Gary Ward (baseball coach)
Gary Ward (born September 9, 1940) is an American former baseball coach. He was the head baseball coach at Oklahoma State University from 1978 to 1996, compiling a record of 953–313–1. Ward won 16 Big Eight Conference championships at OSU, including 14 in a row from 1982 to 1995. He led his team to 18 40-win seasons, and 12 times his teams finished in the top 10. He later became the head baseball coach at New Mexico State University. During his tenure, he became only the 24th coach in college baseball history to gain 1,000 career wins.
| Biographical details | |
|---|---|
| Born | September 9, 1940 Ramona, Oklahoma |
| Playing career | |
| Basketball | |
| 1958–1959 | NE Oklahoma A&M |
| 1959–1962 | New Mexico State |
| Baseball | |
| 1959 | NE Oklahoma A&M |
| 1960–1962 | New Mexico State |
| Position(s) | Pitcher |
| Coaching career (HC unless noted) | |
| Collinsville (OK) | 1963–1969 |
| Yavapai College | 1971–1977 |
| Oklahoma State | 1978–1996 |
| New Mexico State (H) | 2000 |
| New Mexico State | 2001–2002 |
| New Mexico State (H) | 2003–2014 |
| Head coaching record | |
| Overall | 1022–361–1 (NCAA D-1) 240–83 (NJCAA) |
| Accomplishments and honors | |
| Championships | |
| |
| College Baseball Hall of Fame Inducted in 2008 | |
From 1971 to 1979, he served as the head baseball coach at Yavapai Junior College. He compiled a 240–83 record, including two national championships in 1975 and 1977. From 1963 to 1969, he was the head baseball and basketball coach at Collinsville (OK) High School. He played baseball and basketball at New Mexico State.
Ward now serves as the Chairman of the Advisory Board for 3D Sports Partners, Inc.
Head coaching record
College
| Season | Team | Overall | Conference | Standing | Postseason | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oklahoma State Cowboys (Big Eight Conference) (1979–1996) | |||||||||
| 1978 | Oklahoma State | 40–22 | 7–5 | 2nd (West) | Midwest Regional | ||||
| 1979 | Oklahoma State | 33–19 | 12–8 | T-1st (West) | Big Eight Tournament | ||||
| 1980 | Oklahoma State | 43–10 | 17–3 | 1st (West) | Big Eight Tournament | ||||
| 1981 | Oklahoma State | 52–17 | 12–6 | 2nd | College World Series | ||||
| 1982 | Oklahoma State | 57–16 | 19–5 | 1st | College World Series | ||||
| 1983 | Oklahoma State | 48–16 | 11–3 | 1st | College World Series | ||||
| 1984 | Oklahoma State | 61–15 | 15–3 | 1st | College World Series | ||||
| 1985 | Oklahoma State | 58–16–1 | 19–4 | 1st | College World Series | ||||
| 1986 | Oklahoma State | 56–15 | 18–5 | 1st | College World Series | ||||
| 1987 | Oklahoma State | 59-13 | 15–6 | 1st | College World Series | ||||
| 1988 | Oklahoma State | 61–8 | 21–3 | 1st | Midwest Regional | ||||
| 1989 | Oklahoma State | 48–19 | 18–6 | 1st | Midwest Regional | ||||
| 1990 | Oklahoma State | 56–17 | 18–6 | 1st | College World Series | ||||
| 1991 | Oklahoma State | 47–20 | 17–7 | 1st | Central Regional | ||||
| 1992 | Oklahoma State | 49–16 | 17–7 | 1st | Midwest Regional | ||||
| 1993 | Oklahoma State | 45–17 | 16–8 | 1st | College World Series | ||||
| 1994 | Oklahoma State | 49–17 | 21–6 | 1st | Midwest Regional | ||||
| 1995 | Oklahoma State | 46–19 | 18–10 | 1st | Midwest I Regional | ||||
| 1996 | Oklahoma State | 45–21 | 17–9 | 2nd | College World Series | ||||
| Oklahoma State: | 953–313–1 | 308–113 | |||||||
| New Mexico State Aggies (Sun Belt Conference) (2001–2002) | |||||||||
| 2001 | New Mexico State | 32–23 | 9–16 | 10th | |||||
| 2002 | New Mexico State | 37–25 | 10–14 | 6th | NCAA Regional | ||||
| New Mexico State: | 69-48 | 19–30 | |||||||
| Total: | 1022–361–1 | ||||||||
| National champion Postseason invitational champion | |||||||||