Baseball Coaching Staff

Lance Quessenberry, Head Coach
Russell Brand, Assistant Coach

Lance Quessenberry (school bio)
Head Coach

Lance Quessenberry enters his 4th year at EU and is coming off a year in which the baseball team made the conference tournament for the first time since 1996. The Crusaders finished the 2009 season with a 26-31 overall record and an 18-22 conference record. This season comes after the first winning season in seven years in 2008, which saw the EU baseball program finish with a 26-22 record. Making the conference tournament in 2009 was another big step in the right direction for the baseball program and the Crusaders are looking to continue that climb in 2010.

The 2009 season was Coach Quessenberry’s 13th season as a Head Baseball Coach and it leaves him with a 254-188 record at the HS/College level and 354-299 record overall. He had three high school stops before coming to EU:

Coach Quessenberry started out at Marion C. Early High School in Morrisville, MO in 1996-97. After an opening 10-14 season, the Panthers posted an 80-13 record in the next three years. During Coach Quessenberry’s 4 years at Marion C. Early, the Panthers won two conference titles, two District runner-ups, one district title, and a State runner-up in 1999.
Coach Quessenberry’s second stop was at his alma-mater in Hartville, MO. The Eagles posted a 52-22 record in his two years there. They finished as the runner-up in the conference both years and also finished as a runner-up one year in districts.
The final high school stop for Coach Quessenberry was at Parkview HS in Springfield, MO. After a 7-14 first season in 2003, the Vikings went on to have 3 consecutive winning seasons. That had never happened in the history of Parkview baseball. During Coach Quessenberry’s four-year stay at Parkview, the Vikings finished with a 50-45 record, had one runner-up finish in conference, and played for the first district championship in 24 years.
Coach Quessenberry has also had stops in American Legion programs in Bolivar, MO and with the Parkview Legion program while he was at Parkview HS.

Coach Quessenberry has had the opportunity to coach numerous All-Conference and All- State players and has seen many go on to have successful college careers. He has worked to see his players be successful on the field, in the classroom and in life.

Along with his coaching duties, Coach Quessenberry also serves as an Assistant Professor in EU Department of Physical Education, Recreation and Exercise Science. He is a 1991 graduate of Hartville High School and a 1996 physical education graduate of Southwest Baptist University (SBU) in Bolivar, MO. He also earned his master’s degree from Southwest Baptist in 2002. During his stay at SBU, Quessenberry was a two-year starter on the baseball team and in 1995; he earned All-MIAA (Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletic Association) honors as a center fielder. In addition, Quessenberry won the SBU team hustle award in 1995. Prior to coming to SBU, Quessenberry earned his Associates of General Studies degree from Labette Community College (Kans.) in 1993. At Labette, he was also a two-year starter in center field.

Coach Quessenberry and his wife Darla have been married for 14 years and currently live in Springfield, MO. Darla is also graduated from Hartville High School. She attended EU graduated with a degree in Business Education in 1997. She is currently employed at McKesson Corporation (Home Health Care Software Provider) where she is the sales manager. Their daughter Keyler is 5 years old.

Russell Brand (school bio)
Assistant Coach

Russell Brand enters his 4th year as the EU pitching coach. Coach Brand also heads up the junior varsity team, is the academic director for the baseball program, and is the intramural director at EU. The pitching staff has seen great improvements under Coach Brand and his work with them.

The 2009 season was Coach Brand’s 7th season as an assistant coach under Coach Quessenberry and his 3rd at EU. Prior to coming to EU, he coached and taught at Parkview High School in Springfield, MO. His duties included the following:

Coach Brand started out as an assistant coach at Parkview HS in Springfield, MO. He was there from 2003-2006. At Parkview, Coach Brand not only worked with the pitching staff, but also the outfield and junior varsity teams.
Coach Brand was also the head junior varsity coach for the Parkview Legion program from 2003-2006.
Coach Brand taught business classes at Parkview High School (2003) and Willard High School (2004-2007).

Along with his work with the baseball and intramural programs, Coach Brand has also taught classes in the graduate and undergraduate programs at EU. He is a 1998 graduate of Steelville High School and is a 2002 business education graduate of EU. He is also finishing up his master’s degree in organizational leadership at EU at this time. As a Crusader from 1999-2002, Brand was a mainstay in the pitching rotation and was an HAAC All-Eastern Division pick in 2001. Brand earned Academic All-American honors in 2001 and 2002.

Coach Brand and his wife Marcia (2002 early childhood EU graduate) have been married for 7 years and currently live in Republic, MO. They have a one year old daughter named Mariah.