Drew Briese, a 2000 Centre graduate, joined the Centre Athletics staff as its head baseball coach in the summer of 2016.
Most recently, Briese guided Centre to 17 wins in an abbreviated 2021 season, including six wins over ranked teams. Centre's fourth place finish in the SAA was the highest league finish for the Colonels since the inception of the conference in 2013.
In his last complete season, Briese led Centre to a 24-16 overall mark, setting the program record for wins in a single season. Centre's 24 victories were two more than the previous record of 22, set back in 2001. The shortened 2020 season saw Centre post a 13-3 record, good for the highest winning percentage in program history.
His 2019 squad was led by All-Region selections Drew Schacht and Will Kirk, who were each named to the All-SAA First Team, as well. Schacht graduated as Centre's all-time hits leader, and the pair ranked in the top five for single-season hits in program history in 2019.Â
Briese returned to Danville after serving as an Assistant Baseball Coach at perennial NCAA Division III and Southern Athletic Association power Birmingham Southern since 2006. With the Panthers, his duties included working as the Panthers' hitting coach, catching coach and third base coach, while also formulating defensive alignment and positioning.
During his time with the Panthers, Birmingham Southern enjoyed a great deal of success, including 10 conference tournament and regular season titles with four straight NCAA Division III Regional appearances.
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Briese and the Panthers captured four consecutive regular season championships and two of the last three SAA Tournament crowns. Since 2008, Birmingham Southern has posted a 281-99 record, a winning percentage of .739.
The Panthers won the SAA Regular Season and Tournament Championship in 2016, climbing to as high as No. 4 in the NCAA Division III National Rankings.
The Panthers have also featured 64 all-conference performers, 14 American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA) All-South Region honorees, seven All-Americans, one National Gold Glove recipient, one National Player of the Year, three Major League Baseball (MLB) draft selections and seven conference player/pitcher of the year honorees since 2008.
One of the top hitting clubs in Division III under Briese' tutelage, Birmingham Southern paced the country with 516 total hits and ranked seventh in the nation with 99 doubles in 2016. The Panthers also led Division III in slugging percentage (.595) in 2010 while sitting second in the country with a .376 team batting average.
Off the field, Briese was responsible for academic oversight, which saw Birmingham Southern post a team grade point average of 3.0 or above for 12 consecutive semesters, as well as recruiting coordination, strength and conditioning development among other vital duties.
In addition to coaching at the collegiate level, Briese also currently serves as a coach and member of the Scouting Task Force for USA Baseball, a role he has fulfilled since the summer of 2013. He was named a 2016 15u National Team Assistant Coach, a team that will compete in Iwaki, Japan this August.
During his time with USA Baseball, Briese has scouted over 60 teams and 900 players per year to make selections for Team USA.
After graduating from Centre in 2000 with a Bachelor of Art in History, Briese went on to obtain a Master's of Science in Kinesiology and Health Promotion with a concentration in Teaching and Coaching from the University of Kentucky in 2005. Briese and his wife Rachel have three children, Jack, Kate and Finley.
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Season
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 Record      Â
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Notable
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| 2024 |
34-11 |
SAA Regular Season Champs, SAA Tournament Champs, NCAA Tournament |
| 2023 |
28-17 |
|
| 2022 |
17-25 |
|
| 2021 |
17-16 |
|
| 2020 |
13-3 |
Season cancelled after 16 games (COVID-19) |
| 2019 |
24-16 |
|
| 2018 |
17-22 |
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| 2017 |
18-22 |
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|
8 seasons  Â
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168-132
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