Background
Gino Olivieri became the softball coach at Alfred University prior to the 2006 season.
In 10 seasons, Olivieri has a 257-131 record, with the 257 victories representing an AU career record. He has taken a Saxons team that routinely finished near the bottom of the Empire 8 standings to one that is now one of the top squads in the conference, attaining regional and national prominence.
Olivieri and the Saxons enjoyed the best season ever in program history in 2015. AU posted a 13-1 record in Empire 8 Conference play, winning the team's first-ever outright conference regular season title and hosting its second-ever E8 championship tournament. The Saxons won the tournament title and the league's automatic bid to the NCAA Division III tournament.
The Saxons hosted an NCAA regional tournament, winning three games and moving on to the Super Regional round. At the Tiffin, OH, Super Regional, Alfred took two of three from host Heidelberg to advance to the program's first-ever NCAA championship tournament, played in Salem, VA. Alfred finished the year 40-7, setting a new school record for wins in a season, and was ninth in the final National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA) Division III rankings. It marked the highest spot AU had ever been in the NFCA poll; the only other time Alfred finished the year ranked was 2010, when the Saxons were 25th in the final NFCA poll.
Olivieri was named the Empire 8 Conference Coach of the Year in 2015, the third time he has earned that distinction. He was also named the conference's top coach in 2010 and 2008.
In 2014, Olivieri guided the Saxons to a 29-12 record, with the 29 wins being the second-most in a single year in program history. AU was runner-up in the Empire 8 Conference championship tournament and earned an at-large bid to the NCAA Division III championships, the program's second-ever national tournament appearance. The Saxons won two games in the Rochester Regional, finishing runner-up. The Saxons would finish 28th in the final NFCA national rankings for Division III.
In 2013, AU went 24-19 (7-5 Empire 8, tied for fourth in the conference), advancing to the conference championship tournament for the sixth time in Olivieri’s tenure. AU also played in the ECAC South Championship tournament in 2013.
In 2010, the Saxons went 37-8, with the 37 wins representing a new school single-season record. It marked the fourth season in a row that Olivieri’s Saxons set new school single-season win standards. The Saxons went 13-1 in Empire 8 play, tying Ithaca for the conference title, the first ever at Alfred. AU hosted the Empire 8 Conference tournament and was runner-up, earning an at large bid to the NCAA tournament, also a first in program history. Alfred went 3-2 at the NCAA regional tournament, falling in the title game to champion Ithaca. For the season, AU defeated nationally-ranked opponents four times; the team itself was ranked in the NFCA national Top 25 poll for the first time in school history. AU also climbed as high as second in the NCAA Northeast regional rankings. After the 2010 season, Olivieri was named Empire 8 Coach of the Year and also  ECAC Upstate Coach of the Year.
Olivieri’s impact on the Saxons was immediate. In his first season at AU, he led the AU to a fourth-place finish in the Empire 8 Conference standings and the team's first-ever berth in the conference championship tournament. In 2007, he guided AU to a school single-season record 23 victories and a runner-up finish in the ECAC Upstate championship tournament.
In 2008, the Saxons set a new school single-season record for wins, with 24. Olivieri was named Empire 8 Conference Coach of the Year that season after guiding AU to the Empire 8 championships, where the Saxons won their first-ever conference tournament game. AU again played in the ECAC Upstate championships in 2008, going 2-2 and finishing runner-up.
In 2009, AU again established a new school single-season record for wins, with 27, including one against then 13th-ranked Ithaca, the first time Alfred had ever beaten the Bombers. Alfred would earn a second straight berth to the Empire 8 championships and a third consecutive appearance in the ECAC championships (runners-up).
Olivieri has coached three Empire 8 Players of the Year (Karen Folts in 2009, Nicole Hedrick in 2010 and Liz Thompson in 2015); an Empire 8 Rookie of the Year (Emily Fenton, 2010); 58 all-conference players; 24 All-Region players; seven First Team ECAC Upstate all-stars; three NFCA All-American (Nicole Hedrick, Second Team 2010; Liz Thompson and Alison Wickwire, Second Team 2015); 20 National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA) All-American Scholar Athletes; and two CoSIDA Academic All-Region honorees (Folts, 2009; Dana Torchia, 2015).
During Olivieri’s tenure in Alfred, more than 40 individual school records have been set. Between 2007 and 2009, Olivieri’s teams were ranked in the NCAA regional rankings each year and in 2009 reached third in the NCAA’s Northeast Region’s rankings. In 2010, and again in 2015, Alfred attained the top spot in the Northeast Region rankings.
The Saxons have ranked among the top 25 in the nation, out of nearly 400 teams, in several team offensive and defensive categories. In 2009, the team led the country in slugging percentage (.605) and ranked third in team batting average (.387), homeruns per game (1.18) and runs scored per game (8.5). In 2014, AU led the nation in team hitting in late April before finishing 26th (.346). In 2015, Alfred ranked among the top five in the nation in hitting, slugging, scoring and fielding. AU led the nation in fielding in early April with a .981 mark. The Saxons finished year ranked sixth nationally in slugging (.552) and eighth in win-loss percentage (.851).
Olivieri earned a bachelor's degree in criminal justice with a minor in political science in 1981 from the University of Delaware, where he was a three-year starting tailback for the football team, helping the Blue Hens to an NCAA National Championship in 1979. He was a member of the Detroit Lions for two seasons (1981 and 1982) before retiring in 1982 due to a shoulder injury. Olivieri served 20 years in the Monroe County Sheriff's Department as a canine handler, retiring in 2002.
He and his wife, Janet, live in Sparta, NY, and have three children: Frank, Gina, and Michelle. His daughters both played Division I collegiate softball - Gina at University of Maryland-Baltimore County and Michelle at Binghamton University. Their son, Frank, played baseball at Ithaca College.
