Mark Hogan had served as the baseball coach at Southeast Missouri State University for 18 seasons. Each year, no matter how narrowly, he got his team into the Ohio Valley Conference tournament.

Southeast won the Ohio Valley Conference regular season title once, the OVC conference tournament twice, and had the program's only two NCAA tournament appearances under the direction of Hogan. After those 18 seasons, he suddenly decided to retire.

"It was a surprise to me, but once he notified me in person he still had to confirm that it was the right move for him in terms of MOSERS, which is the state run retirement agency," Southeast athletic director Mark Alnutt said.

Hogan announced his retirement during a press conference at the Show Me Center on July 30.

"I want to thank Dr. Dobbins, our administration and all the great people I have worked with at Southeast Missouri State University over the years," Hogan said during the press conference. "I'm so grateful for this opportunity, and it's been a tremendous run for myself, my family and this program."

Assistant coach Steve Bieser has been hired as the interim head coach for the 2013 season. Bieser has been the Redhawks pitching coach for the past two seasons. He was also the coach at St. John Vianney High School in St. Louis for seven years, during which the team won two state championships. He played for Southeast and graduated in 1989. His son, Cole, will be a junior and saw playing time during the 2011 and 2012 seasons.

"Part of the reasoning there was just talking to various people nationally about the situation, people that are respected in the industry, and try to get their thoughts on how to pursue moving forward after his retirement," Alnutt said. "I felt great because people I talked to felt that my decision was a good direction to go."

Southeast chose to hire Bieser in the interim because if a national search had been conducted, it likely would not have had as many candidates as in the spring. Following this season, a national search will be conducted and Bieser will have the opportunity to be a candidate.