Former Texas A&M All-American Megan Gibson-Loftin has returned to UTSA this season after two years at Penn State. She is in her third campaign overall as the Roadrunners' pitching coach.
Gibson-Loftin's last two seasons saw the Nittany Lions pitching staff lower its ERA and saw an increased number of strikeouts in both seasons under her tutelage.
Last year, Macy Jones posted a 7-3 record with a save and led the staff with a 3.80 ERA. The two-way star also hit .343 with 10 homers and 46 RBIs en route to second-team All-Big Ten honors. The squad posted a 29-28 record for its first winning mark since the 2011 season and Penn State advanced to the quarterfinals of the Big Ten Tournament.
The Roadrunners pitching staff saw great improvement during Gibson-Loftin’s first stint in the Alamo City.
Under her guidance, the UTSA staff lowered its ERA from 3.48 before her arrival to 2.76 in 2013, which was the best mark for the program since 2006. Haylee Staton, who earned third-team All-Southland Conference honors in 2012, totaled 30 wins and 284 strikeouts to lead the staff in two seasons under Gibson-Loftin.
The Spring native came to UTSA after spending four seasons in the National Professional Fastpitch League (NPF).
After leading Texas A&M to a runner-up finish at the 2008 Women’s College World Series (WCWS), she was selected by the Philadelphia Force with the No. 2 overall pick of the 2008 NPF Senior Draft. In addition to her time in the league, Gibson-Loftin spent a season in the Japanese Softball Association.
Along with her career in the NPF, Gibson-Loftin served under Texas A&M head coach Jo Evans as a graduate assistant in Fall 2008 and again as a volunteer pitching coach during the 2011 season. She also spent time as a softball instructor at High Performance Baseball in Tomball and as a volunteer assistant coach at Spring High School in 2010.
Gibson-Loftin left the Aggies as one of the most decorated players in program history.
Her stellar play in both the pitcher’s circle and batter’s box earned her National Fastpitch Coaches Association All-America honors as a freshman, junior and senior and she finished as a runner-up the for association’s Player of the Year award in 2008.
Gibson-Loftin became the first player in Big 12 Conference history to be named both Player and Pitcher of the Year as a senior and she went on to lead the Aggies to the conference tournament title as the event’s Most Valuable Player. She also led Texas A&M to a league crown in 2005 and a WCWS appearance in 2007.
In all, Gibson-Loftin owns five career school records, including doubles (48), RBIs (183), total bases (447), slugging percentage (.717) and walks (172). She also ranks in the program’s top 10 in eight other categories.
Gibson-Loftin graduated from Texas A&M in 2008 with a bachelor's degree in sports management with a minor in business. She married Lance Loftin in November 2015.