Travis Ebaugh - Baseball Coach - James Madison University Athletics

Travis Ebaugh

Title:
Assistant Coach

Travis Ebaugh returned to the JMU baseball program as an assistant coach under his former head coach Spanky McFarland prior to the 2005 season. Although he is not the first JMU alum to spend time on the Dukes' baseball coaching staff, he is the first to do so as a full-time assistant.

A native from Newport News, Va. and former Eastern Region Player of the Year at Woodside High School, Ebaugh was among McFarland's first JMU recruiting class. As a Duke, he was involved in 146 wins during his final four seasons after sitting out his true freshman year in 1999 with an injury and chalked up that season as a medical redshirt.

"Travis was one of my favorite players to coach, and if he takes the same approach to coaching, he will be a great college coach and an asset to the team. His success as a student at JMU, a pitcher and an outfielder on the winningest team in JMU history gives him instant credibility with the players," said McFarland.

Ebaugh works very closely with McFarland in management of the pitching staff. During games coordinates the bullpen.

A lefty, Ebaugh began his JMU career as a pitcher, but became the starting center fielder during his final two seasons. He posted a career batting average of .322 with eight homers and 64 RBIs. As a junior, he was named to the Colonial Athletic Association All-Tournament team and earned the JMU "Brad Babcock Bulldog Award" during the Dukes' school-record 44-win season. He started the top-seeded Dukes off with a first-pitch home run against Delaware in their opening game of the CAA tournament and finished the event 6-for-12 with a .571 on-base percentage.

He was one of three captains of the Dukes? 2003 team as a redshirt senior. He patrolled center field and earned the Dukes' "Rob Mummau Golden Glove Award" with a .981 fielding percentage that was made up of 101 putouts and two assists with only two errors. He hit .318 that spring, ranked second in the Colonial Athletic Association with eight sacrifice bunts and was eighth overall in the league with 244 plate appearances. He also earned JMU's "David Showalter Captains Award."

Upon graduation in 2003, Ebaugh worked for a year as a supervisor at ESPN in Bristol, Conn., putting his sports communications minor to work.