NORMAL, Ill. – Illinois State baseball has added R.D. Spiehs as an assistant coach, the team announced Monday. Spiehs will primarily serve as the team's pitching coach.
Spiehs, who was the pitching coach at Arkansas Little-Rock for three seasons most recently, pitched for seven years professionally in the San Francisco Giants, San Diego Padres, and Seattle Mariners organizations before returning to Nebraska, his alma mater, in 2008 to begin his coaching career.
He posted an impressive 21-6 record on the mound for the Cornhuskers in his three years in Lincoln.
After earning his degree in communications from UNL in 2009, Spiehs spent 2009-2011 as an assistant coach at Grayson County College in Texas prior to a seven-year stint at Northern Colorado. UNCO's team ERA improved for five-straight seasons from 2014-2018.
QUOTE FROM HEAD COACH STEVE HOLM:
On adding Spiehs to the coaching staff: "R.D. is a guy who I have known for 20 years. We were in the same draft class with the Giants back in 2001. We crossed paths again when were both pitching coaches in the WAC—I was at Sacramento State, and he was at Northern Colorado. I saw their pitcher getting better immediately upon R.D.'s arrival. Then, we played Arkansas Little-Rock early in the 2020 season and it was evident that their pitchers were also seeing the same improvements. So, when we had an opening, I knew exactly who I wanted to hire."
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