With more than a decade as a Division I coach, Rick Oliveri has been selected to restart the Lycoming College baseball program, as he was announced as the first full-time baseball coach in the college’s history after a national search, Director of Athletics Mike Clark said on Wednesday, June 2.

Officially announced on Dec. 17, 2020 by President Kent Trachte, Lycoming is planning on reestablishing the baseball program as a varsity sport and a member of the MAC Freedom in fall 2022. Oliveri will lead the program through an exploratory year in 2021-22, where he will convene practices for those on campus that are interested in joining the team as well as recruit and gather supplies, uniforms and other essentials for a successful debut in 2023.

“We are incredibly excited about beginning to play baseball at Lycoming College again,” Lycoming Director of Athletics Mike Clark said. “We attracted an incredibly qualified candidate pool, which tells us a lot about how much people equate baseball with Williamsport. To bring college baseball back to Lycoming College, which used to house Little League World Series competitors in its dorms, is something that will certainly add value to Williamsport’s long history as one of the preeminent baseball towns in the world and it will also further the College’s educational mission as one of the leading Liberal Arts institutions in the nation.

“Rick stood out to the hiring committee for many reasons,” Clark continued. “He has been a part of many admirable baseball programs throughout his career, working as both a pitching coach and a hitting coach. At every step of the way, his bosses have recommended him for his recruiting ability and more importantly, they spoke to the kind of person he is – his organizational skills, his work ethic, his knowledge of the game are all things that will give Lycoming baseball a leg up as it hits the ground running.”

Oliveri has spent the last 12 years as a coach at the Division I level, working the past five years at George Washington University, five before that at Monmouth University and two years at Radford University. In 13 years as an assistant coach, he has helped his teams to 10 winning seasons and 360 wins.

“I want to thank President Trachte, AD Mike Clark and Associate AD Joe Guistina for entrusting me to bring baseball back to Lycoming,” Oliveri said. “Getting to know the Lycoming community through the interview process made this opportunity even more exciting for my wife and me. Each conversation and interaction taught me how committed Lycoming’s leadership is to growth and excellence. I am thrilled for this unique challenge to build a competitive, values-driven program that will compete at the top of the Middle Atlantic Conference and represent the iconic baseball region of Williamsport in a first-class manner.”

Oliveri worked as the pitching coach at George Washington, also serving as the team’s academic coordinator and recruiting coordinator for his last three seasons, helping the team to a .500 or better record in all five seasons in the capitol.

Oliveri made an instant impact as the team’s academic coordinator after taking over in the spring of 2019, raising the team’s GPA from 2.81 to 3.06 in a year’s time. His influence was also shown in the team’s recruiting, signing a top-100 class in 2019 according to Perfect Game.

On the field, Oliveri presided over the team’s pitching staff, culminating in a 3.26 team ERA in 2020 that ranked second in the A-10. He turned around a pitching staff that ranked 11th in the A-10 in ERA the year before he arrived to finish in the top half of the league in four of his five seasons.