Semoball

Bieser and Southeast Missouri State baseball reunite on opposite sides of the field Tuesday

Southeast Missouri State coach Steve Bieser watches from the dugout during a game against Morehead State last season at Capaha Field. Now the coach at Missouri, Bieser will square off against his former team today in Columbia, Missouri.
Southeast Missourian file

The emotions leading up to today aren't easy for Steve Bieser to describe.

A lot has transpired for Bieser during the eight months since he was hired to take over the Missouri baseball program, a move that brought an end to his four years at the helm of his alma mater at Southeast Missouri State.

Bieser and the Redhawks will reunite at 3 p.m. today when SEMO squares off against the in-state rival Tigers at Taylor Stadium in Columbia, Missouri.

"There will be a lot of emotions, and I think that once the game starts, it'll be a normal game," Bieser said. "... I think it's all the pre-game stuff and just having a chance to see the guys again -- I think that's going to be really cool just to see those guys and get to see them play again this year."

A two-time Ohio Valley Conference Coach of the Year, Bieser did a lot of winning during his time with the Redhawks, compiling a 138-97 record during his time at Southeast. He led the program to three straight OVC regular-season titles and capped his tenure with an OVC Tournament title, earning the program's first NCAA Regional berth since 2002.

And since then, the winning hasn't stopped.

Missouri (21-3) is off to an unprecedented start in 2017 after rattling off a program-best 20 straight wins over the span of a little more than a month.

The Tigers have a team batting average of .309, which ranks third in the Southeastern Conference, and have a team ERA of 3.01, which ranks fourth in the SEC.

That combination of offense and defense has served the Tigers well, and Bieser credits the immediate success to his players and their commitment to the new coaching staff.

"They were easy to mold and shape, and I think they were ready for some change," Bieser said. "They've bought into everything that we're doing, and I think it's an easier transition whenever you kind of keep the same coaching group that you've had together over the years. We were all on the same page, and it was easy to come in and start teaching early and just build those relationships with this group here.

"I think the biggest thing is just the buy-in that they've had and the work that they've put in."

Three assistants from Bieser's time at Southeast are currently on Missouri's coaching staff -- Lance Rhodes serves as an assistant coach/recruiting coordinator, Dillon Lawson is a volunteer assistant/hitting coach and Joe Migliaccio is a graduate assistant.

Robbie Glendinning has a team-high .383 batting average for the Tigers and is third in the SEC with a .495 on-base percentage. Trey Harris is batting .315 and leads the team with 25 RBIs, while freshman Kameron Misner, a Poplar Bluff graduate, is one of only two players on the team who has started all 24 games thus far. Misner is batting .306 with 16 RBIs and two home runs.

The Tigers have had 13 of their 24 games decided by three runs or less and are 12-1 in such contests.

"It's kind of like what we had at Southeast," Bieser said about winning close games. "There was never any panic, whether we'd get down four runs in the first or we'd jump out to a lead. I think they've really stayed focused. They have a plan, and they kind of have some goals in the game.

"We have standards where we want to try to score seven runs a game, and we want to hold the opponent to 'X' amount. ... When we score seven runs, we're going to win at a high percentage, and that's the same stuff we talked about at Southeast. We've got to find ways and take runs when we can get them. If you can score like that, then you're going to have a pretty good chance. It doesn't matter if you score them in the first inning or the ninth inning. That's what we've pretty much been doing here as well."

Southeast (11-10) will be looking to get back on track after dropping two of three in an OVC series at SIU-Edwardsville.

The Redhawks are hitting .298 as a team and are led by center fielder Dan Holst, who's batting .417 on the year with 22 RBIs. Right fielder Chris Osborne has been surging as of late, improving his average to .392 on the season, while first baseman Tristen Gagan leads the team with 25 RBIs.

Missouri leads the all-time series 22-10, but Southeast has won three of the last five meetings between the two programs. Both teams split a two-game series last year in Columbia.

Holst said the team uses the non-conference matchup as "a marking point" to gauge where it is. He's hopeful that a victory might provide some stability for a team that's dropped three of its last four games.

"I think it's going to be a cool experience," Holst said about going up against his former coach. "... We have a lot of respect for Coach Bieser and what he did for our program, and it's going to be great to see him and the other coaches that left to go to Mizzou. It'll be a fun experience to see them, but we want to walk away with a 'W.'"

Southeast will send left-handed pitcher Nate Green (1-0) to the mound, while the Tigers will start right-hander Bryce Montes De Oca (2-0).

Out of respect for first-year coach Andy Sawyers and his new coaching staff, Bieser hasn't had the opportunity to speak to any of his former players who remain on the Redhawks' roster.

When Bieser's hiring was announced on June 30, 2016, many of those players weren't around for Bieser to express his gratitude.

It's something Bieser hopes to do today when the two teams take the field for pre-game warmups.

"I think the biggest thing will just be seeing them during the pre-game, and obviously you want to respect everything that they're doing and not get in the way of making it a sentimental goodbye or anything like that because they're coming in to do a job just like we are trying to do the same thing here," Bieser said. "I will make sure that I get the chance to go through the line at the end of the game and shake their hands and all those things I haven't been able to do since we left for here."

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