UMBC Baseball Adds Michael Austin and Jayson Kramer to Dave Gage’s Coaching Staff
UMBC baseball continued reshaping its program under new head coach Dave Gage this week, adding Michael Austin as recruiting coordinator and pitching coach and Jayson Kramer as an assistant coach. The hires give Gage two assistants with strong Maryland ties, recent player-development success and backgrounds that fit the direction UMBC is trying to establish entering the 2027 season. Austin returns to his alma mater after three seasons at Frostburg State, while Kramer comes to Baltimore County after helping Gettysburg College produce one of the strongest stretches in program history.
The moves also continue a major coaching transition for the Retrievers. UMBC hired Gage in August after he spent three seasons as associate head coach at Mount St. Mary’s, following successful head-coaching runs at Stevenson and Southern Vermont. Gage takes over a program that went 29-24 in 2026, finished second in the America East regular-season standings at 15-9 and reached the conference tournament before former head coach Liam Bowen departed for Towson.
Austin is the most familiar name of the two for longtime UMBC followers. A Baltimore native and former All-Conference pitcher for the Retrievers, Austin transferred to UMBC after beginning his collegiate career at Bethune-Cookman and helped the Retrievers win the 2017 America East championship and reach the NCAA Tournament. His connection to one of the best moments in program history gives the hire added significance beyond simply filling a coaching position.
Austin also brings six years of professional baseball experience back to Catonsville. After college, he signed with the Kansas City Royals organization, eventually recording more than 300 professional strikeouts, throwing a no-hitter in 2021 and winning a Frontier League championship in 2022. That playing background should give UMBC pitchers a coach who understands both the college development process and the demands of professional baseball.
His coaching résumé at Frostburg State may be even more important for UMBC. In Austin’s first season as pitching coach in 2024, the Bobcats posted a 4.15 team ERA, which ranked 12th nationally in Division II, while also reaching their first NCAA Division II Tournament. Frostburg’s pitching staff continued producing strong national numbers over the next two seasons, including a 3.87 ERA in 2025 that ranked eighth nationally and a 4.56 ERA in 2026 that still placed inside the top 25.
Austin also helped develop individual pitchers at a high level. Patrick Bauer earned All-Region honors after posting a 2.65 ERA with 54 strikeouts and a 1.09 WHIP, while Frostburg produced four Mountain East Conference All-Conference pitchers in 2025 and five more in 2026. One of those pitchers earned conference Pitcher of the Year honors, giving Austin a strong record of developing talent rather than simply overseeing successful team statistics.
That background should fit naturally with Gage, who built much of his recent reputation around pitching development. During Gage’s time at Mount St. Mary’s, the Mountaineers broke six program pitching records, including marks for strikeouts, strikeouts per nine innings and batting average against. Mount also set a MAAC record with 507 strikeouts in 2024, while Gage helped develop Deven Sheerin into the 2024 MAAC Rookie of the Year before Sheerin was later drafted by the Philadelphia Phillies.
Kramer brings a different skill set to the staff. He spent the last two seasons at Gettysburg College, helping the Bullets reach 30 wins for the first time since 2014 and record consecutive 25-win seasons for the first time since 2013-14. Gettysburg also produced nine All-Centennial Conference players and three ABCA All-Region selections during Kramer’s tenure.
His biggest impact came with the offense. Gettysburg hit .330 as a team in 2025 and .315 in 2026 under Kramer’s work as hitting coach, and the Bullets finished with more walks than strikeouts in both seasons. That combination of batting average, plate discipline and offensive approach is particularly notable because it suggests Kramer was not simply coaching hitters to swing aggressively, but was helping develop a more complete offensive identity.
Kramer also brings firsthand experience as a successful college player. He began at Patrick Henry Community College, where he helped the program win an NJCAA Region X championship in 2021 and finish third at the NJCAA Baseball World Series. Kramer hit .372 and earned an ABCA/Rawlings Gold Glove before transferring to Mount St. Mary’s for the 2023 and 2024 seasons.
At Mount, Kramer started 107 games over two seasons and collected more than 50 hits in each year. He totaled 112 hits, 22 doubles and 13 home runs during that stretch and hit .312 in his first season with the Mountaineers. Kramer also earned MAAC All-Tournament honors in 2024 and was an All-Academic performer during his time at both Patrick Henry and Mount St. Mary’s.
The Mount connection between Gage and Kramer should help UMBC establish continuity quickly. Gage was working at Mount St. Mary’s during Kramer’s playing career there, giving the two familiarity before their reunion at UMBC. That existing relationship, combined with Austin’s experience as a former Retriever, gives the new staff a distinctly regional feel and brings multiple coaches into the program who already understand Maryland recruiting and the surrounding college baseball landscape.
UMBC’s current 2027 roster page lists Gage as head coach, Austin as recruiting coordinator and pitching coach and Kramer as assistant coach. The staff will inherit a program that showed it can contend near the top of the America East in 2026, but the challenge will be maintaining that momentum while installing a new coaching philosophy and replacing the structure left by Bowen’s staff.
There is plenty for the new staff to build on. UMBC won 29 games last season and finished second in the America East, while the program has already demonstrated that it can attract and develop high-level talent. Adding a pitching coach with Austin’s developmental record and a hitting coach with Kramer’s recent offensive success gives Gage two assistants whose strengths line up directly with the most important areas of player development.
MSB Take
This looks like a strong pair of hires for Dave Gage, particularly because both coaches bring more than just impressive résumés. Austin has a real connection to UMBC and understands what winning at this program looks like after helping the Retrievers reach the NCAA Tournament as a player. Kramer, meanwhile, has already shown that he can help build an offense that combines production with plate discipline, something that should translate well to the Division I level.
The Austin hire may be especially important because pitching development has clearly been a major part of Gage’s coaching identity. Pairing Gage’s work with the Mount St. Mary’s pitching staff with Austin’s three strong seasons at Frostburg State gives UMBC a potentially excellent foundation on the mound. If that staff can recruit and develop arms at the same level both coaches have shown in recent years, the Retrievers should remain competitive in the America East.
Kramer gives the staff balance. His recent success at Gettysburg, combined with his playing experience at Mount St. Mary’s, gives UMBC a young coach who has already proven he can develop hitters and communicate an offensive approach. The entire staff has a strong Maryland connection, which should also help recruiting, and these hires give UMBC a very interesting coaching group as Gage begins his first season leading the Retrievers.
