Southeastern Louisiana head coach Matt Riser welcomed Andrew Gipson back to the baseball coaching staff on a full-time basis in early July of 2020. He currently serves as the program's associate head coach and recruiting coordinator.
His previous tenure was marked by the most successful run in program history, having the opportunity to coach three Southland Conference Players of the Year in addition to a conference relief pitcher of the year and conference freshman of the year.
Gipson was a member of the Lion coaching staff from 2015-2019, serving in various of roles. He spent the 2020 season as both an interim coach and as Southeastern’s Interim Assistant Athletic Director for Student Services.
During his time in upper administration, Gipson used his skills to aid in crafting the Lion Leadership Institute. The mission of the Lion Leadership Institute (LLI) is to expand on the athletic department's mission statement, creating opportunities for Southeastern student-athletes to grow and mature in areas beyond athletic competition.
Gipson came to Southeastern after serving the 2014 season as pitching coach and recruiting coordinator at his alma mater, Belhaven. A former player under legendary coach Hill Denson, Gipson spent the 2013 season as a graduate assistant and 2012 as a student assistant for the club.
As a player, he was part of three Conference championships, four NAIA Regional/Opening Round tournaments, and one NAIA World Series appearance.
A native of Oneonta, Alabama, Gipson graduated Magna Cum Laude from Belhaven with degrees in psychology and sports administration. He and his wife, the former Brittany Cary, and their son, Cullen, reside in Ponchatoula.
CAREER HIGHLIGHTS
2012-14 (Belhaven) – Gipson coached three All-Americans and a pair signed professional contracts, including catcher Kyle Wheeler who was selected by the Oakland A’s in the 26th round of the 2013 MLB Draft … the Blazers finished the 2014 season with a 42-21 overall record and a No. 18 national ranking, hosting a Regional for the second time in school history … All-American reliever Tyler Akins led the nation with 17 saves and helped the staff to a 3.58 team ERA, the second lowest compiled by the Blazers in a 10-year span … All-American second baseman Paul Pickerell helped the team to a nation-leading 211 stolen bases.
2015 (SLU) – SOUTHLAND CONFERENCE REGULAR-SEASON CHAMPIONS – Lions set the school record for overall wins (42-17) and the Southland record for conference wins (25-5) … a league-high 11 players were named to the All-Conference squads and a program-record five players were named to the All-Louisiana teams … Southeastern led the conference in 13 offensive categories despite losing Fisher to injury in the fall … sophomore outfielder Jacob Seward was named Southland Conference Player of the Year, hitting .350, scoring 47 runs and producing a school-record 24-game hitting streak … Tate Scioneaux broke the school record for consecutive scoreless innings (36.1) … Kyle Cedotal picked up his first Louisville Slugger National Player of the Week award … Cedotal and Daniel Midyett earned All-Region honors … Mac Sceroler was named a Louisville Slugger Freshman All-American … pitchers Jake Johnson, Kyle Keller and Scioneaux were all drafted.
2016 (SLU) – NCAA REGIONAL PARTICIPANT – The Lions strung together a school-record 14 straight wins on their way to 40 victories … redshirt junior battled back from an injury that cost him all of 2015 to lead the nation in batting average through the end of the regular season … his final .424 average was a school record and second-highest in the nation … a six-time All-American, an Academic All-American, the Southland Conference Player of the Year and the Louisiana Hitter of the Year, Fisher was also a semifinalist for the Dick Hoswer Trophy, Golden Spikes Award and Gregg Olson Award … Lion pitchers tossed a conference-leading, and school-record, nine shutouts (fifth nationally) … staff led Southland in ERA (3.01), strikeouts (463) and opponent batting average (.235) … Kade Granier named Southland Conference Relief Pitcher of the Year, allowing just one run and carrying a 0.28 ERA into the final conference series of the year … Mac Sceroler led the Southland in wins (10) … Kyle Cedotal was named a Louisville Slugger National Player of the Week for the second time in his career … all four members of Southeastern’s starting rotation (Cedotal, Sceroler, Domenick Carlini, Pat Cashman) were selected in the MLB Draft.
2017 (SLU) – NCAA REGIONAL PARTICIPANT – Junior infielder Taylor Schwaner enjoyed a breakout season on his way to picking up the Southland Conference Player of the Year award … as late as May 11, Schwaner was third nationally in RBI … Schwaner and Carson Crites finished 1-2 in the Southland in RBI … Drew Avans finished ninth nationally in stolen bases … Southeastern’s trademark aggressive base running led to 118 stolen bases, ranking fifth nationally … Mac Sceroler broke the school’s consecutive scoreless innings record (36.2) … Sceroler (5th round, Cincinnati) and Crites (25th round, Minnesota) were drafted and signed professional contracts.
2018 (SLU) – The Lions challenged for the conference title until the final weekend of the regular season, set the school record for stolen bases, cracked the regular-season polls for the second time in program history and extended their winning streak over SEC powerhouse Mississippi State … finished third nationally with 136 stolen bases … broke program record (122) for steals in a single season ... third straight season the Lions finished in the nation’s Top 10 … earned a national ranking during the regular season for just the second time in program history ... cracking Collegiate Baseball poll at No. 28 after 5-0 week that included shutout of Purdue, win over No. 19-ranked Mississippi State and sweep of road conference series … win over Mississippi State at MGM Park in Biloxi extended Southeastern’s winning streak over the Bulldogs to six straight … five Lions earned All-Conference honors … three were drafted ... Josh Green (Arizona, 14th round), Daniel Wasinger (Arizona, 31st round) and Avans (Los Angeles-NL, 33rd round) became members of the second-largest draft class in program history.
2019 (SLU) – The Lions once again challenged for the conference title until the final weekend of the regular season, finishing one game back of Sam Houston State ... Corey Gaconi was named the Southland Conference Pitcher of the Year ... Gaconi finished the year with a 7-3 record and a 2.57 earned run average ... he held opponents to a .244 batting average, striking out 95 in 108.2 innings of work ... Gaconi's control was his greatest asset, walking just 11 batters and ranking among the Division I national leaders in both strikeout-to-walk ratio (8.64, 4th) and walks allowed per nine innings (0.91, 5th) ... three Lions earned All-Conference honors, two were drafted and two more signed professional contracts ... Cody Grosse (Seattle, 30th round) and Bryce Tassin (Detroit, 31st round) were drafted ... Gaconi and Jared Biddy signed free-agent contracts with the New York Mets.
2021 (SLU) – Right-hander Brennan Stuprich was named the Southland Conference Freshman of the Year and earned multiple Freshman All-America honors … he combined with Will Warren to finish second and fourth, respectively, in the conference ERA race … they also both finished in the Top 5 in both wins and innings pitched while Warren was also second in strikeouts … seven SLU players earned All-Conference honors and right-hander Will Warren was selected by the New York Yankees in the 21st round of the MLB Draft.
