 2004 NCAA Regional Championship. East Carolina As A Player (1998-2001) A five-year member of the baseball program at East Carolina, Godwin redshirted as a freshman before serving as a top catcher for the Pirates over the next four seasons. The three-year team co-captain started 126 games as a sophomore, junior and senior, earning All-East Region honors from the American Baseball Coaches Association in his final season after batting .322 with 15 home runs and 45 RBI. The left-handed swinging Godwin also was a First-Team All-Colonial Athletic Association selection in 2001 after also delivering 14 doubles and drawing 23 walks in 57 games. In addition to his on-the-field accomplishments, Godwin excelled in the classroom at ECU as a two-time Academic All-America selection - one of four Pirates to ever earn the distinguished honor. After being named to third-team status in 1999, he followed up with second-team accolades as a senior in 2001. Godwin graduated magna cum laude from East Carolina in 2000 with a bachelor of science degree in management information systems, and after receiving the Pat Draughon Postgraduate Scholarship, went on to earn his MBA from ECU in 2002. He helped former ECU skipper Keith LeClair's teams win nearly 100 games more than they lost during his four seasons (169-76), including 46-plus wins in each of his final three years (46-16 in '99, 46-18 in '00 and 47-13 in '01). His career totals with the Pirates included 24 home runs, 31 doubles and 95 RBI. East Carolina won a pair CAA Tournament titles and advanced to the NCAA Regionals every season from 1999 to 2001. The Pirates were the top seed in their regional all three years, including a No. 6 national seed in 2001 where they advanced to the Super Regional round before being eliminated by Tennessee. Godwin was named to the all-tournament team at the 2001 NCAA regional, hosted by ECU in Wilson. After finishing his collegiate career, Godwin spent two seasons playing professionally with the Gateway Grizzlies in the Frontier League before getting back into the coaching ranks as an assistant coach at Kinston High School in 2003. In all, Godwin has worked with 47 players who have gone on to the professional ranks during his time as a coach at the Division I level. Godwin is the son of Kathy Dail and Lewis Godwin of Snow Hill.

Palumbo oversees all aspects of the Pirates' recruiting efforts, serves as the base running and infield coach, while assisting Godwin with the hitters. In his first year with the Pirates, Palumbo guided the squad to a No. 14 national ranking in double plays turned (59) marking the most by an ECU team since posting 62 twin-killings in 2007. He was also instrumental in helping the club rank second nationally in bunt singles (36), first in the American Athletic Conference in fielding percentage (.971) and second in the league in sac bunts (51). Hunter Allen stood third in the league with a .339 average and was the toughest hitter to strikeout fanning once for every 13.9 plate appearances. Charlie Yorgen ranked 11th in the country (first in AAC) with 16 sac bunts, while the infield combination of Allen to Yorgen to Bryce Harman turned a combined 37 of 59 double plays. Harman set the single-season school record with 570 putouts and Yorgen registered 178 assists to stand ninth on the single-season charts. In all, the 2015 AAC Tournament champions ranked among the top-3 in the league in seven offensive categories including sac bunts, batting average (.280/third) and hits (574/third). Prior to coming to ECU, Palumbo had mentored three ABCA/Rawlings All-East Region and six all-conference selections with the Rams, while helping the program rank among the NCAA leaders in seven key statistical categories. In 2014, Palumbo's club saw a dramatic increase in its offensive numbers from the year before where they stood among the Atlantic 10 (top-3) and NCAA (top-50) leaders in scoring (6.3 rpg/29th), runs (357/33rd), average (.292/36th), hits (589/38th) and on-base percentage (.373/47th). Five players earned All Atlantic-10 honors and were led offensively by a quartet of second-team performers in Chris Ayers, Bill Cullen, Joey Cujas and Vimael Machin. As the infield instructor at VCU, Palumbo's clubs ranked either first or second in the conference in fielding percentage, which included a No. 7 national standing in 2013 (.980). Over the course of three seasons, the Rams boasted an impressive .975 fielding clip. In 2011, Palumbo helped guide UCF to a 39-23 record - its best since 2005 - and its first trip to the NCAA Tournament in seven years with a No. 2 seed in the Tallahassee Regional. The Knights also posted their best Conference USA finish (fourth) since joining the league in 2006. Regarded as one of the top fielding coaches in the country, Palumbo's 2011 UCF squad shattered the school's single-season record with a .978 fielding percentage, committing only 53 errors in 62 games, and ranking ninth nationally. Behind strong defense, including a stretch of eight-straight games without recording an error, the Knights posted two wins each over Florida, Stetson and Rice, in addition to victories against Florida State and Alabama. Palumbo has been outstanding on the recruiting trail during his time as an assistant coach. Under the direction of first-year skipper Terry Rooney in 2009, Palumbo and the Knights put together Collegiate Baseball Newspaper's fourth-ranked recruiting class and followed with the nation's 20th-best class heading into the 2011 season. Those rankings were the highest-ever in program history. The staff's recruiting efforts quickly paid off as the 2010 squad won 33 games despite being the only team in the country to have five freshmen make at least 35 starts, including three infielders. That same season, Palumbo's infield turned a school-record 61 double plays, ranking among the nation's top-10 in that category. Not only did the Knights possess solid defense, but they also turned heads at the plate setting school and Conference USA marks with a .343 batting average and .435 on-base percentage. Further, UCF set program records with 78 homers and a .538 slugging percentage. During his time with the Knights, Palumbo coached two Louisville Slugger All-Americans, a Golden Spikes Award finalist, a pair of Freshman All-Americans, a Conference USA Freshman-of-the-Year and two first team all-conference honorees. A native of Bowie, Md., Palumbo is no stranger to the Colonial Athletic Association having played at George Mason from 2001-04 before serving as an assistant coach with the Patriots from 2006-08. He spent three seasons as the program's recruiting coordinator and hitting coach, and oversaw a defense that finished with a .970 fielding percentage - second in the league - during his final season in 2008, while posting a third-place conference finish, a .311 team batting average and 63 home runs. During his time at George Mason, Palumbo helped guide four players into the professional ranks including three-time all-conference honoree and ABCA All-East Region selection Scott Krieger, as well as Louisville Slugger Freshman All-American Justin Bour. A two-time CAA Defensive Player and Scholar Athlete-of-the-Year selection, Palumbo finished his career as the Patriots all-time leader in hits (283), at-bats (865), games played (218) and games started (217), while ranking among the top-10 in runs, stolen bases, total bases, RBI and walks. During his senior campaign, he led the nation in runs scored per game (1.4), hit a career-best .402 and led the Patriots to an at-large berth in the NCAA Tournament - the program's first appearance since 1993. Palumbo was selected in the15th-round round by the San Francisco Giants in the 2004 Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft and was later named a Northwest League All-Star with the Salem-Keizer Volcanoes. In 2010 he was selected as a member of the CAA's Silver Anniversary team. Palumbo, a 2004 graduate of George Mason, and his wife Sarah have one son, Grayson. Palumbo graduated cum laude receiving his degree in administration of justice.