After seven seasons, Steve Bieser is out as the Missouri baseball coach. Director of Athletics Desiree Reed-Francois announced the decision in an email sent to donors on Sunday afternoon.
"Coach Bieser represented the University with a high level of character and integrity," Reed-Francois said in a release. "We are grateful for his contributions to our program, on and off the field, and we wish him, Diahann, and their family the very best in the future."
Bieser was hired by Mack Rhoads to replace Tim Jamieson prior to the 2017 season. He came from Southeast Missouri State, where he went 138-97 in four years, winning the Ohio Valley Conference three times. At Mizzou, he was 188-155-1 in seven years, but the Tigers went 60-97-1 in SEC play, never finished better than fourth in the East Division and did not make the NCAA Tournament in his seven seasons.
Bieser's contract was to run through next season. He was making $475,000 per year, which is the lowest in the Southeastern Conference.
From 2003-2009, Mizzou baseball enjoyed a renaissance under Tim Jamieson, led by future Major League pitchers Aaron Crow, Max Scherzer and Kyle Gibson. Mizzou went 265-162-1 over those seven seasons and made the NCAA Tournament seven years in a row. That included the Super Regional in 2006, which Mizzou hosted, but lost to Louisville.
Since then, Mizzou is just three games over .500 in 13 seasons (including the COVID-shortened 2020 year). The Tigers have made the NCAA Tournament just once in that span, coming as a result of winning the Big 12 Tournament in 2012. In ten seasons in the SEC, Mizzou is a combined 76 games under .500 and has never had a league record better than 16-16.
Missouri finished the 2023 season 30-24 overall, including 10-21 in SEC games. The Tigers stood 30-20 headed into the final series of the regular season, but were swept by Auburn and then lost to Auburn again in the SEC Tournament opener on Tuesday.
“I would like to thank the University of Missouri for entrusting me to lead this program for the past seven years,” Bieser said in a release. “We have faced many challenges along the way, but the bottom line is we just didn’t win enough games in this tough and rugged conference. I want to thank all of the players that I have had a great opportunity to coach. You’ve always represented this program in a first-class manner and I’m proud of you. I wish our current players great success and I will be pulling for you. God has a different plan for me. Keep representing the C2E way.”
A search for Bieser's replacement will begin immediately.
"Baseball is important to our University, our conference, and our state," Reed-Francois said. "We understand the vital role baseball plays, and we are committed to further increasing our investment in the program and look forward to future successes. We will work quickly and expeditiously to find the candidate who is the best fit to return Mizzou Baseball to the national stage."
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