Steve Bever, Head Baseball Coach
Pittsburg State University
Steve
Bever enters his 18th season as head coach of the Pittsburg State University
baseball program.
Starting literally from scratch in 1991, Bever
has hand crafted the Gorilla baseball program into one of the most successful
programs in the Central Region of the NCAA Division II ranks.
Bever’s formula for success has been an
impressive one. He resurrected a defunct program in 1991, weathered the
tough times early on in building the program from the ground up, then
led the program’s emergence onto the national scene with four NCAA
Division II Regional appearances in a six-year span (1997, 1998, 1999,
2002).
He enters the 2008 campaign with a 473-376 (.557)
career record, needing 27 victories to reach the 500-win milestone.
The early signs that Pitt State would make its
mark in Division II baseball came when the Gorillas posted a 30-win season
in 1994 – just four years into the entire process. Pitt State narrowly
missed qualifying for the NCAA-II Regionals that year.
After a pair of .500 seasons followed, Bever engineered
PSU’s breakthrough season in 1997. The Gorillas rolled to a school-record
39 wins that year and earned the school’s first trip to NCAA-II
post season play. The Gorillas advanced all the way to the Central Regional
finals before being upended a game away from reaching the Division II
World Series.
The Gorillas returned to the NCAA-II Central Regional
each of the next two years, enjoying 36-win seasons both times. In 1999,
PSU captured its first MIAA title and the Gorillas again came a game away
from reaching the Division II World Series.
In 2002, Pitt State matched its school record
39-win total and returned to the NCAA-II Central Regional for a fourth
time in a 39-19 campaign. The Gorillas have narrowly missed the NCAA-II
Regionals each of the last four seasons.
Since 1994, Pittsburg State has averaged 30 victories
per season – the second-highest total in the Mid-America Intercollegiate
Athletics Association and the Central Region of NCAA Division II.
The Bever Chronology
Bever, a four-year starter at Pitt State from
1966-69 under coach Al Ortolani, assumed the head coaching duties of the
Gorilla program in February of 1990, when university officials elected
to bring back the national past-time to the PSU campus. (PSU had fielded
a team from 1962-72, but discontinued the program prior to the 1973 season
due to budget restraints.)
After a 19-year absence, Bever led the Gorillas
into their first season of competition as a member of the MIAA and NCAA
Division II. The Gorillas posted a 15-32 record that year, including a
5-9 mark in the MIAA South Division.
In 1992, PSU notched a 17-26 overall mark. The Gorillas went 7-5 in MIAA
South Division play, but missed qualifying for the four-team conference
playoffs by 1/2 game.
In 1993, Bever led PSU to a 15-18 overall record,
including a 7-8 mark in the MIAA South. The Gorillas jumped out to a 7-3
start in conference play, before dropping their last five league games.
In 1994, Bever directed the Gorillas to a 30-20
season, including a 12-5 mark in the MIAA South and the program’s
first post-season berth since 1965. The Gorillas won their first-ever
post-season games, sweeping two games from intrastate rival Emporia State
in the first-round of the MIAA Tournament at Jaycee Park.
PSU then came an out away from upsetting perennial
national power Missouri Southern, before falling, 8-7, and the Gorillas
trailed eventual national champion Central Missouri by just a run after
7 1/2 innings before losing a hard fought 7-4 decision to end the season.
In 1995, PSU posted a 22-22 overall record and
qualified for competition in the MIAA Tournament with a 10-10 MIAA South
mark. The Gorillas bowed out of the playoffs in the first-round, dropping
a 2-1 series decision to Northwest Missouri. PSU dropped a pair of one-run
losses to the Bearcats after winning the first game of the three-game
set. PSU lost a total of 10 games by two runs or less that year.
In 1996, PSU overcame a 4-9 start to finish the
season with a 23-25 overall record. The Gorillas posted their first modern-era
victory against a Division I opponent with a thrilling 14-12 win against
the University of Kansas Jayhawks at Lawrence. PSU won four of its last
six MIAA games to finish with an 11-7 conference mark and qualify for
the MIAA Tournament.
In 1997, PSU enjoyed its best season ever, setting
a school record for wins (39). The Gorillas victories included a 4-1 win
against Division I Southwest Missouri, during a stretch when they won
24 of 28 games. PSU earned its first-ever national ranking in ’97,
finishing the season 24th in the final poll.
PSU also virtually rewrote its record books, batting a whopping .364 as
a team.
Despite bowing out of the MIAA Tournament in the
semifinals, PSU still earned its first NCAA-II post-season berth, and
the Gorillas made the most of their opportunity. Marc Eddington, an All-America
basketball player, pitched the Gorillas to a 5-3 win against Minnesota
State-Mankato in the opening round, before PSU fell twice to MIAA rival
Central Missouri to end its season.
In 1998, Bever’s Gorillas replicated their
success. After opening the season 1-4, PSU won 11 of their next 13 games.
PSU added an 11-game winning streak between March 26 and April 11 pushing
its record to 26-9, and the Gorillas closed out the regular season by
winning their final eight games to improve to 36-12.
After an early exit from the MIAA Tournament,
Pitt State’s 36-14 record earned the Gorillas a second straight
trip to the NCAA-II Central Regional. MIAA rival CMSU took a 10-2 decision
against Pitt State and the Gorillas were unable to come back through the
losers’ bracket the next day, dropping a 7-5 decision to Winona
State.
In 1999, PSU won its first-ever MIAA title in
dramatic fashion. Needing to capture the conference championship to earn
a third trip to the NCAA-II Regionals, PSU went 5-0 in the conference
tournament to claim the league title. The Gorillas exorcised a demon by
beating CMSU for the first time in 15 tries to sew up the league title.
PSU then posted a 2-2 record in the Central Regional.
After posting a win over Minnesota State-Mankato, PSU lost a grueling
11-inning game to Rockhurst. The Gorillas bounced back with a second straight
win over CMSU, but PSU was unable to beat Rockhurst and the Hawks eliminated
the Gorillas, 6-2, in the regional final to halt PSU’s season.
In 2000, the Gorillas posted a 29-21 overall record
and in 2001 PSU faltered down the stretch and finished 26-25 overall.
In 2002, Bever meshed new talent and guided the
Gorillas to a fourth appearance in the NCAA-II Central Regional. PSU started
the season 3-3, but the Gorillas tied a school record with 12 straight
wins to begin to assert themselves. PSU concluded the regular season with
a 36-17 record, and, after the MIAA Tournament
was scrapped due to inclement weather, the Gorillas advanced to the Central
Regional. The Gorillas sandwiched a 7-5 win over Nebraska-Omaha in between
a pair of losses to MIAA nemesis Central Missouri before bowing out of
the regional.
In 2003, Pitt State enjoyed another 30-win season,
but the Gorillas came up just short in a return trip to the NCAA-II Central
Regional. The Gorillas posted a 32-19 overall record and a 15-14 mark
in MIAA play.
In 2004, the Gorillas again enjoyed a 30-win season
– finishing 34-25 overall – but PSU came up empty on an NCAA-II
Regional berth after bowing out in the semifinals of the MIAA Tournament.
In 2005, Pitt State posted a 29-21 record. The
Gorillas were victimized by six one-run losses, including four in MIAA
play.
In 2006, Pitt State finished with a 27-25 record.
The Gorillas again were victimized by close losses – five one-run
games and four more two-run setbacks.
Last year, Pitt State posted a 24-30 record. The
Gorillas again battled a plethora of close losses, dropping seven one-run
games and six two-run contests.
In addition to his coaching responsibilities,
Bever serves as an assistant athletic director for home event administration.
Steve and his wife, Johna, have two adult children:
Dawn and Gabe.
Dawn and her husband, Greg, live in Wichita. The
have two sons, Alex, 7, and Isaac, 4. Dawn received her bachelor’s
degree in accounting at PSU in 1993. She is a CPA and currently stays
at home with their two boys. She is also a high school youth sponsor with
her church. Greg, also a CPA, is the Vice President and operations controller
for Lodgeworks.
Gabe received his bachelor’s degree from
PSU in 1996 in wildlife biology and his master’s degree in geology
from Fort Hays State in 2000. He received his PhD in vertebrate paleontology
from the University of Texas in December 2006. He is currently employed
as a post-doctoral fellow at the American Museum of Natural History in
New York City.
Gabe married Amy Balanoff, a native of Austin,
Texas. Amy received her bachelor’s in geology and master’s
degree in verterbrate palentology from the University of Texas. She is
currently in her third year of her PhD in paleontology at Columbia University
in New York City.
Steve and Johna reside in rural Farlington, Kan.
Bever’s Career Coaching
Record at Pitt State
Year Overall Pct. MIAA Pct.
Post-Season
2007 24- 30 .444 15- 20
.429
2006 27- 25 .519 17-
14 .548
2005 29- 21 .580 16-
14 .533
2004 34- 25 .576 17-
14 .548 MIAA Tournament
2003 32- 19 .627 15-
14 .517
2002 39- 19 .672 19-
11 .633 NCAA-II Regionals
2001 26- 25 .510 13-
17 .433
2000 29- 21 .580 15-
14 .517
1999 36- 14 .700 12-
7 .632 MIAA Champions/
NCAA-II
Regionals
1998 36- 16 .692 17-
5 .773 NCAA-II Regionals
1997 39- 18 .684 17-
7 .708 NCAA-II Regionals
1996 23- 25 .479 11-
7 .611 MIAA Tournament
1995 22- 22 .500 10-
10 .500 MIAA Tournament
1994 30- 20 .600 12-
4 .750 MIAA Tournament
1993 15- 18 .455 7-
8 .467
1992 17- 26 .395 7-
5 .583
1991 15- 32 .319 5-
9 .357
TOTALS 473-376 .557 225-180 .556