Eastern Illinois baseball head coach Jason Anderson has announced his coaching staff for the upcoming year with the Panthers coming off a 33 win season, their fourth 30+ win season in the last four years.
 
Anderson returns for his 12th season as the head coach having signed a contract extension with the University in June.   Mike Pugliese will return for his sixth season on the staff as the Panthers hitting coach and recruiting coordinator.
 
Joining the staff for the upcoming season are Jake Lotz, Nick Hammond and Jake Ferguson. 
 
Lotz comes to EIU as the Panthers new pitching coach after working the last three seasons at Lewis University.  Lotz coached three All-GLVC conference pitchers including 2025 Pitcher of the Year Brendan Lawry who went on to earn All-Region honors.   In 2025 the Flyers advanced to the NCAA Division II Tournament with a 37-18 record.  Lotz also has one season of coaching experience at both Northern Illinois and Triton College.  He is former player at Lewis earning All-Region honors during his time with the Flyers.
 
Hammond comes to EIU as the Director of Hitting Development as a former player at Eastern Kentucky.  Ferguson will be the Director of Baseball Performance finishing his playing career with EIU this past spring.
 
Michael Denton will rejoin the Panthers staff in August for his second year as the Director of Baseball Operations.