R.D. Spiehs is in his third season with the Little Rock baseball program, joining the Trojans in July 2018 as an assistant coach overseeing the Trojans’ pitching staff.
2020 was shaping up to be a strong season for Little Rock pitchers who were on pace to break a number of program records before the season ended abruptly in mid-March. The Trojans ranked 40th nationally in strikeouts per nine innings (10.4), limiting opposing batters to a .229 average.
Sunday starter Aaron Funk was a two-time Sun Belt Pitcher of the Week, finishing the year with a 2.01 ERA and ranking 37th nationally in strikeouts. He posted a program-record 17 strikeouts in the win over North Alabama, which was tied for the most in a single game in the NCAA in 2020. Friday starter Hayden Arnold was also off to a strong start with an 8:1 strikeout-to-walk ratio, the best among Sun Belt starters.
The Trojan bullpen also came up strong with Jose Torres (1.32 ERA) and Cole Evans (.1.98 ERA) each recording 21 strikeouts in relief with Austin Smith notching a pair of wins in nine appearances. The trio combined for 56 strikeouts and allowed just 23 hits in 39 innings pitched.
In his first season with Little Rock, Spiehs helped make an immediate impact as the Trojan pitching staff boasted a team ERA of 4.92, ranking third in the Sun Belt Conference. The Trojans ranked among the league leaders in opponent batting average (.262) and strikeouts (485), finishing third in the league in both categories. During Sun Belt play, Trojan arms had the lowest in-conference ERA and the third lowest earned run average overall. Twice Trojan pitchers were selected as Sun Belt Pitchers of the Week. The staff aided in winning seven of the last eight conference weekend series.
Under Spiehs’ guidance, Chandler Fidel was named a first team All-Sun Belt Conference selection, ranking fifth in the league in ERA (3.65) and third in strikeouts (101), leading the Sun Belt in innings pitched (101.0). He was one of three Trojan pitchers selected as part of the 2019 Major League Draft, being selected in the 23rd round by the Cleveland Indians and being joined by McKinley Moore (14th round - Chicago White Sox) and Donavin Buck (free agent signee - Kansas City Royals).
Buck concluded his career ninth on the all-time list for strikeouts per nine innings (8.64). Chandler Fidel ended his three years in Little Rock ranking fourth in career strikeouts (253), fifth in career wins (15), eighth in strikeouts per nine innings (8.75) and 10th on the leaderboard in ERA, standing as only the third pitcher in school history to strikeout more than 100 batters in a year.
Spiehs came to Little Rock after spending seven seasons at Northern Colorado. Spiehs joined the staff in 2011 as an assistant coach before being promoted to the Associate Head Coach in 2015, helping guide the Bears to the 2013 Great West Conference title before assisting in Northern Colorado’s transition to the Western Athletic Conference.
Upon arriving in Greeley, Spiehs was instrumental in improving the Bears’ pitching staff, lowering the team’s ERA nearly two runs a game from 2011 to 2013 and improving it for five straight seasons from 2014 to 2018. This past season, his staff set a program record for strikeouts in a season with 419, registering a team ERA of 5.53, the second-lowest in the last 23 years at Northern Colorado.
Spiehs oversaw the development of a handful of Bear pitchers that received conference and national accolades, including WAC Pitcher of the Year Jensen Park in 2015, All-Conference honoree Nick Tanner in 2016 and Troy Watson, a 15th-round MLB draft pick in 2018. Northern Colorado’s pitching staff consistently ranked among the top half in the WAC during Spiehs’ tenure.
Prior to his time in Colorado, Spiehs served as an assistant coach at Grayson County College in Denison Texas from 2009-11, guiding four players to MLB draft selections during that span. He improved the team ERA from 7.77 in 2009 to 3.85 in 2011, helping guide the Vikings to the NJCAA World Series in 2011.
Spiehs began his coaching career at the University of Nebraska, his alma mater, in 2008 after spending seven seasons pitching professionally in the San Francisco Giants, San Diego Padres and Seattle Mariners organizations. Spiehs pitched for both the Portland Beavers and Fresno Grizzlies of the Triple A Pacific Coast League in 2005, spending time at both the Double A and Independent levels.
Spiehs was a three-year starter at Nebraska from 1999-01, compiling a 21-6 overall record with the Cornhuskers, ranking eighth all-time for career wins. He was a key member of the pitching staff that boasted the lowest ERA in the country in 2000 (3.14) and was Nebraska’s starting pitcher for the program’s first appearance in the College World Series in 2001.
Spiehs returned to Nebraska to earn his degree in communications in 2009. He is married to the former Jennifer Benson, who was a first team All-American in soccer at Nebraska and was a member of the U.S. National Team. The couple welcomed their first son, Sam, in May of 2019.
