Gage Jacobs returned to his alma mater as the Panthers new pitching coach in 2019 and will enter his seventh year at Drury in 2025. Jacobs spent two seasons as a graduate assistant for Drury in 2016 and 2017 and had a two-year playing career for the Panthers serving as the team's closer.Â
In 2024, Drury went 23-13 in the conference play to finish 3rd in the GLVC and the his pitching staff led the GLVC with a 5.31 earned run average. Starting pitching Cody Bahl was a First Team all-conference selection and was named to the All-Midwest Region team.Â
The Panthers advanced to the GLVC Championship game in 2023 and finished with a 30-24 record. Three of his pitchers were named to the All-GLVC teams, two finished in the top five in earned run average and Cody Bahl earned All-Midwest Region honors. Bahl went 6-2 for the season while posting a 2.71 ERA. Jack Jones went 6-3 with a 3.20 ERA and Mason Meeks won eight games going 8-4 with a 4.31 ERA. Â
In 2022, he was part of a staff honored by the GLVC as head coach Scott Nasby was named the league's Coach of the Year after the Panthers won the Green Division, went 21-7 in the conference and 38-17 overall.Â
Â
Jacobs spent 2018 as an assistant coach at Kalamazoo Valley Community College in Michigan and was the pitching coach for the Kalamazoo Growlers in the summer collegiate Northwoods League in 2017.Â
In his first year as Drury's pitching coach, Jacobs had two hurlers named all-conference including Alex Austin, who ended the regular season leading the GLVCÂ in appearances and ERA at 2.56, and freshman Kaden Helsel, a two-way player who went 7-5 with two saves as a freshman.Â
Â
As a graduate assistant for the Panthers, he was a part of Drury's 2017 GLVC-West Division championship and NCAA-II tournament squad that season.Â
Jacobs ended his collegiate career ranked second all-time at Drury with 19 career saves with 50 appearances covering 65.2 innings during his career. In 2015, he tied Drury's single-season saves record with 13. Jacobs ranked sixth nationally in saves that season and also tied a school record with 29 appearances that year. He ended his career with 51 strikeouts against only eight walks, and a 2.87 earned run average.
Â
The Bolivar, Missouri native was an ABCA Midwest Region Second Team honoree and was a Second Team All-Great Lakes Valley Conference selection his junior campaign.
Â
Before coming to Drury, Jacobs pitched two seasons at Johnson County Community College where he posted a career ERA of 2.84 with 108 strikeouts in 90 innings. As a senior at Bolivar High School in 2011, he was the Central Ozark Conference Co-MVP, the COC Pitcher of the Year, he pitched two no-hitters and helped the Liberators to a conference title.
Â
