Murray State University Athletics
Staff Directory
- Title:
- Assistant Coach
- Email:
- Phone:
- (270) 809-3475
Steve Adkins is entering his fourth season as an assistant coach for Murray State baseball in 2025-26 and continues to play a key role in elevating the Racers’ pitching staff into one of the Missouri Valley Conference’s most consistent units. In 2025, Adkins helped guide Murray State on its historic run to the College World Series while leading a staff that finished atop the MVC in ERA (5.22), saves (20) and opponent batting average (.267). Under his direction, Nic Schutte earned First-Team All-MVC honors while leading the league with 97 strikeouts, Isaac Silva also earned First-Team All-MVC recognition before signing as an undrafted free agent with the Baltimore Orioles organization, and Graham Kelham paced the conference with nine saves. Adkins also helped develop Jacob Hustedde into an MVC All-Tournament Team selection.
In 2023, Adkins oversaw a major step forward for the Racers on the mound, highlighted by a drop in team ERA from 5.71 to 4.74, then the program’s lowest mark since 2009, and the best opponent batting average (.262) since 1984. The staff ranked among the top groups in the MVC in several categories, including team ERA (third), hits allowed per game (9.1, third), opponent slugging percentage (.394, second), and walks per nine innings (4.0, third), while producing a 2.1-to-1 strikeout-to-walk ratio. That season, Murray State posted a 34-23 overall record and exceeded expectations with a fifth-place MVC finish after being picked ninth in the preseason, with junior right-hander Cade Vernon earning MVC All-Tournament honors. In Adkins’ first season with the Racers, he helped guide the program to its third straight 30-win campaign, and in 2024 he helped lead Vernon to being selected by the San Francisco Giants in the MLB Draft.
Adkins arrived in Murray ahead of the 2022-23 season with six years of Division I coaching experience, most recently serving as pitching coach at UMass in 2021-22. With the Minutemen, he helped the program reach its highest win total since 2012 and guided a staff that posted 373 strikeouts, its best total in more than a decade, while developing multiple late-inning options, including two pitchers who recorded five saves each. Prior to UMass, Adkins spent two seasons at Fairleigh Dickinson (2020-21), where the staff ERA improved in each of his two years, and three seasons at Siena (2017-19). At Siena, his pitching staffs consistently improved across key metrics, and in 2018 conference play the Saints led the MAAC in ERA, shutouts, walks allowed per nine innings and strikeout-to-walk ratio. He also helped develop standout arms including Brendan White, a 2019 Detroit Tigers draft pick who ranked second nationally in complete games while setting Siena’s single-season strikeout record, and Tom Sutera, who signed with the Philadelphia Phillies as a free agent.
Adkins began his coaching career at NCAA Division II Southwest Baptist (2015-16), where the Bearcats set the school’s single-season strikeout record in 2016 and he played a role in the development of two-time Division II All-American Hunter Hisky. A native of Elmhurst, Illinois, Adkins played collegiately at Bradley University from 2011-15. As a senior, he earned All-MVC honors after posting a 6-2 record with a 2.87 ERA across 53.1 innings, striking out 56 with just 19 walks while helping lead the Braves to an NCAA Regional appearance. He was also a four-time Athletic Director’s Honor Roll selection and twice earned MVC Honor Roll recognition.
