2011 BASEBALL.indd - Missouri S&T Athletics

HEAD COACH : TODD DEGRAFFENREID
Todd DeGraffenreid enters his eighth season as the
head coach of the Miners and will look to get Missouri S&T
into the Great Lakes Valley Conference Tournament in the
2011 campaign.
The Miners have been in contention for a playoff spot in
each of the last three seasons on the final weekend of the
year. Last year, 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 2004 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 careeer 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.
Assistant Coaches
Caleb Lambert
Heath Waters
7MINER BASEBALL