Staff Directory

Matt Gilbertson

Title:
Pitching Coach
Email:
Phone:
251-6903

Matt Gilbertson begins his second season at UNC Asheville in 2026.

The Bulldogs finished the 2026 season with a 21-34 overall record, improving their win total by six games from the previous year. Asheville posted several notable accomplishments throughout the season, including the program’s first five-game winning streak since 2006. The Bulldogs also secured the department’s victory in the Ingles I-26 Rivalry with a win over USC Upstate, defeated Western Carolina at home for the first time since 2017, defeated Wofford at home for the first time since 2018, and handed High Point its only double-digit loss of the season. As a team, Asheville showed significant improvement both offensively and on the mound. The Bulldogs improved their team batting average and OPS from the previous season while lowering their ERA from 9.40 to 7.67. Asheville also allowed 48 fewer runs than the year prior and improved its WHIP from 2.16 to 1.87. Individually, Drew Turner broke the program’s single-game strikeout record with 14 punchouts against Jackson State and finished the season leading the Big South Conference with 83 strikeouts. Freshman Ben Green earned national recognition after being named to the College Baseball Hall of Fame John Olerud Two-Way Player of the Year Watch List and the Perfect Game Midseason Freshman All-America Second Team. The Bulldogs also collected multiple weekly conference honors throughout the season, including five Big South Pitcher of the Week selections, two Relief Pitcher of the Week honors, and three Starting Pitcher of the Week recognitions. Three Bulldogs earned postseason conference honors. Blaize Johnson was named to the Big South All-Conference First Team, Green earned a spot on the Big South All-Freshman Team, and Lucas Boesen was selected to the Big South All-Academic Team.

Gilbertson joined the UNC Asheville Baseball staff in June 2025.

Gilbertson spent the past two seasons as the Director of Player Development at ACC contender Pittsburgh, where he worked with the pitching staff while also serving as the team’s analytics lead and handling the team’s summer ball placement.

Prior to Pitt, Gilbertson served as the Associate Head Coach at NAIA University of Saint Katherine for one season, where he was the Pitching Coach and Recruiting Coordinator. Prior to his stint at Saint Katherine, he was an operations intern at Pitt in 2021 and an Assistant Trainer at Greathouse Physical Therapy and Sport Science in Las Vegas.

Gilbertson played two seasons of college baseball at The College of Southern Nevada, where he was a two-time All-Scenic West Team Pitcher and the 2019 Region 18 Tournament Most Valuable Player before transferring to Pitt. In two seasons as a Panther, Gilbertson ranks eighth all-time in wins, 13^th all-time in strikeouts and 14^th all-time in innings pitched. Gilbertson also pitched professionally for the Williamsport Crosscutters (2022) and for HROSI Bruno in the Czech Republic (2023).

The Henderson, Nev. native holds a bachelor’s degree in administration of justice from Pitt (2021) as well as a certificate of national preparedness and homeland security from Pitt (2022).