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Baseball |
SIUE Baseball SIUE Athletics | |
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COACHING RECORD |
Head Coach Gary Collins
Gary Collins begins season No. 30 as SIUE’s head coach. SIUE’s winningest coach, Collins holds a mark of 919-611-7 and is No. 6 in wins among active NCAA Division II coaches. Since entering the Great Lakes Valley Conference, Collins has led his teams to two GLVC titles. SIUE has qualified for the conference tournament 10 of the last 12 seasons. The 2007 season featured Collins’ 14th appearance in the NCAA Tournament. His team posted the best record in the GLVC at 26-10 during the regular season. Collins also has coached five teams to the NCAA-II College World Series with a fourth-place finish in 1983, seventh place in 1985, and fifth place in 1991, 1997 and 2001. His 2006 team featured the top pitching staff in the nation, posting a national record 21 shutouts and finishing with a 40-19-1 record. It was the fourth time SIUE has finished with 40 or more wins under Collins. Collins’ teams are no stranger to setting school and national records. His 2001 team also was the first to have two players (Mark Bugger and Chad Opel) record 100 or more hits in a season. Bugger completed his SIUE career with 356 hits, making him the Division II all-time hits leader. The 1991 team, which set the school marks for wins with 43, included 10 players who would go on to have 100 or more career hits.. Collins also reveres his 1987 season. That team broke the 40-win barrier for the first time and featured several players who would move on to the professional ranks. Tony Duenas, a former assistant coach under Collins, spent three seasons in the Chicago Cubs organization. Pete Delkus, who signed with the Minnesota Twins, worked all the way up to the AAA level. John Groennert, who is the only Cougar ever to have recorded 11 victories in one season, signed with the Cincinnati Reds. Pitcher Dean Schulmeister spent some time in the Cubs organization. Catcher Daren DePew signed with the Boise Hawks. The final player to sign was P.J. Riley with the Houston Astros. Both Duenas and Delkus were named to the SIUE Athletics Hall of Fame. Collins had a professional baseball career of his own, playing in the St. Louis Cardinals organization. In 1969, he became SIUE’s first player in any sport to sign a professional contract. While with the Cardinals, he played in St. Petersburg, Fla., Sarasota, Fla., Cedar Rapids, Iowa, and Little Rock, Ark. Collins began his coaching career as an SIUE assistant coach to Roy E. Lee, then moved to Lewis and Clark Community College and later returned to lead SIUE baseball, becoming the first alumnus to return to become a head coach. Collins earned a bachelor’s in physical education in 1970 and a master’s in counselor education in 1973, both from SIUE. He and his wife, Judy, have a son, Ryan. |
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Associate Head Coach Tony Stoecklin
Pitching has always been strong for SIUE. This continues with Tony Stoecklin, the associate head coach for the Cougars, now in his ninth season. In back-to-back seasons, SIUE has ranked among the top two in earned run average among NCAA Division II schools. SIUE finished second in 2007 with a 2.51 ERA. In 2006, SIUE’s pitching staff set a nation record for shutouts with 21. The Cougars finished No. 1 in the nation with a school-record 2.09 earned run average. Fifteen pitchers have signed professional contracts after leaving the SIUE pitching staff since Stoecklin began coaching. His latest was James Hertel with the Gateway Grizzlies and Gerad Bryan with the Windy City Thunderbolts. Stoecklin’s coaching talents have paid off with one Great Lakes Valley Conference Player of the Year, one GLVC Pitcher of the Year, one GLVC Freshman of the Year, three All-Americans, nine All-Region pitchers, and 12 All-Conference pitchers. The latest All-American was Kyle Jones, who set an NCAA Division II record in 2006 with 54 1/3 straight innings without giving up a run. As a player, Stoecklin was a member of the 1991 Cougar team which advanced to the NCAA World Series. He threw a no-hitter against Truman State in 1991 and compiled an 8-5 record for the season. In 1992, Stoecklin started 13 games and went 6-4 with a 4.42 earned run average. He was selected in the 23rd round by Atlanta in the 1992 amateur draft and spent three years in the Braves’ minor league system. While at Single A in Idaho Falls, Stoecklin went 3-2 with a 2.42 ERA and struck out 51 batters in 44 2/3 innings pitched. He was named Organization Player of the Month in August 1993. In 1994, Stoecklin played High A ball in Durham, N.C. He finished the season 4-4 with a 4.36 ERA and 55 strikeouts. In 1995, Stoecklin signed with the Western Baseball League (WBL) Bend Bandits. He led the league in 1997 with 51 appearances. In 1998, he recorded a career-high 13 saves out of the bullpen and earned a spot on the WBL All-Star team. Stoecklin spent two seasons with the Chico Heat in the WBL. He had a strong 1999 season in which he posted a career best 2.20 ERA out of the bullpen. Stoecklin also tied a personal high with six victories and tied a WBL record by appearing in eight of the nine playoff games for the Heat, posting a 1.93 ERA. The left-hander has made a mark since joining the WBL teams in 1995. Stoecklin ranks ninth all-time in victories with 22 and has appeared in more games (228) than any pitcher in league history. Stoecklin, a Roxana native, received a bechelor’s degree in kinesiology at SIUE in 2003. |
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Graduate Assistant Coach Casey Garms
Casey Garms has been hired by the Southern Illinois University Edwardsville baseball team as a graduate assistant coach. There is already a certain level of familiarity between Garms and the Cougar coaching staff because Garms was a four year starter for the University of Wisconsin-Parkside. While at UWP, he was the GLVC Freshman of the Year, two time All-Region and All-Region Tournament selection, and became the UWP All-Time record holder in hits, runs, walks, and doubles. During the 2006 season, Garms has a 1.000 fielding percentage in right field to go along with his eight outfield assists. Garms earned a Bachelors of Arts in Communications from UWP in 2007. He will pursue a Masters of Science in Education with a emphasis in Sports Management at SIUE. |