Jacksonville State has hired former Missouri baseball coach Steve Bieser to lead its baseball program.

Bieser, 55, was fired by the Tigers on May 28 after a 30-24 finish to his seventh season. He replaces Jim Case, who announced his retirement after 22 seasons on June 14.

“We feel like we found the best possible coach to lead us into the next era of Jax State baseball in Steve Bieser,” JSU athletics director Greg Seitz said. “He brings over 20 years of coaching experience and has been successful at every stop. We are excited to see the heights he can take our program to as we move into Conference USA and know he will continue to build upon the great foundation that is already in place in our program.”

Bieser posted a 188-155-1 record at Missouri, but never made the NCAA tournament. He was previously head coach for four seasons at Southeast Missouri State, which he led to three Ohio Valley Conference regular-season championships and an NCAA Regional berth in 2016.

Bieser becomes just the third Jacksonville State baseball coach in the last 54 years. The late Rudy Abbott coached the Gamecocks to 1,003 victories and a pair of Division II national championships from 1970-2001, while Case’s teams won 673 games and five OVC tournament titles from 2002-2023.

The Gamecocks play their home games at Rudy Abbott Field at Jim Case Stadium.

“I want to thank President (Don) Killingsworth, Greg Seitz and the entire search committee for entrusting me to lead this outstanding baseball program,” Bieser said. “Over the past 53 years, this program has been a model of excellence both on and off the field under the great leadership of Coach Abbott and Coach Case.

“During the past 13 years, I have been able to get to know Coach Case very well, and the respect I have for him and the consistency of excellence he has shown over the years at JSU made me very excited about this opportunity. When Coach Case announced his retirement, I knew this was a place I wanted to pursue and am ready to continue building on this storied program and to bring championships and develop champions for life.”

A Missouri native, Bieser starred as an outfielder at SEMO in the late 1980s before being drafted in the 32nd round by the Philadelphia Phillies in 1989. He reached the majors with the New York Mets in 1997, and played in 60 games for the Mets and Pittsburgh Pirates over two seasons.

Bieser got his coaching start at St. John Vianney High School in Kirkwood, Mo., and led his teams to a pair of state championships and a runner-up finish in seven years. He spent two seasons as pitching coach at SEMO before taking over as head coach in 2013.