Mercer Baseball Announces Willie Stewart as Assistant Coach
7/8/2015 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
MACON, Ga. - Mercer University baseball coach Craig Gibson announced the hiring of Willie Stewart as an assistant coach on Wednesday.
Stewart will serve as the program's hitting coach, as he will be charged with leading an offense that returns seven positional starters from the 2015 Southern Conference championship team. Headlining the talented group of returners for the Bears are All-American and Gregg Olson Award winner Kyle Lewis and Freshman All-American Trey Truitt.
"Willie is an outstanding fit for our coaching staff and we are thrilled to add a coach of his caliber to a program that has a lot of experience returning from our 2015 SoCon Championship team," said Gibson. "He brings a wealth of knowledge and expertise to the position, as a former Division I head coach, hitting coach and recruiting coordinator. That experience makes him a great addition to our coaching staff and puts us in position for future success."
He takes over the position following the departure of former Mercer assistant coach Ty Megahee, who recently joined the Western Kentucky staff as the program's assistant coach and recruiting coordinator.
Stewart comes to Mercer after four seasons as the hitting coach at Georgia State, including this past season as the assistant head coach. A former Division I head coach at UNC Asheville, he helped oversee a GSU offense that played a vital role in helping record two of the eight 30-win seasons in program history.
A 13-year veteran of the NCAA Division I coaching ranks, Stewart directed a powerful Georgia State lineup that ranked in the top-5 nationally in batting average (2013), runs scored (2013), home runs (2014), doubles (2013 and 2014) and slugging percentage (2014). Under Stewart's guidance, the 2014 Panthers' team became one of just two programs in the nation to have three players reach double-digit home runs.
During his time at Georgia State, Stewart helped recruit and develop 12 all-conference selections, six Major League Baseball draft picks, four All-Americans, three Freshman All-Americans and two Academic All-Americans.
"I'm extremely excited for the opportunity to join the Bears' coaching staff," said Stewart. "Mercer has established a strong tradition over the last decade and I'm looking forward to working with a talented group of young men to build on that tradition."
Prior to his time at GSU, Stewart spent seven years with the UNC Asheville program including five seasons as head coach. He led the school to its first NCAA Tournament appearance and a Big South title in 2006, a season that included a school-record 28 victories. During his tenure, Stewart coached seven MLB draft picks, four all-conference selections and the 2008 Big South Pitcher of the Year.
Stewart's teams have also had success academically, as both the GSU and UNCA programs regularly maintained a team cumulative grade-point average above 3.0.
A four-year letterwinner for UNC Asheville, Stewart earned first-team all-conference honors at second base his senior year. That 2000 season, he batted .300 with 32 RBIs and established a school-record with an 18-game hitting streak.
Stewart served on the UNC Asheville staff in 2001 and then spent one season as an assistant coach at Elon, where he helped guide the Phoenix to the 2002 NCAA Tournament--the first in school history--as an at-large selection and a No. 3 seed.
A native of Winston-Salem, N.C., Stewart and his wife Christine have two children, son Kendall and daughter Kailyn.
