Missouri University of Science and Technology Men's Baseball

Todd DeGraffenreid enters his 23rd season as the head coach of the Missouri S&T baseball program in 2025 and has led the Miners to four Great Lakes Valley Conference regular season titles and a pair of NCAA Tournament appearances during his tenure. DeGraffenreid has recorded more wins that any coach in school history, as the Miners have won 469 games under his tutelage since he became the program's head coach in 2004. He recorded his 400th career win in game one of a doubleheader on February 28 against Minnesota Crookston, becoming the 76th active Division II coach to reach that milestone. During his tenure, S&T won GLVC West Division championships in 2011, 2012 and 2016, then won a share of the conference's regular season title in 2019. The Miners put up a 27-22 record in the 2024 season. They barely missed the conference tournament with a 17-18 GLVC record, making it just the second season in the last decade where they did so. After missing the GLVC Tournament in 2022, the Miners returned in 2023 as they used a stretch of 14 wins in 21 games late in the season to make their way into the field.  S&T also had an all-region performer during the season in third baseman Cole Hampton, who tied the program's single-season home run record in the process. In the 2021 campaign, S&T went 21-21 and 17-15 in GLVC play, advancing to the conference tournament for the sixth season in a row. That season included series wins over UMSL, Drury, William Jewell and Truman State and saw Michael Ward break the single-season home run record, leaving the yard 12 times and being named to the All-GLVC Second Team, joining Lance Portwood as the only two Miner first basemen to be named All-Conference at that position. At season's end, Keegan Baxmeyer and Will Hayes were named to the CoSIDA Academic All-District Team, with Hayes being named an Academic All-American, becoming the fourth player in program history to earn that honor and first since 2016. The COVID-19 shortened 2020 season saw S&T go 7-8 and 2-1 in GLVC play, winning their only conference series of the season against Rockhurst while sweeping Upper Iowa in non-conference play. In 2019, S&T went 30-17 overall and 22-11 in GLVC play to earn a share of the league's regular season title and earned Coach of the Year honors for the second time. That year, the Miners landed three players on the All-GLVC teams, with Dalton Erger and Stuart Martin being named to the league's First Team while Conner Forsythe garnered Second Team honors for the second year in a row. The 2018 season saw S&T go 26-26 overall and 15-13 in GLVC play and saw wins over Grand Valley State, Hillsdale and Central Missouri and featured series wins over Upper Iowa, McKendree, Rockhurst, Missouri-St. Louis and Truman State. Four more Miners earned All-GLVC honors, with Dan Borek being named to First Team selection wihle Justus Nelson, Matt Gruse and Conner Forsythe all earned Second Team recognition. The Miners followed up their regional run with a 26-23 record in 2017 and went 16-12 in GLVC play that saw series wins over Rockhurst, Truman State and Missour-St. Louis. Four players earned All-GLVC honors, as Eli Miller earned First Team laurels while Matt Knickerbocker was named Freshman of the Year and named to the league's second team, alongside Adam Richter and Kaleb Reid. S&T had its best season under DeGraffenreid in 2016, when it recorded a 39-19 record and won four games at the NCAA Division II Midwest Regional to reach the championship game and "Sweet 16" for the first time in school history.  The season, which included the Miners' third GLVC West Division title in six years, earned DeGraffenreid Coach of the Year honors from the conference as six players were named All-GLVC selection, with Eli Miller and, with Eli Miller and Aaron Bedsworth being named First Team selection, while Tyler Bodenstab, Justus Nelson, Ethan Krenning and Dan Borek all earned Second Team honors. Miller was also named to the ABCA All-Midwest Region Third Team and shortstop Nick Ulrich set what was at the time a single season home run record and was named an Academic All-American at season's end. Miller was also named to the NCBWA and D2CCA Second Team All-Midwest Region while Bedsworth has named to the First Team All-Region by both associations. The Miners broke their previous school records for wins in a season -- prior to the 39-win 2016 campaign -- in back-to-back years under DeGraffenreid's direction, going 32-15 in 2012 after a 30-19 mark in the 2011 campaign that also saw the Miners earn their second-ever berth to the NCAA Division II Tournament. S&T also posted a 20-10 record in conference play to earn its second straight division title and reached the GLVC Tournament as a top-three seed for the second year in succession. In 2013, the Miners used a strong late-season run -- winning 11 of its last 13 regular season games -- to make the GLVC Tournament for the third year in succession and finished at 22-14 in conference play, including series sweeps over Southern Indiana and William Jewell. S&T finished the year with an overall mark of 24-25. At the 2011 NCAA Division II Midwest Regional, the Miners won their opening round game over defending national champion Southern Indiana before finishing fourth in the six-team regional. S&T also won a school record 10 consecutive games during the course of a late-season run that landed it in the regional tournament; it was 21-7 in GLVC play in 2011. The Miners have been in contention for playoff spots on an annual basis during DeGraffenreid's tenure as head coach. In 2010, the Miners were 14-18 in the GLVC West and had a chance to make the playoffs on the final day of the season, as was the case in 2009. In that season, S&T was 11-13 in conference play and was eliminated on the last day of action. Missouri S&T finished the 2008 season with a record of 22-26 and were in contention for a playoff spot all the way to the final weekend of the season. S&T posted a 15-17 mark in league play last year, its best mark since joining the GLVC in 2006. During the 2010 season, the Miners had an all-region performer in designated hitter Will Morrison, who led the Miners in hitting with a .391 average and earned first-team all-region laurels. In 2007, the Miners ended the year with a mark of 20-27 and had a significant say in the Great Lakes Valley Conference playoff race down the stretch. The Miners knocked off three teams -- Quincy, Rockhurst and Northern Kentucky -- who were still in contention for playoff berths and nobody among that trio qualified for the event. In addition, Missouri S&T won the season series over eventual tournament champion Drury. The Miners had a record of 11-41 record during their first season in the GLVC, but despite the record, proved that they could play with the top teams in the conference. Missouri S&T swept a doubleheader from a Quincy team that made it to the NCAA Great Lakes Regional, played GLVC champion Northern Kentucky to three one-run games and won two of three contests from an Indianapolis team that also made the conference tournament field. Missouri S&T also had the league's top freshman as voted by league coaches in Thomas McCormick, an outfielder who led the Miners in hitting during the 2006 campaign. Missouri S&T finished 11-43 in 2005 after going 16-33 in DeGraffenreid's first year at the helm. The Miners also finished with an 11-20 conference record in 2004, but Missouri S&T was one of only two teams in the nation to post two victories over a Central Missouri State team that placed third in the NCAA Division II World Series. The other team to pull the feat was eventual national champion Delta State. Missouri S&T also posted a win over Emporia State during that season; the Hornets later participated in the NCAA Central Regional tournament. DeGraffenreid became the Missouri S&T head coach after serving as an assistant coach at William Woods University for three seasons while also playing professional baseball. He started his minor league career in the 1999 season when he played on a championship team in London (Ont.) in the Frontier League. During that season, DeGraffenreid led all rookie third basemen in hitting, hits, home runs and stolen bases. He later played for Richmond and for the Gateway Grizzlies in that league before playing in 2002 for San Angelo and Fort Worth. DeGraffenreid attended Lincoln University, where he was a standout third baseman at a time when the Blue Tigers were emerging as a top team in the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association. He later served as an assistant coach at LU during which Lincoln posted a second place finish in the MIAA Tournament in 1999 DeGraffenreid, who completed work on a bachelor's degree in Kinesiology in 2000, is originally from Searcy, Ark. DeGraffenreid and is wife, Keri, have three children, Kendall, Teagan and Callen.

Cody Gardner is in his second stint on Missouri S&T's coaching staff for his second season as the team's pitching coach. Gardner had previously served as the pitching coach for the Miners from 2016-2020. In his time away from S&T during the 2021-23 seasons, Gardner was the pitching coach for Lewis University.  In his first stint with the Miners, Gardner coached seven pitchers who earned All-GLVC accolades. Aaron Bedsworth (2016), Dan Borek (2018), Dalton Erger (2019) and Stuart Martin (2019) all earned first team honors while Borek (2016), Ethan Krenning (2016) and Conner Forsythe (2019) earned a spot on the second team.   In the 2024 season, Dylan Mollett earned first-team All-GLVC laurels. In 2016, as the Miners won the Great Lakes Valley Conference West Division title and reached the championship game of the NCAA Midwest Regional, Gardner guided the team to an earned run average of 4.21, including holding its opponents to a .284 batting average. In 2019, under Gardner’s leadership, the Miners led the Great Lakes Valley Conference for the fewest hits allowed, fewest runs, and fewest runs earned. They also allowed the third lowest batting average in the conference at .261, the best of Gardner’s tenure. Prior to arriving at S&T in 2016, Gardner spent four years at Truman State University as a pitcher for the Bulldogs, helping lead Truman to its first-ever NCAA Tournament appearance during the 2016 season. The Bulldogs won the NCAA Division II Midwest Regional title and advanced to the Division II Championships in Cary, N.C., where Gardner started the opening game against Mercyhurst and held the Lakers to one run and four hits over nine innings. In 2015 at Truman, Gardner tied the Bulldogs' single season record for wins as he went 9-5 on the year with a 3.05 earned run average in 112 innings of work. He led the Bulldogs with 59 strikeouts and his 15 career wins are the most by any pitch in Truman history. Gardner was named to the All-GLVC second team following the 2015 campaign. He also won five games during his junior year and recorded an earned run average of 3.16 in 62 2/3 innings. A native of Gray Summit, Mo., Gardner received his bachelor’s degree in 2015 in  exercise science and sports management at Truman State.