Mizzou Baseball Hires Hunter Mense as Hitting Coach
9/16/2014 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
Mense will take over as the Tigers' hitting coach.
COLUMBIA, Mo. -- Mizzou head baseball coach Tim Jamieson has announced that Mizzou graduate and former Tiger All-American Hunter Mense has been promoted and will serve as the program's full time hitting coach. Mense, one of the brightest young minds in college baseball, had a very successful playing career both collegiately and at the next level. He has served as an undergraduate and graduate assistant over the last four seasons while completing his undergraduate degree and working towards his Master's degree in Counseling Psychology with an emphasis in sport psychology at Mizzou.
During his last four years with Mizzou baseball, Mense established a great rapport with the Tiger hitters and also used his schooling in the field of sport psychology to work as a positive coach, assisting in the mental side of the Tigers' approach. With a pair of degrees and an All-America honor, Mense is a truly Mizzou Made addition to the Tiger coaching staff.
"We are really excited to add Hunter as a full time hitting coach. He is a dynamic, young coach who has done a terrific job for us in his time with the program," head coach Tim Jamieson said. "We have a long history together. In addition to playing for three Regional teams while at Mizzou, he played for me on Team USA with Max Scherzer. Hunter also went away to play pro ball and came back to finish his degree at Mizzou and I think that goes to show you how special of a place Mizzou is to him."
A decorated player, Mense was an All-American outfielder for Mizzou in 2006 and was a 2005 All-Big 12 honoree as well. He played for three NCAA Regional teams and one the 2006 team that reached Super Regionals. He played with the USA Baseball Collegiate National Team in 2005 and was a 17th-round draft selection by the Florida Marlins in 2006. He made it as high as AAA in 2010 and was a career .254 in 349 minor league games and tallied 19 homers and 124 RBIs. His best season came in 2008 with the Greensboro Grasshoppers when he hit .289 with 13 homers, 25 doubles, 31 walks and 56 RBI in 111 games. He was a short-season All-Star in 2006 as well. Mense hung up his spikes after the 2010 season and rejoined the Tiger staff to pursue a career in coaching while finishing his undergraduate and Master's degrees at Mizzou.
"I'm extremely excited for this opportunity," Mense said. "To be able to work with hitters at the school that I attended is a dream come true. My goal is to help our guys become the best players and people that they can become in the three- to four-year period that I have them."
A tireless worker with a unique approach to the game, Mense also served as the team's color analysis alongside broadcast partner Tex Little while serving as a mentor and mental strength coach to the Tiger team.
Mense takes the full-time assistant coach position after the departure of Matt Hobbs, who took a job at Wake Forest last month. Coach Jamieson will now handle the pitchers, a role that has been a specialty for the Tiger skipper, who has mentored the likes of American League Cy Young winner Max Scherzer and other current Major Leaguers Aaron Crow (Royals), Kyle Gibson (Twins), Nick Tepesch (Rangers) and Matt Stites (Diamondbacks). Scherzer, Crow and Gibson were all first-round draft picks under Jamieson's tutelage. Crow was an All-Star pick for the Royals and Gibson has been one of the best pitchers for the Twins this season.
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