Photo by: Maria Lysaker | Rice Athletics
Pierce Announces Staff Additions and Assignments
7/15/2025 5:02:00 PM | Baseball
2025-26 lineup
Houston-Bixby Family Head Baseball Coach David Pierce formally announced on Tuesday the addition of two coaches to his staff, as well as new roles for several returning members of his staff.
Clay Van Hook has been named Associate Head Coach and Recruiting Coordinator and will work with the Owls' hitters and outfielders, J.J. Altobelli joins the Owls as an assistant coach and will work with the infielders in addition to assisting Van Hook with recruiting and the Rice hitters, Mikey Hoehner will move from Director of Player Development to Assistant Coach and Roman Gomez will has been named the Owls' new baseball strength and conditioning coach.
Pierce will coach the Owls' pitchers, a role he held in his last six years as an assistant at Rice as well as during his head coaching stints at Sam Houston, Tulane, and in his first three seasons at Texas.
Pierce also announced that Justin Aspergen, who coached first base last season, will move from the field to become Director of Analytics and Scouting, as well as coordinate the baseball camps, and Lance Berkman will serve as a special assistant to the head coach.
"My goal when assembling this staff was to be less specialized and more diversified. I want coaches to be hands-on and create a better player-to-coach ratio, as well as have recruiting contacts, analytic backgrounds, and an understanding of the needs of the players. This staff structure will allow more attention to detail for all involved in the program," Pierce stated.
"I'm excited for our players to have the opportunity to work with men who are dedicated to our mission: win championships, get a Rice degree, and develop and grow with the opportunity to play professional baseball. They will benefit from a team of coaches who collaborate on ideas and are willing to do whatever it takes to put players in the best position to succeed," he stated.
"This staff has the experience, passion, and energy to recruit and develop the best players for Rice Baseball. They are committed to excellence and competing at the highest level of DI baseball. I'm excited to see the growth and development of the team under the leadership," Pierce added.
After spending the 2025 season as an assistant coach and recruiting coordinator at Houston, Van Hook returns to familiar surroundings at Reckling Park, where he coached from 2012-17.
He joined Hall of Fame coach Wayne Graham's staff as a volunteer assistant in 2012 and moved to a full-time position the following year. He helped guide the program to NCAA Tournament appearances all six years on South Main and advanced to the Super Regional in 2013 after defeating host Oregon (which featured Altobelli as the Ducks' starting shortstop).
During his tenure with Rice, the Owls claimed 11 All-American citations, 31 all-conference selections, and had 28 players selected in the MLB Draft.
Van Hook moved to Oklahoma in 2018 to join Skip Johnson's staff and coached the Sooners for five seasons, culminating with a run in 2022 to the College World Series championship series before falling to Ole Miss.
He was served as the head coach at UTA for two seasons (2023 & 2024) and led the Mavericks to the semifinals of the 2023 WAC Championship, as well as the team's first win over a top 10 opponent in six years with an 8-7 win over #10 TCU on March 7, 2023.
Altobelli joins the Owls after working as an area scout for the Boston Red Sox for the past nine seasons.
He covered the Southern California area from 2017 to 2023 before coming to Texas to evaluate talent in the central and northern parts of the state. He played a key role in scouting Red Sox top round draft picks Marcelo Mayer (#4 overall selection in the first round in 2021); Chris Murphy (sixth round in 2021), Mikey Romero (24th selection in the first round in 2022) and Chase Meidroth (fourth round in 2022).
After a standout career at Oregon, where he was a four-year starter and two-time captain while earning All-Pac 12 honors, he began his collegiate coaching career at Cal-State Fullerton for three seasons, highlighted by an appearance in the 2017 College World Series.
Clay Van Hook has been named Associate Head Coach and Recruiting Coordinator and will work with the Owls' hitters and outfielders, J.J. Altobelli joins the Owls as an assistant coach and will work with the infielders in addition to assisting Van Hook with recruiting and the Rice hitters, Mikey Hoehner will move from Director of Player Development to Assistant Coach and Roman Gomez will has been named the Owls' new baseball strength and conditioning coach.
Pierce will coach the Owls' pitchers, a role he held in his last six years as an assistant at Rice as well as during his head coaching stints at Sam Houston, Tulane, and in his first three seasons at Texas.
Pierce also announced that Justin Aspergen, who coached first base last season, will move from the field to become Director of Analytics and Scouting, as well as coordinate the baseball camps, and Lance Berkman will serve as a special assistant to the head coach.
"My goal when assembling this staff was to be less specialized and more diversified. I want coaches to be hands-on and create a better player-to-coach ratio, as well as have recruiting contacts, analytic backgrounds, and an understanding of the needs of the players. This staff structure will allow more attention to detail for all involved in the program," Pierce stated.
"I'm excited for our players to have the opportunity to work with men who are dedicated to our mission: win championships, get a Rice degree, and develop and grow with the opportunity to play professional baseball. They will benefit from a team of coaches who collaborate on ideas and are willing to do whatever it takes to put players in the best position to succeed," he stated.
"This staff has the experience, passion, and energy to recruit and develop the best players for Rice Baseball. They are committed to excellence and competing at the highest level of DI baseball. I'm excited to see the growth and development of the team under the leadership," Pierce added.
After spending the 2025 season as an assistant coach and recruiting coordinator at Houston, Van Hook returns to familiar surroundings at Reckling Park, where he coached from 2012-17.
He joined Hall of Fame coach Wayne Graham's staff as a volunteer assistant in 2012 and moved to a full-time position the following year. He helped guide the program to NCAA Tournament appearances all six years on South Main and advanced to the Super Regional in 2013 after defeating host Oregon (which featured Altobelli as the Ducks' starting shortstop).
During his tenure with Rice, the Owls claimed 11 All-American citations, 31 all-conference selections, and had 28 players selected in the MLB Draft.
Van Hook moved to Oklahoma in 2018 to join Skip Johnson's staff and coached the Sooners for five seasons, culminating with a run in 2022 to the College World Series championship series before falling to Ole Miss.
He was served as the head coach at UTA for two seasons (2023 & 2024) and led the Mavericks to the semifinals of the 2023 WAC Championship, as well as the team's first win over a top 10 opponent in six years with an 8-7 win over #10 TCU on March 7, 2023.
Altobelli joins the Owls after working as an area scout for the Boston Red Sox for the past nine seasons.
He covered the Southern California area from 2017 to 2023 before coming to Texas to evaluate talent in the central and northern parts of the state. He played a key role in scouting Red Sox top round draft picks Marcelo Mayer (#4 overall selection in the first round in 2021); Chris Murphy (sixth round in 2021), Mikey Romero (24th selection in the first round in 2022) and Chase Meidroth (fourth round in 2022).
After a standout career at Oregon, where he was a four-year starter and two-time captain while earning All-Pac 12 honors, he began his collegiate coaching career at Cal-State Fullerton for three seasons, highlighted by an appearance in the 2017 College World Series.
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