Missouri State appointed former Bear Matt Lawson to the position of assistant coach to complete the Bears’ staff prior to the start of the 2018 season.
A two-time All-Missouri Valley Conference honoree during his MSU playing career, Lawson serves as MSU’s lead hitting instructor and recruiting coordinator after filling a variety of roles on the Bears’ staff over a four-year stretch prior to his full-time appointment. He served as a volunteer assistant and student assistant coach, as well as a graduate manager since his return to his alma mater in 2014, playing a pivotal role in one of the most successful stretches in Missouri State baseball history while working with the Bears’ hitters and infielders.
Over the four-year period from 2015-18, the Bears claimed three MVC regular-season titles and NCAA postseason bids, as well as two of the program’s three NCAA Super Regional berths with Regional crowns in 2015 and 2017, while racking up 170 overall victories—the best four-year win total in the history of the program. As part of that run of success, Missouri State shattered the club’s single-season record for walks in both 2015 (317) and 2017 (351). MSU clubbed 160 home runs as a team over the 2016-17 seasons, including four different individual season totals of 20 or more homers, paced by 2016 NCAA Division I home run leader Spencer Johnson’s 24 round-trippers.
On the defensive side, Lawson has helped mentor a Missouri State infield that has set new program standards for excellence as well. The Bears posted the top four cumulative team fielding percentages in MSU history from 2015-18, including an all-time best of .976 during the Bears’ school-record 49-win campaign in 2015. MSU infielders also turned 190 double plays while committing just 227 errors in 240 games over the same span.
Individually, Lawson has aided in the development of a pair of infielders who have earned MVC Defensive Player of the Year laurels, as well as two first-team All-Americans and USA Baseball Collegiate National Team selections in Jake Burger and Jeremy Eierman during his time with the Bears.
In addition to his time on the Bears’ coaching staff, Lawson has logged a pair of head coaching experiences leading summer league programs since his return to Springfield. Most recently, he served as field manager and third base coach for the Kalamazoo Growlers of the prestigious Northwoods League in 2016, overseeing game management and player recruitment. Lawson also spent two summers working with the Branson Nationals of the MINK League.
A native of Carl Junction, Mo., Lawson initially returned to Missouri State to begin his collegiate coaching career as a volunteer assistant in 2011, before returning to professional baseball for the 2012-13 seasons to complete a successful seven-year playing career. A 14th-round draft choice of the Texas Rangers in 2007, Lawson advanced as far as Triple-A Columbus with the Cleveland Indians organization, hitting a career-best .327 in 2012 with Class AA Akron. He was named the Spokane Indians’ team MVP as a rookie in 2007 and a California League (Class A) All-Star in 2009, batting .293 with career highs in home runs (10) and RBIs (57) for Bakersfield. He followed that performance with an effort that earned him a spot in the Texas League (Class AA) All-Star Game the following year before being packaged as part of a trade to the Seattle Mariners that included American League Cy Young Award-winner Cliff Lee in July 2010.
Lawson was a three-year letterwinner at second base for MSU from 2005-07, picking up second-team All-MVC honors and MSU’s Willis Award as team MVP in 2006 after hitting .330 and leading the club in runs scored (43), doubles (19), triples (3) and stolen bases (20). He added an honorable mention all-conference nod in 2007 and still ranks 10th on the Bears’ all-time assists list.
Lawson graduated with his bachelor’s degree in psychology from Missouri State in 2015, before finishing a master’s degree in sports management from MSU in 2017. He and his wife, Mallory, reside in Springfield with their sons, Luke and Bo.
