Lamar University Athletics

After a two-year playing career as a Cardinal, Justin Eckols is in his fourth season with Lamar University Baseball, and his first as the volunteer assistant coach after one season as the director of player personnel and two years as a graduate manager.

Eckols, of  Doble High School in Houston, Texas, played his junior college career at Paris Junior College. The former catcher played in 82 games during his two-year stint with LU in 2014 and 2015. He hit for a career .270 batting average and boasted a .984 fielding percentage from behind the plate. Upon graduation from Lamar he joined the coaching staff as a graduate manager for 2016 and 2017 before being promoted to the Director of Player Personnel position for the 2018 season. He was given the opportunity to throw batting practice on a national stage when he was asked by slugger Reid Russell to be his pitcher at the TD Ameritrade Home Run Derby in Omaha after the 2016 season.