ST. LOUIS, Mo. – Over the past year, WashU Athletics has featured several athletes who did not have to travel far to be on the Danforth Campus, having grown up in St. Louis. However, we have decided this time to take a look at someone else who is helping the Bears succeed both on the field and in the classroom: our coaching staff.

This time, we are taking a look at a newer addition to a coaching staff who hails from just south in Webster Groves, assistant baseball coach Mike Gulve.

 

Gulve, a graduate of Webster Groves High School, spent his first year of college at Illinois Wesleyan before transferring to Beloit College in Wisconsin. While a student with the Buccaneers, Gulve was a four-year starter on the baseball team and a three-year starter on the basketball team.

"I knew that I wanted to be a two-sport athlete in college but was primarily being recruited on the baseball side of things," mentioned Gulve. "I was always looking at smaller, Division III-type schools."

Gulve would graduate in 2017 with a degree in mathematics and physics and return to St. Louis.

"So initially my plan was to go to grad school at WashU," Gulve added. "There was a dual degree program in engineering. I applied and was accepted and all set to do that. But after graduating, I spent two months in the summer just thinking more about what I wanted to do with my life."

Realizing engineering might not be the path he wanted to go, he turned back to sports, possibly through coaching.

"I think most coaches would tell you they don't necessarily know that they want to be a coach," he joked. "There are a few kids that I've met that knew they wanted to be a coach because their parent was a coach and that's just something I want to do."

So instead of attending WashU for graduate school, he returned to Webster Groves High School and helped coach basketball and baseball for two years while assisting with softball for one.

While he was working with the basketball team, the Statesmen won the state title, played a national schedule and had two ESPN Top 50 players.

Over on the diamond, Gulve served as head JV coach for two seasons and, while the varsity team struggled at times, the JV program had a winning record while he was there.

However, after two years, he knew he was at a crossroads once again: continue coaching high school and use his math degree to become a full-time teacher, or explore opportunities in collegiate coaching.

Thankfully for Gulve, there happened to be an opening on the staff back at his alma mater, Beloit. Up until that point, the Buccaneers did not have any full-time assistant coaching positions, and he knew when it was created he wanted to jump on the chance to get back with his college team.

He would spend the next six years on the coaching staff, including the last two years as the associate head coach.

"I think what allowed me to do that was the fact that I had played there," he reminisced. "I knew a lot about the school. I knew a lot about how to recruit to a place like that because I'd gone through that process myself."

After the head coach was promoted to be both baseball head coach and athletic director, Gulve's responsibilities with the team grew, including moving into more of a recruiting role, more of a hands-on coaching role, and more of leading the logistical side of things.

Last summer, when the WashU assistant position opened up, Gulve thought that after three straight regional appearances his stock as a coach was high, and having grown up in St. Louis he knew WashU was the place to be.

"When the (assistant) job opened up, the appeal to me was that this could be a great opportunity to come back to St. Louis and a chance to coach at a high-level Div. III where the school invests in its student-athletes and invests in a winning experience."
"Mike is a proven winner and someone with a high level of competitive stamina," Bloom stated. "He throws thousands of pitches every week to prepare our hitters for upcoming games. In addition, he spends several hours per week meeting directly with our hitters to review film, perform drills, or even discuss the mental side of the game. Nobody is going to outwork him."

Gulve did hit the ground running with the Bears with fall practices before preparing for the current spring season.

However, most people would agree that there are always some jitters among the players when a new coach joins the staff, but Gulve quickly earned the trust of the team.

 

"The team has reacted really well," said team captain, junior Anthony Equale. "For the younger guys, this is all they know, so Coach Gulve just feels like part of the program. But for the returners, there was definitely a noticeable shift when he came in. He brought a different kind of energy that we've been missing in this program."

"He's done a great job connecting with guys on a personal level, but he also keeps it competitive. Since he's not that far removed from playing, he gets it. He understands what we're going through day to day, whether it's struggles at the plate or with commitments off the field. At the same time, he challenges us to hold ourselves and each other accountable."

Those connections have not gone unnoticed by both the fans and Coach Bloom.

"Mike has proven himself to be a great addition to our staff," Bloom added. "Our offensive improvements alone can be directly attributed to Mike's philosophies and his communicative abilities as a coach."

Those offensive improvements were seen from week one. The season-opening weekend, not only did the Bears go 3-0 as a team, but they outscored their opponents 23-1, including a pair of 10-0 shutouts. During the non-conference portion of its schedule, WashU has continued to outdistance itself, owning a 16-3 record going into UAA play while outscoring its opponents 173-74. The Bears opened up UAA play last weekend, splitting the four-game series with Chicago, 2-2.

Knowing he has that support back here at home helps. Both his parents still live around St. Louis, with his father living in the city and his mother living in Webster. And what about his younger brother?

 

"He went to Grinnell and still lives in Webster Groves," began Gulve. "He does have more hair than me; I have the least hair in my family."

On a recent postgame interview with Jay Murry on the game broadcast on FloSports, Gulve talked about how his family has come to most of the games here, as 15 of the 19 non-conference games were played on Kelly Field. He talked about how it meant a lot to have them here.

"I loved that we were able to bring Mike closer to his hometown of Webster Groves and near his family," Bloom mentioned. "Having the support of his parents and girlfriend Emma is something that means a lot to him and to us as well. I hope we can keep him here for many years to come."

If how the Bears are going right now is any indication, most Bear fans would like to keep him in the WashU dugout for years to come as well.




 
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