Ty Harrington, Texas State Bobcats

College Baseball Now

Ty Harrington is in his 19th season as head coach of the Texas State Bobcats. The winningest coach in school history has led the Bobcats since 2000, he will enter the 2018 season with a 591-468-1 all-time record. He also has a 319-207 record during conference play, which includes a 59-61 mark in Sun Belt action.

Harrington has built the Texas State Bobcats into an annual contender both regionally and on the national stage. He owns two Southland Conference Coach of the Year honors (2009, 2011), and has won at least 29 games and posted a winning record in conference play in 16 of his 18 years at Texas State.

Harrington has led the Bobcats to three-straight Southland Conference Championships (2009, 2010, 2011), three NCAA Championship Regional appearances (2000, 2009, 2011) and a program record for most wins in a season (41 in 2009 & 2011).

He has helped produce 83 all-conference selections, 10 All-Americans and seven conference players of the year. Also, 46 of Harrington’s players have been chosen in the Major League Baseball Draft, which includes a school-record five selections in 2011, 2012 and 2016.

The Texas State Bobcats finished 29-30 overall during the 2017 campaign and made a run to the semifinals of the Sun Belt Championship tournament. The Bobcats (13-17 SBC) entered the postseason as the No. 8 seed and went on to end the campaign of top-seeded Coastal Carolina in the quarters. TXST also handed the Chanticleers two losses during the regular season, while earning additional triumphs over Power 5 programs Purdue (2), Oklahoma State and Texas. The Bobcats finished with four All-SBC performers, one of which was Teddy Hoffman. The outfielder was selected in the 15th round of the MLB Draft by the Detroit Tigers.

The 2016 squad compiled a 31-28 record and also served as hosts for the SBC Championship tournament. The Texas State Bobcats placed fifth in the league with a 16-14 record, while earning marquee non-conference triumphs over Power 5 programs Texas, Baylor and Washington State. TXST was led by Tanner Hill, who was named a Louisville Slugger Third Team All-American. The Bobcats had four players selected in the MLB Draft, including Lucas Humpal, Jonathan Hennigan, Granger Studdard and Pasquale Mazzoccoli.

Harrington earned a milestone 500th victory against Baylor midway through the 2014 year. Texas State had a good start to the season, winning nine of their first 11 games including a seven-game winning streak. In a double-elimination conference tournament, Texas State also challenged eventual champion Louisiana in a 4-3 game.

The Texas State Bobcats had a tough start to 2013, but Harrington pulled the team together to finish strong en route to a second-place finish in the conference. In a rare occurrence, the Bobcats won their final game of postseason play but due to an unusual round robin tournament in the Western Athletic Conference, Texas State’s season came to a close.

Harrington’s Bobcats did, however, beat regular-season champion CSU Bakersfield along with tournament champion UTSA. The Bobcat pitching staff was so strong in 2013 that Texas State saw two contributors drafted in the Major League Baseball Draft. Starter Kyle Finnegan went in the sixth round to the Oakland Athletics while lefty reliever Donnie Hart went to the Baltimore Orioles in the 27th round after breaking a Texas State record for most appearances in a season with 41. Hart did not give up a run until his 11th appearance and did not concede an earned run until his 26th.

The 2012 Texas State Bobcats began the season strong with a 14-6 record through the team’s first 20 games, which was the second best 20-game start to a season since Harrington took over in 2000. The start helped catapult Texas State to No. 20 in the Baseball America rankings – the highest national ranking since the program began in 1985 – and No. 30 in the Collegiate Baseball poll.

Partially responsible for the strong start was the Bobcat pitching staff, which set program records and made a run at a longtime NCAA record. Texas State hurlers did not allow a run over 57.2 consecutive innings, a streak spanning seven games from Feb. 25 to March 6. The Bobcats set the team record for scoreless innings and consecutive shutouts (5) and came up just 6.1 innings shy of the NCAA record of 64 consecutive scoreless innings (1972, Arizona State). The streak included a win against No. 18 TCU, a series sweep of Notre Dame and a victory over No. 4 Rice.

The Bobcats’ win over the Owls was one of six against ranked opponents during the season. Texas State also defeated preseason No. 37 Wichita State along with No. 18/No. 19 TCU twice and No. 16 Oregon twice.

THE TY HARRINGTON FILE
Coaching Experience
1988-91	Texas	Student/Graduate Assistant
1992-94	Arkansas State	Assistant Coach
1995-98	Northeast Texas CC	Head Coach
1999	Blinn JC	Head Coach
2000-present	Texas State	Head Coach
Division I Head Coaching Record
2000-present	Texas State	591-468-1
Coaching Notes
Winningest Head Coach in TXST History
Had 46 players selected in MLB Draft
Only TXST coach to win SLC Coach Of The Year twice
Earned Victory No. 500 on April 24, 2014 vs. Baylor
Coaching Honors
2009	Southland Conference Coach of the Year
2011	Southland Conference Coach of the Year
Regular Season Team Championships
2009	Southland Conference (41-17, 24-7 SLC)
2010	Southland Conference (38-22, 23-10 SLC)
2011	Southland Conference (41-23, 24-9 SLC)
Tournament Team Championships
2000	Southland Conference (34-29, 16-11 SLC)
2011	Southland Conference (41-23, 24-9 SLC)
Milestone Victories
1	Lubbock Christian	2/2/2000
100	Nicholls	4/27/2002
200	Lamar	5/20/2005
300	Texas A&M-Corpus Christi	2/27/2009
400	Northwestern State	4/23/2011
500	Baylor	4/24/2014

Harrington led the Bobcats to a 41-23 record in 2011 as the team captured both Southland regular season and tournament crowns for the first time in program history. Harrington’s squad tied the program record for wins in a season and qualified for an NCAA Regional for the third time under his direction. Along the way, Harrington reached the 400-win mark with a 16-2 victory midway through the campaign against Northwestern State.

A Texas State-record five players were drafted from the Bobcats’ 2011 squad, including Kyle Kubitza who went to the Atlanta Braves in the third round, the third highest selection in Texas State history.

Harrington led the Bobcats to a 38-22 record and 23-10 mark in the SLC in 2010 as the team captured its second-consecutive conference regular season title. Carson Smith was named the SLC Pitcher of the Year and Newcomer of the Year while being one of six Bobcats to earned All-Southland Conference accolades.

In 2009, Harrington led the Bobcats to a 41-17 overall mark to set the record for most wins in a single-season. Texas State finished 21-7 against Southland Conference opponents en route to its first-ever SLC regular season championship. Harrington garnered the 2009 SLC Coach of the Year honors after the successful run, and Texas State received an at-large bid to the NCAA Regional Championship Tournament. This marked the first ever at-large bid for TXST.

Harrington not only produced a successful team, but the success of his individual players was unprecedented in 2009 as well. Kane Holbrooks, Paul Goldschmidt and Tyler Sibley became the first ever All-Americans for the Texas State baseball program. Holbrooks and Goldschmidt earned three All-America honors, while Sibley was named to the Louisville Slugger Freshman All-American team. Seven Bobcats were named All-Southland Conference, and Goldschmidt was named Southland Conference Player of the Year, Hitter of the Year and Student-Athlete of the Year. Holbrooks was named the SLC Pitcher of the Year and Keith Prestridge earned SLC Newcomer of the Year honors.

The 2007 squad posted a 37-23 record, a then-best mark for the program. Texas State opened the season with an 8-3 win over Oklahoma and returned to Bobcat Field for a 3-2 upset of No. 1 Rice in front of a record crowd.

Texas State’s 2006 club defeated three teams that made appearances in the 2005 College World Series (Texas, Nebraska and Baylor), and the Bobcats’ final victory of the season over Lamar marked Harrington’s 200th career triumph. The win made Harrington one of just two coaches with 200 or more victories as the Bobcats’ skipper. Harrington reached the milestone in his sixth season, one year sooner than former Texas State head coach Steve Prentice, who earned his 200th victory in the fifth game of his seventh season.

In 2004, Texas State defeated No. 16 Texas A&M during the regular season and played 14 games against ranked opponents, finishing with a 32-26 overall mark and a 16-10 record in the Southland Conference.

The 2003 Texas State Bobcats finished second overall in the league standings, just one game behind regular season champion Lamar. Texas State posted a 30-28 overall record and a 19-7 Southland Conference mark. The team earned wins over defending national champion Texas and preseason top-25 selection Baylor.

In 2002, Harrington led the Texas State Bobcats to a 36-24 record, which was the program’s second-most wins in a single season at the time. His club collected 10 wins against nationally-ranked teams, including a 2-0 shutout in Austin against the eventual national champion Texas Longhorns.

Harrington served as the head coach at Blinn Junior College (Brenham, Texas) in 1999 prior to taking command of Texas State’s baseball program. He guided the squad to a 36-22 record and a spot in the NJCAA Region XIV Championship in his lone campaign with the Buccaneers.

From 1995-98, Harrington served as the head coach at Northeast Texas Community College in Mount Pleasant, Texas. In his first season, the Eagles finished with a 37-12 record, and, in 1996, Harrington led the team to a 48-18 overall record while capturing the NJCAA National Championship. Along with the championship title, Harrington received NJCAA Coach of the Year honors.

In his four years at the helm of the program, Harrington recorded a .705 winning percentage (165-69). He also assisted in the development of an academic accountability system that resulted in a team grade-point average higher than 3.00 for three consecutive years.

Harrington began his coaching career at the University of Texas, where he served as a student coach and graduate assistant coach from 1988-91. He then moved to Jonesboro, Arkansas, as an assistant coach at Arkansas State University. Harrington helped the Indians establish several school records, including most wins in a single season. In 1994, A-State won the Sun Belt Conference Championship and made an appearance at an NCAA Regional.

During his playing days, Harrington was a two-year letterman at Texas. He played in the Longhorn infield under collegiate coaching legend Cliff Gustafson. Harrington was a member of Texas teams that advanced to the College World Series in 1984, ‘85 and ‘87. He also served as team captain on the 1987 squad.

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