Eric Leyba - Softball Coach - Oregon State University Athletics

Eric Leyba

Title:
Assistant Coach
Email:
eric.leyba@oregonstate.edu
Phone:
737-2789

Eric Leyba finished his fourth season with the Beavers in 2022 working primarily with the infielders and hitters.

Two infielders - Frankie Hammoude and Kaiea Higa - were honored by the Pac-12 for their performances in the 2023 season, taking Third Team and All-Freshman honors, respectively. The Beavers took down a trio of ranked opponents, including #9 Washington by an 11-1 win via run-rule in just four-and-a-half frames.

Leyba helped lead Oregon State to one of the best seasons in program history in 2022, as the Beavers made their second ever trip to the Women’s College World Series and ended the season ranked No. 8 in the nation. For their efforts, Oregon State's staff was named NFCA Pacific Region Coaching Staff of the Year. OSU finished the campaign with a record of 39-22, in a season that included a 17-game winning streak. The Beavers won seven games vs. ranked opponents.Mariah Mazon and Frankie Hammoude both earned All-America honors for their performance on the year..

Leyba got to work in the fall of 2018 working closely with a young-infield corps. Specifically, he worked with freshmen Frankie Hammoude and Maia Rader who both earned Pac-12 All-Freshman honors at first base and shortstop.

On the offensive side, Leyba worked with the batters to help bring strike recognition training into daily batting practice. This helped lead the team to the fewest strike outs since 1997. With his training, OSU posted a .258 batting average while also combining for 53 doubles, five triples and 27 home runs, including six homers and eight doubles in the first Oregon sweep since 2006.

Leyba came to Oregon State after previous stints as the head coach at Churchill High School, the University of Oregon and New Mexico State. As the head coach at Churchill High School, Leyba led the Lancers to capture the State Title in 2016. He served as the head coach for 15 years and is ranked one of the Top-20 All-Time Winningest Oregon High School Coaches.

Prior to his stint at Churchill HS, Leyba was an assistant at Oregon from 1997-99 working primarily with hitting and pitching. While with Oregon, the Ducks recorded multiple-season records including season at-bats record in 1999 (1,854) and season assists record in 1999 (738). The Ducks also posted numerous records that still stand in the top-10 of the program including: Runs scored (No. 8. 361 in ’98 and No. 9. 343 in ’99), Runs-per game (No. 3. 6.86 in ’99 and No. 7. 6.33 in ’98), RBI (No. 8. 311 in ’98 and No. 9. 307 in ’99), Hits (No. 3. 552 in ’98) and Home runs (No. 6. 69 in ’99). In his three years with the program, Oregon finished with four NFCA All-Region honorees and six Pac-12 All-Conference awards. In 1999, the NCAA National Coaches Poll ranked them No. 13 to move up four spots from the 1998 No. 17 ranking.

Leyba started his Division I coaching career at his alma mater, New Mexico State in the fall of 1989. He was named interim head coach for the 1994 season. During the ’94 season, NMSU won 21 games – including five wins over Power Five opponents. The ’94 team also set the season (759) and game (24) records for most assists. In his final season with the Aggies, NMSU won 40 games and finished tied-for-second in the Big West Conference. Leyba worked primarily with the infielders, pitchers and hitters. In 1996, his guidance helped Danny Dunn earn Big West Conference Pitcher of the Year and First Team All-Conference honors.

As an athlete, Leyba began playing fast pitch at the age of 16. He was named to the Mexican National Team in 1994. From there he played in both the Class A and B levels at the ASA State and National competitions. He also has three International Congress World Tournaments under his belt (1992, ’93 and ’95). In 1995 he was named the Most Valuable Pitcher in the U23 Mexican National Team.

Currently, Leyba owns Coaches Athletic in Eugene, Ore. This is the only indoor hitting facility in the area. He was also certified with the OnBase University in the summer of 2019 that teaches industry professionals how to improve player performance through deep understanding of how the body functions during hitting and pitching.

A graduate from New Mexico State and a Deming, New Mexico native, Leyba has one daughter, Tori, and a son, Niko.