Mercer University Baseball

GIBSON HIGHLIGHTS Overall Record: 728-504 (.591 winning percentage) 22 seasons as Mercer Head Coach (Hired in 2004) Education: Mercer, 1986 & 1988 1 Golden Spikes Award winner, 9 All-Americans 4 NCAA Regional appearances (2010, 2013, 2015, 2019) 3 conference tournament championships 4 regular season conference championships (2013, 2015, 2016, 2017) 34 student-athletes selected in MLB Draft With a philosophy based on the concepts of striving for excellence in the classroom, reaching out in the community and team achievement on the field, Mercer head coach Craig Gibson has led his alma mater to unparalleled success over 22 seasons at the baseball program's helm. Since taking over for the legendary Barry Myers in 2004, Gibson has guided the Bears from the depths of the Atlantic Sun Conference to the top of the Southern Conference, all while establishing Mercer as one of the most respected programs in the southeast. Consistency has become the standard under Gibson, as Mercer is one of just three NCAA Division I programs with 35 wins for 13 seasons (2010-23), joining LSU and Vanderbilt. A large part of that success is due to the program’s dominance at OrthoGeorgia Park at Claude Smith Field. The program is 253-117 overall at home since the start of the 2012 campaign, including a 24-4 mark in 2014 to rank seventh in the nation with a .857 winning percentage. The Bears have captured a number of program-defining victories over some of the nation’s elite with Gibson at the helm. Merce

A former All-American with several years of professional playing experience, Kade McClure enters his first season in Macon after joining the program ahead of the 2026 season. McClure was formerly the Director of Pitching Development at Kent State. During his time with the Golden Flashes, McClure oversaw the development of the pitching staff using a variety of data and analytics that he collected with a variety of programs such as Trackman, Yakkertech, Playsight and Synergy. After finishing 27-27 in 2024, the Golden Flashes improved drastically in McClure’s first season with the program, ending 2025 with a 38-18 record while turning around several major pitching categories. Team Pitching Stats Category 2024 2025 WHIP 1.60 1.49 Innings 465.2 469.0 Hits Allowed 533 506 Earned Runs 312 297 Walks Allowed 210 194 Strikeouts 466 450 Home Runs given up 61 54 In McClure’s first year with Kent State, the Golden Flashes produced a First Team All-MAC arm and a member of their stable received Pitcher of the Week honors. Jacob Bean finished third in the Mid-American Conference with a 4.20 ERA and six wins while striking out 72 across 75 frames to receive All-Conference laurels in 2025. The MAC named southpaw Eric Chalus the Pitcher of the Week on April 28, 2025, after Chalus tossed seven scoreless innings and punched out seven across two performances that helped keep Kent State’s six-game winning streak alive to end the season. Before joining Kent State’s coaching staff, McClure capped off

A board-certified athletic trainer who has already logged a previous professional stop at a fellow Southern Conference institution, Katie Feller begins her first year at Mercer in 2024-25 as an assistant athletic trainer for the Bears. She is specifically responsible for the prevention and care of injuries for MU's volleyball and baseball teams, but also serves as a preceptor for Mercer's Master of Science in Athletic Training program. Feller came to Macon by way of Spartanburg, S.C., after completing the Spartanburg Regional Healthcare System's rehabilitation-specialty residency program—one of only four accredited rehab-specialty residencies in the country. She served her year of residency at Wofford where she was charged with the day-to-day athletic training duties for the men's soccer team and the tennis programs, both of which registered impressive seasons with her roaming the sidelines. A former student-athlete herself, Feller was the anchor for an impressive backline at Wisconsin-La Crosse and logged time in 88 matches (48 starts) across four seasons (2017-21) for the Eagles. She helped pace the program to a cumulative 66-16-11 (.769) clip, as well as a pair of appearances in the NCAA Division III Tournament, and also picked up Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) Defensive Player of the Year and all-region accolades as a junior. Feller was also a two-time all-conference selection for UWL as well. A native of Madison, Wisc., Feller earned her bachelor's

10 seasons at Mercer (Hired in July 2015) Education: UNC Asheville, 2000 Willie Stewart completed his ninth season as an assistant coach for Mercer in 2024, ...