Southeastern Louisiana University announced following a national search it has
named Matt Riser as the Lions' 16th head baseball coach. The decision was announced
by athletic director Jay Artiques, the Lions' former head baseball coach, who named
Riser as the interim head coach back in June when he moved into school
administration. The 30-year-old Riser is one of the youngest at the NCAA Division I
level. Riser said, " It's a dream come true, especially being this close to home.
The ultimate goal is to have your own program, but it's so much more than an
individual accomplishment," said Riser. Riser joined the Lions' staff in 2008 as
a volunteer assistant coach under Artigues. Artigues said, "I'm really excited to
see Matt take over at the helm of the baseball program. It's something special to
my heart, spending eight years to take the program to the level it's at now. It was
important to hire someone who could not only take the baton and keep it at that
level, but take it to the next level. Eight years ago, our program was at the
bottom of the Southland Conference, and now we're knocking on the door every
year," said Artigues. Riser, from Picayune, resides in Hammond with his wife
Jeanette. He earned his bachelor's degree in biochemical engineering from
Tulane University in 2007. As a junior he played a vital role in helping the
Green Wave reach the 2005 College World Series. As a senior, Riser homered
three times, drove in 37 runs and ripped 16 doubles. Riser played for Artigues
at Pearl River Community College, where he earned All-Region XXII honors and
region XXII Defwensive player of the Year as a sophomore. He hit .376 as a sophomore
and .347 as a freshman. He compiled 110 hits, 30 doubles and 109 runs scored in
his two-year junior college career.
