Justin Paulsen is in his second season as the Cougars' hitting coach after joining Sean Lyons' staff in August 2023.
In his first season in Edwardsville, the Cougars had 3 offensive players named All- Conference and one sign professionally. Daniel Gierer and Ryan Niedzwiedz were both named to the All-Freshman team. Lucas Spence led the conference in batting average (.385), was named First Team All-Conference and went on to sign professionally with the Houston Astros.
Prior to joining SIUE Paulsen spent 2 seasons as the Recruiting Coordinator and Hitting Coach at Division II Maryville.
In 2023, Paulsen helped Maryville to one of its most successful seasons in program history. The Saints won a school record 36 games, ranked in the top 25 for the first time ever in the NCBWA Poll, earned their first bid to the NCAA Division II Midwest Regional, and won their first two regional games.
Paulsen guided offense which broke seven school records including runs scored, doubles, home runs, runs batted in, total bases, hit by pitches, and walks. Paulsen coached two All-Americans, two All-Midwest Region players, and three All-Conference players.
The 2022 Saints won 32 games which was the most in a season at the time. In Paulsen’s first year as the hitting coach the offense broke seven school records including runs scored, hits, doubles, home runs, RBI’s, total bases, and walks.
Paulsen arrived at Maryville after serving as a student assistant at his alma mater, Missouri State. He helped the Bears to two NCAA Super Regional appearances and a Missouri Valley Conference championship in 2015.
As a player, Paulsen garnered numerous honors in a Bear uniform, including All-MVC honorable mention his senior season, MVC All-Tournament team, All-MVC honorable mention his junior season. H was an All-MVC second team selection and an NCAA All-Regional pick in his sophomore campaign. He was drafted by the San Diego Padres in the 2017 Major League Baseball Amateur Draft and played for two seasons in the Padres organization.
The native of St. Louis, graduated from Christian Brothers High School and attended Jefferson College for a year before attending Missouri State.
