Murray State Baseball Announces Hiring of Steve Adkins

Murray State baseball announced on Wednesday afternoon the hiring of Steve Adkins as the new pitching coach for the program. Adkins comes to the Racers with six seasons of Division 1 coaching experience.

The Elmhurst, Illinois native most recently held the position of pitching coach at UMass for the 2021-22 season. While at UMass, Adkins helped lead the Minutemen to 22 wins, the most since 2012. The pitching staff at UMass gathered 373 strikeouts in 2022, the highest total in over a decade. The Minutemen also had two pitchers that picked up five saves last year under Adkins' leadership.

Prior to the stop at UMass, Adkins served as the pitching coach at Fairleigh Dickinson for 2020-21. As the leader of the Knights pitching staff, he saw the staff ERA lowered in each of his two years with the program.

Adkins also held a stay at Siena for three seasons for the 2017-19 campaigns. Under Adkins, the Saints pitching staff saw improvements in ERA, K/9, BB/9, and H/9 amongst others. In 2018 conference games, the Saints led the MAAC in ERA, Shutouts, BB/9, and strikeout-to-walk ratio.

While at Siena, Adkins helped in the development of 2019 Detroit Tigers draft pick, Brendan White. White ranked second in the NCAA in complete games while setting Siena's single-season strikeout record with 93 in 2019. Adkins also helped develop 2019 Philadelphia Phillies Free Agent Signee, Tom Sutera.

Adkins began his coaching career at NCAA Division II, Southwest Baptist in 2015-16. The Bearcats set the school's single-season strikeout record in 2016 with 304 strikeouts. While at SBU, Adkins played a key role in the development of Two-Time Division II All-American, Hunter Hisky.

As a player, Adkins pitched at fellow Missouri Valley member Bradley University from 2011-15. While at Bradley, he was named to the Athletic Directors' honor roll four times while earning MVC honor roll twice. As a senior, Adkins was named All-MVC while posting a 6-2 record with a 2.87 ERA in 53.1 innings pitched. Adkins struck out 56 and walked just 19 while leading the Braves to a 2015 NCAA Regional appearance.

"I told our pitching staff we would get someone that loves the game of baseball, is passionate about their development and is a great person," said Head Coach Dan Skirka. "I am confident that we checked all of those boxes with the hiring of Steve. He will be a big part of our program moving forward and I am excited to get to work alongside him."

"I'm thrilled to be a part of this baseball program and the Murray State community. I'd like to thank Dan (Skirka) and Nico Yantko for the opportunity," Adkins said. "This program has such a rich tradition and it's an honor to be trusted to uphold it. I can't wait to get to work with these young men as we head into our first year in the Missouri Valley Conference."

Murray State University

Murray State Baseball Announces Hiring of Steve Adkins

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