Tech Baseball Hires Assistant Coach

The hiring of Gustafson completes Spencer’s staff for the 2008-09 season as Trent Petrie will return as an assistant coach while Daren Hays returns as the Director of Operations and Andy Jarvis as the volunteer assistant.  He will have coaching responsibilities in all facets of the game including pitching, offense and defense.

“Ed brings to Tech a wealth of baseball experience from both the college side and the professional baseball side,” said Texas Tech Head Coach Dan Spencer.  “Ed has a tremendous network to recruit from and the ability to coach all facets of the game. He will work with me coaching pitchers, as well as the outfielders and will have a large influence in our offensive philosophy. I am extremely excited about Ed, his wife Alicia and his children being part of the Lubbock and Texas Tech community.”

Gustafson brings to Texas Tech 15 years of professional experience including coaching at the amateur and college level as well as pro scouting.  After spending five years as a professional baseball player with the San Francisco Giants and the Minnesota Twins, his first coaching stint landed him at Lewis & Clark College in Portland, Oregon.  He served as an assistant coach at Lewis & Clark between 1993 and 1995 where he focused exclusively on pitchers and catchers and assisted in recruiting and camp management.

Following his time at Lewis & Clark he spent the next four years as the Tacoma Timbers Baseball Club Associate Head Coach and Director of Operations.  The Tacoma Timbers were a summer league baseball organization in the Pacific International League and he helped guide them to three NBC World Series appearances, including a runner-up finish in 1995.

Gustafson then moved on to the University of Portland where he was an assistant coach between 1995 and 1997 and then spent one year as a pro scout in the Seattle Mariners organization (1998).  After just one year with the Mariners, he moved over to the University of Washington where he served as the pitching coach for the Huskies between 1998 and 2001.

In 2001, he went back to pro scouting as he took an area scouting supervisor position with the Arizona Diamondbacks and was a job he held until making the move to Texas Tech.  While with the Diamondbacks, he was responsible for all aspects of operations in six states and three provinces.  He tallied a 100-percent success rate in signing drafted players as part of a staff that garnered the TOPS Organization of the Year Award.

He is a former player and graduate of Washington State University and he and his wife Alicia have been married for 12 years.  The couple has three children Cade (8), Cole (6) and Erika (3).