SPRINGFIELD – Missouri State head baseball coach Joey Hawkins announced the promotion of three staffers Friday. Aaron Sawchak moves to Chief of Staff, Kyle Cliff is now Director of Pitching and Recruiting, and Tanner Petersen is the Bears' Director of Player Development.
 
Head Coach Joey Hawkins staff promotions:
"As we embark on a new academic and athletic year, I couldn't be more excited to promote Aaron, Kyle and Tanner into their new roles. The new landscape of college athletics is as competitive as ever, so as head coach I find it extremely important to try and stay ahead in all areas of our program to ensure on-field success. I look forward to seeing Aaron navigate the new waters of CUSA travel and day-to-day logistics, am excited to see Kyle organize and gameplan our recruiting efforts from high school to junior college and the transfer portal, and for Tanner to help tie all things player development together through resources, plans and data/analytics. Go Bears!"
 
Aaron Sawchak – Chief of Staff
Aaron Sawchak joined the Missouri State baseball program before the 2021 season and has served the Bears in numerous capacities prior to his promotion to Chief of Staff in 2025.
 
As an undergraduate student, Sawchak was a bullpen catcher and played a key role in the program's social media content.
 
He remained on staff as a graduate assistant and took on the role of Director of Baseball Operations during the second year of his assistantship, where he ran the day-to-day logistics of the program while maintaining influence in the team's social media presence, duties he continues to hold as Chief of Staff.
 
A Springfield native and two-time Missouri State graduate, Sawchak earned his bachelor's degree in public relations in 2023 and master's in sports management in 2025. 
 
Kyle Cliff – Director of Pitching and Recruiting
Cliff joined the MSU staff as Director of Pitching in the fall of 2024 and works alongside pitching coach Deck McGuire in the development of the Bears' hurlers and took on additional recruiting duties with a promotion and title change to Director of Pitching and Recruiting in 2025.
 
His first season working with the staff resulted in the Bears ranking 32nd nationally and third in school history with 9.51 strikeouts per nine innings, the program's best figure since 1969. Tyler Charlton set the school record by striking out 12.87 batters per nine innings.
 
Max Knight led MSU's pitching award winners in 2025 with an NCBWA Third-Team All-American nod as a two-way player in addition to claiming Missouri Valley Conference First Team and co-Newcomer of the Year honors. Jason Schaaf added an honorable mention all-league selection and joined Curry Sutherland on the league's all-tournament team.
 
Cliff came to Missouri State after a three-year stint as an assistant coach at Emory & Henry College in Virginia, where he served as the Wasps' pitching coach and recruiting coordinator as well as numerous other duties.
 
As the pitching coach at Southeastern Oklahoma State for the 2020 and 2021 seasons, Cliff mentored four conference pitcher of the week award winners in two years. Prior to his time in Oklahoma, Cliff spent a season at NAIA University of Rio Grande in Ohio, where he helped the pitching staff break the school record for strikeouts in a season and improve its statistical production across the board with two All-Americans, the conference pitcher of the year and one draft pick.
 
Cliff played collegiately at Limestone University and Elgin Community College before ending his career at UNC Greensboro, where he graduated with an economics degree in 2018.
 
Tanner Petersen – Director of Player Development
Tanner Petersen joined the Missouri State baseball program in 2023 as a student assistant and advanced to the Director of Analytics and Video for the 2025 season prior to his appointment to Director of Player Development in August 2025.
 
Petersen helps the Bears stay on the leading edge of data and analytics, using those resources and information in the development of the team's roster.
 
His additional coaching experience includes serving as an assistant coach for the Lakeshore Chinooks of the Northwoods league in the summer of 2023.
 
A native of Rogersville, Mo., Petersen was a football and baseball athlete in high school and helped the Wildcats to a state runner-up finish on the diamond in 2022 alongside MSU junior Curry Sutherland. Petersen is studying concurrently towards a bachelor's degree in data and analytics and an accelerated master's in information technology.