Southern Illinois-Edwardsville, Youngstown State Name New Coaches

Youngstown State and Southern Illinois-Edwardsville both announced Tuesday the hiring of new coaches. Dan Bertolini will take over at Youngstown State, while Sean Lyons is the new head man at SIU-E.

Bertolini takes over the Penguins after spending the last eight seasons as the coach of Mercyhurst North East JC (Pa.). He replaces Steve Gillispie, who was Youngstown State’s coach for the last four years.

Bertolini, 30, attended Poland (Ohio) High, southeast of Youngstown, and was a four-year starter at Mercyhurst (Pa.), setting the school record for consecutive games played. After he graduated, he played a season of independent ball before taking over at Mercyhurst North East. He won more than 200 games with the Saints, becoming the winningest coach in program history.

Lyons takes over at SIU-E after seven years as an assistant coach at Bradley. He replaces Tony Stoecklin, who was placed on administrative leave and reassigned in the athletic department in April.

Lyons, 39, played at Eastern Illinois and was an assistant coach at his alma mater for six seasons before moving to Bradley. He began his tenure with the Braves as hitting coach, and was promoted to associate head coach before last season.