COLLEGEVILLE, Minn. – Saint John's University head baseball coach Jerry Haugen '76 announced the addition of Scott Lieser to his coaching staff as an assistant coach on Wednesday, Aug. 29.

A 2013 graduate of St. Cloud State University, Lieser recently completed his master's degree and served as an assistant coach at Augsburg University the past two seasons. He was also a pitching coach in the Northwoods League the past two summers with St. Cloud (2018) and Willmar (2017).

"I am excited to be back in Central Minnesota full-time and for the opportunity to assist Coach Haugen and the rest of the staff," Lieser said. "I am looking forward to the challenge and am eager for this program to build off last year's MIAC championship."
 

Lieser was a standout right-handed pitcher for SCSU from 2010-13. He ended his career with a school-record 32 victories (32-7 record) in 66 appearances (269.2 Innings pitched), 226 strikeouts and a 3.10 ERA. Lieser competed on Husky squads that reached the NCAA Division II Central Regional each of his four years, and earned All-Tournament Team honors as a sophomore, junior and senior. A two-year team captain, Lieser earned All-Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference honors twice and All-Central Region honors three times. He was named Daktronics Division II All-America honorable mention in 2013, when he went 10-3 with five complete games, 66 strikeouts to 11 walks, and a 2.71 ERA in 83.0 innings.

"Scott will be a great addition to our coaching staff," Haugen said. "Our alumni recognized the need for a full-time assistant coach, the first in our program's history, and made it happen. This position will strengthen our program and expand our recruiting efforts."

Lieser played professionally in the Milwaukee Brewers organization for three seasons (2013-15) and reached the high-A level. In 63 professional appearances, mostly as a reliever, Lieser posted a 4-5 record with two saves, 87 strikeouts to 14 walks, and a 1.19 WHIP in 99 innings pitched. During his college years, he played summer baseball in the Northwoods League with Waterloo (2010) and Willmar (2011-12).

Prior to his stop at Augsburg, Lieser coached travel baseball with the Minnesota Select U-13 squad and served as junior varsity coach at Centennial (Minn.) High School.

A native of Browerville, Minn., Lieser played baseball, football and basketball for the Tigers, leading the baseball team to two state-tournament appearances and earning team Most Valuable Player honors twice. He was named a Minnesota Lions' All-Star following his senior season in 2009.

SJU ended the 2018 season with a 33-8 record and won the MIAC regular-season championship, the program's 14th and first since 1998, with a 16-4 mark in conference play. The Johnnies made their ninth consecutive appearance in the MIAC Tournament May 11-13 and finished second with a 2-2 record. 

The Johnnies set school records for wins (33), fielding percentage (.974), ERA (2.73) and WHIP (1.18) in 2018. The 2.73 team ERA was good for third nationally out of 384 NCAA Division III teams and the Johnnies' pitching staff finished in the top five in four other statistical categories: second in walks allowed per nine innings (2.02), third in WHIP (1.18), fourth in shutouts (8) and fifth in strikeout-to-walk ratio (3.33). The Johnnies also finished seventh in Division III in fielding percentage and ninth in batting average (.341).

SJU is expected to return three of its five All-Region honorees from last spring in 2019 (senior pitcher Jake Dickmeyer, senior center fielder Max Jackson and senior pitcher Bennett Wiggins) and four student-athletes that played in the Northwoods League this past summer (Wiggins, senior pitcher Danny Kuhn, junior designated hitter/pitcher Joey Stock and junior outfielder Wyatt Ulrich).