UMBC Tabs Veteran Maryland Coach Dave Gage to Lead Baseball Program
By Brian Hradsky | Maryland Sports Blog
UMBC baseball is staying close to home for its next head coach.
The Retrievers announced Tuesday that Dave Gage has been named the new head coach of the UMBC baseball program, bringing in a veteran coach with extensive experience around Maryland and a résumé that includes successful head-coaching runs at Stevenson University and Southern Vermont College along with three recent seasons at Mount St. Mary’s.
Gage takes over a UMBC program that is coming off one of its strongest recent seasons. The Retrievers finished 29-24 in 2026, earned the No. 2 seed in the America East postseason and placed nine players on the all-conference teams. Former head coach Liam Bowen, the 2026 America East Co-Coach of the Year, departed in June to become Towson’s head coach after seven seasons leading UMBC.
That means Gage is not being asked simply to rebuild the Retrievers. He is being asked to continue a program that has established itself as an America East contender.
UMBC Director of Athletics, Physical Education and Recreation Tiffany D. Tucker believes Gage is the right coach for that challenge.
“We are thrilled to welcome Coach Gage as the next head coach of UMBC baseball. Coach Gage is extremely well respected in the area and has had success at multiple levels as a head coach and top assistant.”
Gage also made it clear that continuing UMBC’s recent momentum will be a priority.
“I am incredibly thankful and excited to be the next Head Baseball Coach at UMBC. This is a great opportunity to continue the recent success of the program and bring high-achieving student-athletes to Baltimore County.”
A proven head coach
Gage brings considerably more head-coaching experience than a typical first-time Division I hire.
Before arriving at Mount St. Mary’s, Gage spent six seasons as the head coach at Stevenson University from 2018 through 2023. He finished his Stevenson tenure with the highest winning percentage by a head coach in program history and produced three seasons with at least 20 victories.
His first Stevenson team went 20-20 in 2018, giving the Mustangs their first season at .500 or better since 2013. The program followed with another 20-win season in 2019. After the COVID-shortened 2020 campaign, Gage eventually produced his best season at Stevenson in 2023 when the Mustangs went 21-17, their first winning season outside of the shortened 2020 campaign since 2013.
Gage also earned his 100th career victory on March 23, 2019.
His Stevenson players accumulated significant individual recognition.
Pitchers James Wiercinski, Matt Reich and Sam Downs each earned MAC Commonwealth Pitcher of the Year honors under Gage. Four players received All-Region recognition, while numerous Mustangs earned first-team, second-team or honorable mention All-MAC Commonwealth honors.
Academic success was also a consistent part of Gage’s programs. UMBC noted that his Stevenson teams earned American Baseball Coaches Association Academic Awards during all six of his seasons leading the Mustangs.
Building a winner at Southern Vermont
Gage’s success as a head coach began well before Stevenson.
He served as Southern Vermont’s pitching coach in 2012 before taking over the program as head coach in 2013. Over only five seasons, Gage became the winningest head coach in Southern Vermont baseball history.
His best season came in 2016, when Southern Vermont established a program record with 20 victories and finished runner-up in the New England Collegiate Conference. Nine Southern Vermont players earned all-conference recognition during Gage’s tenure, while two former players eventually continued into professional baseball.
That experience could be especially important at UMBC.
College baseball increasingly requires coaches to develop players who may have been overlooked by bigger programs, recruit effectively through the transfer portal and junior-college ranks and maximize the talent already on campus. Gage has spent much of his career winning without the resources available at college baseball’s traditional powers.
Pitching development could be Gage’s biggest strength
Perhaps the most interesting part of the hire is what Gage accomplished recently at Mount St. Mary’s.
Gage joined the Mountaineers in 2024 and eventually became associate head coach while working extensively with the pitching staff. His results were impressive.
Under Gage’s tutelage, Mount St. Mary’s pitching broke six program records, including marks for strikeouts, strikeouts per nine innings and opponents’ batting average.
In 2024, the Mountaineers recorded 507 strikeouts, setting a MAAC record. Mount St. Mary’s then led the conference in strikeouts per game in 2025.
Three Mount pitchers earned all-conference honors during Gage’s time with the program.
One of his most notable development success stories was Deven Sheerin. Gage helped Sheerin earn MAAC Rookie of the Year honors in 2024. Sheerin later emerged as an MLB Draft prospect and was selected by the Philadelphia Phillies.
For a UMBC program that already has a history of developing pitchers, that part of Gage’s résumé matters.
Former Retriever Luke Johnson became a two-time America East Pitcher of the Year and was selected by the Washington Nationals in the 10th round of the 2024 MLB Draft. Bowen also served as UMBC’s pitching coach before taking over the program.
Hiring another coach with a significant pitching-development background should allow the Retrievers to maintain that identity.
Gage already knows Maryland baseball
There is another major advantage to the hire: Gage already knows the region.
He has coached at Stevenson in Owings Mills and Mount St. Mary’s in Emmitsburg, giving him years of experience recruiting Maryland, Pennsylvania, Virginia and the surrounding Mid-Atlantic region.
That familiarity is increasingly valuable.
Maryland produces a deep pool of high school baseball talent every year, but UMBC must compete with programs such as Maryland, Towson, Navy, Mount St. Mary’s and numerous other Division I schools for recruits. There is also heavy competition from strong Division II and Division III programs throughout the region.
Gage should already have relationships with high school coaches, travel programs, junior colleges and other recruiting contacts.
Rather than spending his first year learning UMBC’s recruiting footprint, he should be able to begin working within a territory he already understands.
Gage was also an accomplished college player
Gage has experience on both sides of the college baseball experience.
He graduated from Southern Vermont in 2010 as the valedictorian of his class after serving as a team captain and starting second baseman.
Gage finished his playing career with a .305 batting average and .480 on-base percentage, which UMBC says remains the highest career on-base percentage in Southern Vermont history.
He also pitched in relief and recorded a school-record nine saves.
Southern Vermont inducted Gage into its athletic hall of fame in 2016.
His experience as both a position player and pitcher gives Gage a broader background than coaches who spent their playing careers exclusively on one side of the game.
Gage inherits a program with momentum
This is not an easy situation despite UMBC’s recent success.
Bowen left behind significant expectations.
UMBC produced winning seasons in three of Bowen’s final four years and finished among the top two in the America East regular-season standings in 2023, 2024 and 2026.
The 2026 Retrievers led the America East with a .292 team batting average and .405 on-base percentage. They also produced nine all-conference selections, including the first America East Player of the Year in program history, Ehi Okojie.
Bowen’s final UMBC team went 29-24 and reached the America East postseason as the No. 2 seed. The program has recorded at least 27 victories in three of the past four seasons.
Gage therefore inherits something coaches rarely receive when taking over a new program: a team with an established winning culture.
The challenge will be maintaining it.
MSB Take
UMBC appears to have made a very logical hire.
Gage checks many of the boxes the Retrievers should have been looking for.
He has head-coaching experience. He has rebuilt programs. He has developed pitchers. He has recruited Maryland extensively. He has won at multiple NCAA levels, and he already understands the type of regional recruiting battle UMBC faces.
Most importantly, he does not have to learn Maryland baseball from scratch.
There may also be an opportunity for Gage to combine his pitching background with an offensive program that has been extremely productive in recent seasons. UMBC led the America East in both batting average and on-base percentage in 2026. If the Retrievers can maintain that offensive production while Gage continues the pitching development he demonstrated at Mount St. Mary’s, UMBC could remain near the top of the America East.
Replacing Bowen will not be easy. He spent 15 years with the program as an assistant and head coach and helped establish UMBC as a consistent conference contender.
But UMBC did not hire someone who needs years to learn how to run a college baseball program.
The Retrievers hired a veteran coach who has already built winning programs and developed high-level players throughout the region.
Now Gage gets his first opportunity to lead a Division I program.
And he inherits one that appears capable of winning immediately.
