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02/06/2012
NCAAsports.com Features GVSU Baseball Trip To Cuba
11/16/2011
GVSU Baseball Team Preps For Trip To Cuba
Lakers will play four games on trip set for Jan. 3-9
Grand Valley State head baseball coach Steve Lyon has led the Laker baseball program to new heights since his arrival in 1999. Lyon has guided GVSU to ten straight NCAA DII Midwest Regionals, eight NCAA DII Midwest Regional title games, five NCAA DII Midwest Regional titles, five NCAA DII World Series appearances and played for the 2004 National Championship. In addition, the Lakers have won eight of the last nine Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference titles.
Lyon enters the 2012 campaign with a 509-189-2 (.729) mark at Grand Valley State and a 622-290-3 (.681) overall college coaching record. He is 8th on the DII active winning percentage list (622-290-3/ (.681) and is one of 25 active DII head coaches to reach the 600-win mark. Lyon, the 2007 FieldTurf DII National Baseball Coach of the Year, is a five-time recipient (2003, 2004, 2005, 2009 and 2011) of the ABCA Midwest Region Coach of the Year award. He has guided Grand Valley State to the third-best winning percentage of all DII schools (.740) since 2000 with a 479-168-2 mark. GVSU is 383-117-1 (.765) the last nine years with five NCAA Division II World Series appearances (2003 (T-5), 2004 (2), 2005 (T-3), 2009 (T7th) and 2011 (T7th)). GVSU is one of two teams in DII to appear in each of the last 10 NCAA DII tournaments. His 2004 squad played in the National Championship game where his Lakers dropped a 12-8 decision to Delta State. Lyon has tutored 45 ABCA All-North Central/Midwest Region performers and four ABCA All-Americans.
Grand Valley State is 289-101-2 (.740) in GLIAC action under Lyon. The Lakers are 210-59-2 (.779) in GLIAC play the last nine years, including eight GLIAC titles and seven of the last eight tournament titles. Lyon has coached 116 All-GLIAC performers during his 13 years as head coach, including 61 first-teamers. In addition, Lyon has produced two GLIAC Players of the Year, three Pitchers of the Year and four Freshman of the Year honorees. Lyon was named the 2003 and 2011 GLIAC Coach of the Year.
In 2011, GVSU recorded their best season in school history in terms of wins and winning percentage, finishing 52-5 overall with a trip to the NCAA DII World Series. The Lakers tallied a 34-1 mark in GLIAC conference play, the first team in conference history to win more than 30 conference games in a single season. The Lakers went undefeated in the GLIAC and Midwest Region Tournaments, part of a 32-game winning streak. GVSU had two All-Americans as Cody Grice and Kyle Schepel were each named All-Americans while Grice was the Midwest Region Player of the Year by the ABCA, Daktronics and NCBWA and Lyon was the Midwest Region Coach of the Year and GLIAC Coach of the Year. Grice was the GLIAC Player of the Year while Bill Maple was named the GLIAC Freshman of the Year. Their season ended at the World Series as the Lakers dropped two straight games to #11 Sonoma State (7-6 in 11 innings) and #9 Southern Connecticut State (8-6). On the season, the Lakers were 15-1 at home while recording a perfect 19-0 mark in away games.
Lyon's 2010 squad advanced to the NCAA DII Midwest Regional title game, marking the seventh time in the last eight years that the Lakers have played in the Midwest Regional Championship game. The Lakers finished 37-16 overall and 23-9 in GLIAC action.
The 2009 squad tallied a 45-16-1 overall mark and a 20-11-1 mark in GLIAC action. The Lakers finished second on the GLIAC regular season standings, but went 3-0 in the GLIAC Tournament to capture the school's seventh straight GLIAC crown. The title was the Lakers' 14th in school history. GVSU advanced to the 2009 Midwest Regional as the No. 2 seed, but dropped the opening game of the tourney by a 5-4 count to Indianapolis. GVSU rebounded with wins over Rockhurst and Northern Kentucky to move into the Midwest Regional title game. The Lakers claimed 4-3 and 3-2 wins over Indianapolis to earn a trip to the NCAA DII World Series. GVSU dropped a pair of close decisions to Emporia State (3-0) and Belmont Abbey (5-4) in World Series action.
Lyon's 2008 Laker baseball squad captured its sixth straight GLIAC title and 13th in school history. GVSU finished 34-13 overall went 3-0 en route to the GLIAC Tournament title. The Lakers earned the top seed in the NCAA DII North Central regional tournament for the third straight year.
The 2007 GLIAC crown was the Lakers' 12th in school history which tops all all league institutions. In addition, the Lakers' .833 winning percentage (45-9) a year ago was also the top single-season winning percentage in school history. GVSU won 18 straight games at one point during the season, 16 of which were GLIAC games. GVSU swept three straight games en route to the GLIAC Tournament title and was awarded the top seed in the North Central Region for the second straight year. The Lakers advanced to the title game, but dropped a 1-0 decision to Southern Indiana.
GVSU fell just one game short of its fourth consecutive North Central Regional title in 2006. The Lakers' 47 wins was the best in school history and the third highest winning percentage in all of Division II (.825). GVSU rolled through its GLIAC schedule with an all-time GLIAC single-season best 28-3 record.
In 2005, Lyon led the Lakers to their third consecutive appearance in the Division II World Series finishing third. Grand Valley State's 37 wins ranks third in school history behind the 2003 and 2004 sqauds. The Lakers went 8-3 in the post-season including a perfect 3-0 in the GLIAC Tournament to claim their third straight GLIAC title.
Lyon led Grand Valley State to one of the best seasons in school history in 2004, posting a 46-16 overall mark and a 23-7 record in GLIAC play. The 46 wins marked the highest win total in Laker annals. GVSU claimed its second straight GLIAC Championship with a 3-0 record in the GLIAC Tournament. The Lakers then went 4-1 at the NCAA North Central Regional Tournament, including a pair of wins over host Ashland on the final day to advance to the DII World Series for the second consecutive year. GVSU won three straight games at the World Series before dropping a tough 12-8 decision to second ranked Delta State in the National Championship game. Grand Valley claimed a 2-1 12-inning win over fourth ranked Chico State, a 5-2 win over eleventh ranked Bryant, and an 11-4 victory against third ranked Rollins en route to the title game.
Lyon has led the Lakers to an impressive home record of 189-43-1 in his 13 years. GVSU was 20-1-1 on its home turf in 2003, followed by a 15-2 record in 2004, a 10-3 mark in 2005, 19-2 in 2006, 14-3 in 2007 and 13-4 in 2008 with a 15-1 record in 2011.
Matt Rafeld was the 2004 GLIAC Pitcher of the Year, followed by Grant Payton in 2005 and Jeremy Dow in 2006. Dustin Vugteveen who was named the GLIAC Player of the Year in 2001 under Lyon while Cody Grice was the GLIAC Player of the Year in 2011. Bill Maple (2011) became the fourth Laker to earn Freshman of the Year honors, following Cody Grice (2009), Casey Robrahn (2006) and Scott Allen (2002). Grice was the latest Laker to earn American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA) All-American honors when he earned second-team honors. Kyle Gendron (2009), Payton (2006), Rafeld (2004) and Vugteveen (2001) each earned ABCA All-American honors.
Prior to his arrival at Grand Valley State Lyon served as the head coach at Oakland University for five years. The 56-year-old Lyon led Oakland to a 113-101 record during his five-year tenure. Steve coached the Grizzlies to the 1994 GLIAC Tournament title and a 30-win season in 1995. In addition, he guided OU to a second-place GLIAC finish in 1997. Lyon was an assistant coach at OU for five seasons prior to taking the head coaching reigns. His main responsibility as a Grizzly assistant was working with the pitching staff. OU hurlers broke virtually every pitching record during Lyon's tenure, including a school-record 3.32 ERA in 1995.
Prior to his coaching days at Oakland, Lyon served as a high school baseball coach in the Detroit area for nine years. He was athletic director and baseball coach at Pontiac Catholic High School from 1979 to 1985, before moving on to Harper Woods Notre Dame until 1987. He served as an assistant at Mott Community College in Flint prior to his arrival at OU.
Lyon, who earned a bachelors of science degree from Wayne State University in 1975, played two seasons of baseball for the Tartars and was an academic All-American nominee as a junior. He earned a Master's Degree in Physical Education with an emphasis in sports administration from Ohio University in 1981. While at Ohio University, Lyon served as a graduate assistant baseball coach.
Lyon and his wife, Sandy, have three children: Jon, Stephanie, and Katharine.
