Gunner Leger - Baseball Coach

Gunner Leger

Title:
Assistant Coach

Gunner Leger joins the Southern Miss baseball staff as assistant coach after his hiring in July of 2025..

“We couldn’t be happier to have Gunner join our staff,” said Ostrander. “He knows how to run a pitching staff and what it takes to develop and grow pitchers. His track record as a player brings so much to the table as well. When Gunner contacted us about the position and showed interest, it was a no-brainer from our end. We look forward to getting him to Hattiesburg and getting to work.”

His duties with the program will include working with the Golden Eagle pitching staff, assisting in the coordination of analytics data, as well as working with the team’s camp program.

The two-time All-American for the Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns, comes to Southern Miss after spending two years as pitching coach at his alma mater. Last spring, Leger tutored JR Tollett who ranked No. 13 nationally in walks per nine innings (1.40) and No. 22 in strikeout-to-walk ratio (5.25).

He was hired to oversee pitching analytics for the Ragin’ Cajuns in June of 2023 and was promoted to pitching coach two months later. In his first season as pitching coach in 2024, he helped lead the Ragin' Cajuns to a 42-20 record as they captured the Sun Belt Conference regular season crown and went on to the NCAA College Station Regional final round. His pitching staff finished second in the country in shutouts with seven and as he coached Freshman All-American and Sun Belt Freshman of the Year Chase Morgan. Left-handed pitcher Andrew Hermann earned second team All-SBC honors.

A 2017 semifinalist for the Golden Spikes Award, Leger won 24 games in his career at Louisiana under Hall of Fame coach Tony Robichaux and ranks among the school’s career leaders in starts (53), innings pitched (328.2), wins (24) and strikeouts (288).

Leger started 18 games as a true freshman in 2015 where he helped Louisiana to the Sun Belt Conference regular-season and tournament title, along with a trip to the NCAA Super Regional. He earned Sun Belt Freshman of the Year honors and was also named as a Freshman All-American by Collegiate Baseball, Perfect Game and D1Baseball.

The left-handed pitcher was named to the Sun Belt All-Conference First Team as a sophomore in 2016 and also received ABCA South Central All-Region Second Team honors. Leger finished the season ranked first in the Sun Belt Conference in both ERA (2.26) and games started (16) and was third in strikeouts (81).

His junior season in 2017 saw him lead the SBC for wins (10) and ERA (1.97). Leger was named the Sun Belt Conference Pitcher of the Year and received ABCA/Rawlings All-America Second Team honors. He was also named a third-team All-American by Collegiate Baseball and the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association.

A two-way player at Lake Charles’ Barbe High School, Leger helped the Bucs win the 2012 and 2014 Class 5A State Championships. He earned second-team All-America honors from Baseball America as a utility player and posted 11 wins with a 1.94 ERA with 65 strikeouts in 72 innings as a senior.

Leger, a native of Lafayette, La., earned his bachelor's degree in general studies with emphasis in applied science, along with minors in business and kinesiology from UL in 2019.