Southeast Missouri State baseball coach Mark Hogan retires

Southeast Missouri State University's winningest baseball coach in school history has coached his last game there.

Mark Hogan, who directed the program at his alma mater the past 18 seasons, announced his retirement Monday morning during a news conference at the Show Me Center.

Hogan finished with a 526-456-1 record at Southeast. He led the program to its only Ohio Valley Conference championships, winning the regular-season title in 1998 and tournament crowns in 1998 and 2002, and to its only NCAA Division I tournament berths, in 1998 and 2002.

Hogan, a Cape Girardeau native and Central High School graduate, led Southeast to the OVC tournament for 18 consecutive seasons, a conference record.

"It's a wonderful day for the Hogan family, and it's a day of celebration for me personally," said Hogan, who played on Southeast's 1976 team that finished third in the Division II College World Series. "It's been an incredible ride."

Hogan has a 31-year coaching record of 911-713-3, including stops at Lurleen Wallace College, a junior college in Alabama, and Division II West Alabama.

Southeast president Ken Dobbins lauded Hogan in a prepared statement.

"Coach Hogan has been an extremely successful baseball coach for Southeast Missouri State University for the past 18 years," Dobbins said. "We sincerely appreciate his tenure, the legacy he provided for our baseball program, and most importantly, we thank him for his dedication to the success of our student-athletes. Many young men had great collegiate baseball experiences due to coach Hogan's expertise, and several have gone on to professional careers. We certainly congratulate him for an outstanding career and wish him the best in his retirement."

Southeast athletic director Mark Alnutt said that assistant coach and former Southeast player Steve Bieser will serve as the interim coach for the 2013 season, then the university will conduct a national search for Hogan's replacement.

"I truly believe we're fortunate to have a person in Steve Bieser to lead our program this year," Alnutt said.