Kip McWilliams is entering his 18th season as the head baseball coach at Indiana Tech heading into the 2024-25 season. McWilliams has an overall record of 584-358-2, with 12 appearances in the Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference (WHAC) Tournament Championship game, 13 trips to the NAIA National Championship, six WHAC Tournament titles, four WHAC regular season titles and one trip to the Avista NAIA World Series.
While at Tech, he has won six WHAC Tournament titles and four regular season titles, making the postseason 13 times, once in the old NAIA regional format and 12 times in the current NAIA Opening Round format. He has coached 82 All-Conference selections, 19 WHAC Gold Glove recipients, two NAIA Gold Glove winners, five WHAC Player of the Year winners, three Honorable Mention All-Americans, two WHAC Pitchers of the Year, one WHAC Newcomer of the Year, one Preseason All-American, four Second-Team All-Americans, two First-Team All-Americans, six CoSIDA Academic All-Americans and two CoSIDA Academic All-American of the Year selections.
He was named the WHAC Coach of the Year in 2012, 2018 and 2019, and was honored as the WHAC Champions of Character coach in 2010 and 2019. During his tenure his teams have been named an NAIA Scholar-Team seven times.
His record in WHAC play is a robust 306-145-1 and 56-41 in the postseason.
Last season, McWilliams led the Warriors to a 33-24 overall record and a 24-8 record in WHAC play to finish third in the conference standings. The Warriors would move through the WHAC Tournament, defeating #6 seed Aquinas, #2 seed Concordia, and #6 seed Aquinas again to win the pod and head to the WHAC Tournament Championship game where they defeated #45 seed Madonna twice to win the title and get an auto bid to the NAIA National Tournament. At the opening Round, the Warriors would lose on a walk-off to IU-Southeast, defeat MidAmerica Nazarene, and then lose to top seed Missouri Baptist in the double elimination format. Five Warriors would earn WHAC All-Conference team honors, while Grant Besser would win WHAC Pitcher of the Year, Newcomer of the Year, and be named to the Gold Glove team. 26 Warriors would be named to the WHAC All-Academic Team and 17 as NAIA Scholar-Athletes.
In 2023, the Warriors would finish with a 33-17 overall record, going 18-12 in WHAC play to put them in fifth place in the conference at the end of the regular season. At the WHAC tournament, the Warriors would fall in the first round defeating #6 seed Lawrence Tech University and losing twice to #1 seed Concordia University, ending their season. Three Warriors would earn WHAC All-Conference honors, while 26 Warriors would be named to the WHAC All-Academic Team and 19 as NAIA Scholar-Athletes.
Tech went 32-21 in the 2022 season while finishing in a tie for third place with a 15-7 record. The Warriors season ended against regular season and eventual WHAC Tournament champion UNOH in the opening round of the WHAC Tournament.
The Warriors made it through the turbulent 2021 season with a 35-27 record while going 16-6 in conference action to win the regular season WHAC title. The team was sent to the Marion Bracket of the NAIA National Championship Opening Round, falling to No. 7-ranked Oklahoma Wesleyan in the championship game, the only team to beat Tech in the national postseason.
Tech went 11-5 in the COVID-19 shortened season.
In 2019 the Warriors completed one of the best years in program history, repeating as the WHAC regular season champions, claiming the WHAC Tournament title and advancing to the Avista NAIA World Series for the first time since 2003 as they won the Williamsburg Bracket of the NAIA Baseball National Championship Opening Round, which included two wins over No. 5-ranked University of the Cumberlands, to finish the season 42-16-1 and 17-4-1 in conference play. Tech swept through the WHAC Tournament, WHAC Championship Series and the NAIA Opening Round while beating Bellevue University in the opening game of the 2019 World Series in a walk-off in the 10th inning. McWilliams was tabbed as the WHAC Coach for the second straight season and was named the conference's Champions of Character Coach for the second time in his career.
In 2018 Tech finished with a record of 44-21 and won the programs sixth WHAC Championship with a 24-4 mark in conference play. McWilliams picked up his second WHAC Coach of the Year honors while the team advanced to the championship game of the Montgomery Bracket to host and No. 1-ranked Faulkner, falling, 10-7, in 13 innings. The Orange and Black advanced to the WHAC Championship Series of the WHAC Tournament in the inaugural year of Championship Series, falling to Madonna in three games.
The 2017 Warriors went 44-14 under McWilliams, coming up one game short of qualifying for the AVISTA-NAIA World Series, falling to Opening Round host and No. 3-ranked Oklahoma Wesleyan, 14-6, in the if-necessary championship game. The second-seeded Warriors would start off in the Bartlesville Bracket with a 17-10 win over third-seeded Bryan and after a heart-breaking 15-14 loss to OKU, would rally back in the third day of action, defeating fourth-seeded Midland 25-24 and OKU 18-14 to force the if-necessary game. The Midland game would set numerous NAIA postseason records.
In 2016, the Warriors won 40 games for the second time in McWilliams tenure, finishing 40-20, finishing fourth in the WHAC and qualifying for the NAIA Opening Round after reaching the WHAC Tournament Championship against regular season champion Madonna. The Orange and Black would defeat Northwestern Ohio and Concorida before falling to Madonna in the tournament, but defeated second-seeded Davenport to reach the title game against the Crusaders. After winning 7-4 against the regular season champs to force the if-neccesary game, the Warriors would fall, 7-4, to the Crusaders. Tech would recieve the fourth seed in the Kingsport (Tenn.) Bracket, falling to fifth seed Rio Grande (Ohio), 5-4, before rebounding with a 10-5 win over second-seeded Middle Georgia State. The Warriors would see their season come to an end with a 4-3 loss against the Red Storm in a rematch from their first-round matchup.
During the 2015 campaign, McWilliams led the Orange and Black to a 32-27 mark overall while finishing fourth in the WHAC with a record of 19-14. Tech advanced all the way to the WHAC Championship game after falling in their first game of the tournament to Madonna. The Warriors would then win their next three games, including a 1-0 win over top-seeded and fifth-ranked Davenport, to force a sudden-death game with the Panthers in the championship before falling, 5-4.
In 2014, McWilliams led the Warriors to a seventh straight WHAC tournament championship contest, falling to top-seeded Davenport, 3-2. Tech finished the year 34-23-1 overall and 20-10 in conference play.
In 2013 the Warriors finished 33-18 with a 17-9 mark in the conference, good for the third seed. Tech again defeated Madonna twice in the championship, 3-1, 10-2, to earn the automatic bid to the Opening Round. There the Warriors were again third, this time in the Montgomery, Ala. bracket.
For the first time in his career at Tech, McWilliams led the Warriors to a 40-win season, finishing 40-22 and 22-6 in the WHAC, earning the top seed and a No. 22 national ranking. The Warriors fell to Siena Heights in the championship game, 4-3, but still made an NAIA Opening Round appearance, finishing third in the Kingsport, Tenn. bracket.
For the fourth consecutive season Tech improved in the win column, finishing 37-20 overall and 11-7 in WHAC competition. As the third seed in the tournament, Tech again found its way to the championship game, defeating top-seeded Madonna twice, 24-11, 12-7, to capture its third straight conference tournament crown and a bid to the Opening Round. Again in Cleveland, Tenn. the Warriors were the runner-up, coming one game shy of the NAIA World Series.
A 34-28 record and 12-8 mark in the WHAC placed the Warriors second again in the regular season, but the second seeded Warriors again defeated Madonna in the championship game, 4-3 to advance to the Opening Round. Tech was fourth again, this time in the Columbus, Ga. bracket.
In 2009, the Warriors finished 31-26 overall and 12-8 in WHAC play. They entered the WHAC tournament as the second seed and defeated Madonna, 11-7 to advance to the NAIA Opening Round where they took fourth place in the Cleveland, Tenn. bracket.
In his first season as head coach in 2008, McWilliams led the Warriors to a 29-29 record, finishing second in the WHAC, an 11-10 loss to top-seeded Madonna in 11 innings, to earn an appearance in the Region VII tournament, the last year of regional play.
Prior to coming to Tech, Coach McWilliams was the assistant coach for Marian University for eight seasons. During his stint at Marian, the Knights tallied 230 victories and 170 losses. Marian won five Mid-Central College Conference (now the Crossroads League) titles, and appeared in an NAIA Regional six times.
Born and raised in Bloomington, Indiana, McWilliams was a two-sport athlete at Bloomington South High School in baseball and football. Even though he was an All-State football player, his love was in the game of baseball.
After high school, McWilliams played football and baseball at Franklin College for two seasons before transferring to IUPUI, which gave him the opportunity to coach at the Division I level for two seasons. During his stint at IUPUI he was in charge recruiting and working with the catchers.
Coach McWilliams earned his Bachelor of Science degree in Physical Education from Indiana University in 2000. Kip and his wife, Melissa, reside in Fort Wayne with their dauhter Ava.
