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As he embarks on his tenth season with the Texas State Bobcat baseball program, head coach Ty Harrington has enjoyed a wide realm of success. Under his watch, Texas State eclipsed the 29-win mark for the tenth-straight year after posting a 30-27 record last season, two Bobcats were selected in the 2008 Major League Draft and a host of student-athletes were named to postseason award lists. Texas State finished 19-11 against league opponents and made their ninth appearance in the SLC postseason. With 296 wins under his belt, the Bobcat skipper made a mark in the Texas State record books, becoming the all-time winningest coach at Texas State.
Last season's success only added to what Harrington had accomplished at Texas State. He has now coached one preseason 1st-Team All-American, one Academic All-American, 11 1st-Team All Southland Conference selections, 22 second-team selections and 15 honorees to add to his previous 40 all-conference selections.
Additionally, Harrington's players have rewritten the Bobcat record books, claiming top spots in the single-season pitching records and batting statistics. Most recently, Thomas Field snagged the all-time single season record for most runs scored in a season after finishing his 2008 campaign with 66 runs. Field bested the mark he set last year with 61 total runs scored.
Along with Field, fellow draftee Mike Hart tallied 89 strikeouts in 2008 to lead the Bobcat team and now holds the No. 3 all-time career mark for strikeouts, closing out his career with Texas State at 227.
In 2007, Harrington coached his squad to 37 wins, the third-highest tally in school history. The season started off with a bang, as Texas State beat Oklahoma in the season opener and went on to capture a number of monumental wins, including a 3-2 victory over No. 1 Rice in front of a record crowd at Bobcat Field.
In 2006, Texas State defeated three teams that made appearances in the 2005 College World Series, including a 2-1 win in ten innings on April 27, 2005 at top-ranked Texas. Texas State also knocked off Nebraska and Baylor in 2005.
The 2005 season was also a milestone-marker for Harrington, as Texas State's win over Lamar on May 20 was the 200th for Harrington as head coach at Texas State.
The win made Harrington one of just two coaches with 200 or more wins as the Bobcats skipper, with Prentice in second at 222. Harrington reached the milestone in his sixth season, while Prentice got his 200th in the fifth game of his seventh season as head coach of the Bobcats.
Harrington's first season at Texas State in 2000 saw the Bobcats capture its third SLC Conference Tournament Championship and third bid to the NCAA Tournament, advancing to Regional play. Over the next four years, Harrington has built on the success of the program. Prior to coming to Texas State in the fall of 1999, Harrington was the head coach at Blinn Junior College in Brenham, Texas. In one season with the Buccaneers, Harrington guided the team to a 36-22 record, advancing to the Region XIV Junior College Tournament.
Harrington also served as the head coach at Northeast Texas Community College in Mount Pleasant, Texas, from 1995-98. In his first season, he led the team to a 37-12 finish. In 1996, the Eagles won the National Junior College Championship, finishing the season with a record of 48-18. Harrington received National Junior College Coach of the Year honors for the title season. In four years of running the show at Northeast Texas CC, Harrington recorded a solid winning percentage of .705, winning 165 of 234 games during his reign.
While at NTCC, Harrington assisted in the development of an academic accountability system that resulted in a team grade point average above 3.0 for three consecutive years.
Harrington's coaching career began at the University of Texas, where he served as a student and graduate assistant from 1988 to 1991. He then moved to Jonesboro, Arkansas, as an assistant coach at Arkansas State. Harrington helped the Indians establish several school records, including most wins in a season. Arkansas State won the 1994 Sun Belt Conference Championship and made the NCAA Regionals.
In his playing days, Harrington was a two-year letter winner at the University of Texas, where 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 Omaha, Nebraska, in 1984, 1985 and 1987. He also served as team captain on the 1987 Longhorn squad.
As a player and coach, Harrington has been a part of collegiate baseball teams that have advanced to post-season play in 20 of 22 seasons.
Harrington is married to the former Leila Baggett and resides in San Marcos, Texas with his two daughters, Melaine and Emma. Harrington is expecting his third daughter the summer.
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