SIOUX FALLS – Rob Hirrschoff and Gunner Peterson have been named assistant coaches for baseball, according to an announcement by University of Sioux Falls Baseball Head Coach Grant Hieb.

Hirrschoff will handle the pitching staff while Peterson will assist with operations, infielders and hitting.

I'm excited to have Coach Hirrschoff join my staff as the new Pitching Coach.  He's been a Head Coach at the prep level for many years and brings a ton of knowledge to our program.  He will bring a great passion and energy to our pitching staff," said Hieb. It's never easy coming in at the middle of the school year but he's done a great job getting to know the pitching staff in just a short amount of time.  I look forward to working with him in building the Cougar Baseball program," he said.

Hirrschoff of Brookings, S.D., is a former All-North Central Conference starting pitcher at South Dakota State from 1997-2002 and student assistant for the 2003-2004 season. He later served as the Head Coach for the Brookings Legion Post 74 from 2005-2014, leading the Bandits to their first state title and Central Plains Regional bid in 2012.

In 2014, Hirrschoff served as pitching coach for the Rochester Honkers of the Northwood's League. After a brief time away from the Legion team to run his own business, he took over as Head Coach/Coaching Director for Brookings baseball in 2017.

 "In addition to Rob, I've also added a former All-NSIC student-athlete of mine, Gunner Peterson to the coaching staff.  Since his playing days ended, Gunner has coached in the NSIC and most recently was working as player and program developer at Amigo Academy in Suzhou, China.   Gunner will predominately work with infielders and will help with the hitting.  He brings a lot of knowledge and a different perspective to our program, and I look forward to seeing the impact he has on our student-athletes," said Hieb.

A native of Brookings, S.D., Peterson is a former 2017 USF captain and All-NSIC first-team honoree, Peterson had a career .279 career batting average in 173 starts with a .932 fielding percentage. He started 49 games at shortstop for the Cougars in 2016 en route to the program's first NSIC Tournament bid in the DII era.

In the summer of 2017, Peterson joined Kyle Poock's Winona State program as an assistant coach working with infielders and hitters. In two season, he contributed to a pair of All-NSIC honorees and a Northwood's "Rawlings Finest on the Field" award recipient.

In 2019, Peterson accepted a Coaching position at MLB Sponsored Learning Facility "Amigo Academy" in Suzhou, China. Serving under Taiwanese Head Coach Rui Chang, he assisted in player and program development working with kids ages 4-16 in the Academy setting, as well as community outreach involving "Baseball Physical Education" across a number of International Schools in the Suzhou area.

The USF Baseball Team will open the season on March 12-14 at Truman State in Kirksville, Mo.