PORTSMOUTH — Lining up one’s staff with professional people who are both passionate and have baseball know-how is never a bad thing.

Former Shawnee State University baseball pitcher Drew Lowe, a 2022 SSU graduate who played inside the baseball program for four seasons and was a three-sport athlete at nearby East High School in Sciotoville, has officially joined the Shawnee State baseball coaching staff as an assistant coach to second-year head man Rob Ehlers.

Lowe will work with the pitchers at SSU, and has already made recruiting headway along with additional tasks within the program.

“Coming home and coming back to the community that I grew up in was always a dream of mine,” Lowe said. “I wanted to make an impact, one way or another, and I, fortunately, get to do it at the collegiate level — coaching a game that I love and feeding into my community by finding the next generation of Bears, whether they are from Scioto County, the surrounding area or beyond. It’s providing an opportunity for a kid that’s once in a lifetime, and I’m fortunate to have a degree from Shawnee State, but hopefully provide for the next generation.”

Lowe, who appeared in 33 games and threw 101-and-a-third innings over the course of his Shawnee State pitching career, was a stable piece — along with fellow multi-year letterwinners Seth Pluta and Kyle Wisnewski.

In addition to his time on the baseball diamond, Lowe was a consistent presence around the athletic department and the Shawnee State Office of Development, assisting in various roles during his time as a student prior to graduating with two bachelor’s degrees — one each in sport studies and marketing — in May 2022.

“It’s great coming home and seeing familiar faces,” Lowe said of his former teammates, teachers and athletic department figures that are now fellow professional peers. “Just seeing the people that I knew during my time on campus — you know that you’re welcomed with open arms back home. That’s always nice, and that will never change. Coming back home has been positive, and it’s reinforced the fact that I made the right decision. We’ve also had great additions since I was here as a student-athlete that will only progress what not only our entire athletic department, but our university, as a whole, is doing.”

While at Cumberland University in Lebanon, Tenn., Lowe furthered his resume.

Serving as a graduate assistant for the Phoenix’s baseball program for the last two seasons under Ryan Hunt, the son of legendary Cumberland baseball coach Woody Hunt, Lowe helped Cumberland (Tenn.) collect a 58-43-1 record.

The Phoenix ultimately claimed an at-large berth into the 2023 NAIA Opening Round, and Lowe helped mold two NAIA All-Americans while at Cumberland — in 6-1 outfielder Cole Turney and 5-11 utility player Tyner Hughes.

Turney currently plays for the West Michigan Whitecaps, a High-A unit in the Detroit Tigers’ organization, while Hughes plays for the Boise Hawks in the Pioneer League.

“Going to Cumberland was an unbelievable opportunity,” Lowe said. “You get to be around Woody Hunt, who won 1,600 games and is the fifth-winningest coach in college baseball history. He’s the guy you get to walk into the office, say good morning to, and pick his brain every day. Ryan Hunt, his son, and his assistants were unbelievable people as well. Then being able to learn from players as much as coaches, and understand what they need as much as what we need, and what we’re trying to teach — you just get to be a fly on the wall and listen to those conversations. I’ve been introduced to great people since I’ve been there, and they’ll be people that will have an impact in my life for years to come.”

Needless to say, Lowe soaked in his time at Cumberlands — but from afar, he also couldn’t help but sit back and admire what his alma mater was doing under its new general.

Under Ehlers, Shawnee State more than tripled its win total — by going from 8-37 in 2023 to a 26-21 record during the 2024 campaign.

Shawnee State ripped off a 12-game winning streak during the season, scored its most runs in a conference game (25), a conference doubleheader (43) and a conference series (57) in program history, posted its first winning record and its most wins since 2014, and had a pitcher, freshman relief talent Carson Wireman, notch a 5-0 record with a 2.08 ERA — the program’s lowest ERA since Derek Moore and Taylor Smith posted 1.50 and 1.75 ERAs in 2014.

Upon his official arrival back to campus, Lowe said that Ehlers’ work in establishing a clear direction for the program is, and continues to be, evident.

“(Rob) Ehlers has done an amazing job,” Lowe said. “His time and investment into the program has clearly shown. The program is on a uphill climb. It’s headed in the right direction, and in a pretty dramatic fashion. We’re trying to get the right players here. His commitment to the university and this program is something that we can’t take for granted. I see good things coming in the future here. There’s new faces. There’s new talent. There’s also familiar faces and talent. There’s a couple of guys that I actually got to play with that are still around and are finishing up their academic and athletic career, but at the same time, there’s a new face of Shawnee State baseball, and I believe that the player development piece is something that we’re going to take great pride in. We’re going to grow guys in a way where they can try to make an impact and try to win conference championships. As I tell recruits, ‘Anything can happen in the postseason. Let’s just get there.’”

Prior to his time at Shawnee State as a player and Cumberland (Tenn.) as a graduate assistant, Lowe was a three-sport athlete (football, basketball, baseball) at East High School in nearby Sciotoville.

Lowe was the starting quarterback his final two seasons for a Tartans football squad that made back-to-back OHSAA Division VII state playoff appearances in 2015 and 2016 and went 16-6 during those two seasons — with East accomplishing an undefeated 10-0 regular-season mark and the SOC I championship in Lowe’s senior campaign under James Gifford.

East also advanced to the OHSAA Division IV Southeast District finals in boys basketball during Lowe’s junior season with the Tartans (2015-16) under Adam Bailey, who is East’s current football coach, boys basketball coach and athletic director.

“My Dad (Scott) was a coach, and my Mom (Lori) was an educator and a leader in the community as well,” Lowe said. “At a young age, whether it was from Mom or Dad, they both taught me to be a sponge, or be a fly on the wall and take in as much information as you can. When you’re building a coaching philosophy or building a coaching ideology, you learn that every coach goes about their business in a different way, and that could be how they handle kids, communicate or how they coach. My experiences with the coaches that I have had have definitely molded me as a coach, having been around some great individuals so far in my young career. I feel like this has given me an advantage to be where I am today.”

As for goals heading into the 2025 season and into the future?

Nothing less than conference championships, and — ideally — regular appearances to the NAIA World Series in Lewiston, Idaho.

“From a goals perspective this year, we want nothing less than a conference championship,” Lowe said. “We want to compete for a conference championship and find ourselves playing in a regional tournament, wherever that may be. Eventually, we want to lead this program to Lewiston, and play in an NAIA World Series. That’s the end goal. If we can say, ‘It’s Lewiston or bust,’ in a few years, then we’ve got this program where we need it to be. This year, our first goal is to win a conference championship, our second goal is to win a regional championship, and our third goal is to win a NAIA World Series. At the end of the day, wins and losses matter, but making an impact on my community, getting kids a college degree from Shawnee State, and developing relationships with people are my goals in my time here.”

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