Eastern Kentucky University Athletics

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Gunner Rainey, who helped Adrian College reach three NCAA Division III Regionals in three seasons as an assistant coach, joined the program as director of player development in the summer of 2025.
 
In his first season with the Colonels, Rainey helped the team to seven more wins than the year before.  EKU ended the 2026 season by winning three straight games and eight of its final 11 contests.  Khaleel Pratt was chosen as the Atlantic Sun Conference Freshman of the Year, earned third team All-ASUN honors and was chosen to the ASUN All-Freshman Team.  In addition, David Alvarez picked up second team all-conference recognition, and Pedro Moreno and Jacob Price were chosen to the third team.
 
In the classroom, three players earned spots on the Academic All-ASUN Team and three were selected to the Academic All-District Team.  In the fall of 2025, the Colonels compiled a 3.43 team grade-point-average and posted a 3.23 GPA in the spring.
 
Rainey had a stellar career at Adrian College before joining that program’s coaching staff.  He was a Division III All-American catcher in 2021, an Academic All-American, a 2-time conference player of the year, a 2-time all-region selection, a Rawlings Gold Glove winner and 2-time conference batting champion.  He concluded  his collegiate career with the 18th-most hits in NCAA Division III history.
 
In 2021, Rainey set a new conference record with a .506 batting average.  He finished his career ranked first in the conference for career hits, third in doubles and fourth in RBIs.
 
While playing two seasons of professional baseball in the Frontier League, Rainey served as a volunteer assistant at Adrian College.  In the summer of 2022 he moved into the position of assistant coach and recruiting coordinator.  For three seasons he coached the team’s hitters and catchers.
 
Rainey helped the Bulldogs capture three conference tournament titles and participate in three NCAA Regionals.  In 2024, Adrian won a region championship.
 
Offensively, under Rainey’s guidance Adrian led the conference in hits, doubles, home runs and walks each of the past three seasons.  The Bulldogs were first in the conference in runs scored in 2024 and 2025.
 
Rainey earned a bachelor’s of arts in history at Adrian College in May of 2021.