The Washington State Cougars baseball team is the varsity intercollegiate baseball team of Washington State University, located in Pullman, Washington, United States. The program has been a member of the NCAADivision IPacific-12 Conference since the start of the 1960 season. Since the start of the 1980 season, the program's home venue has been Bailey–Brayton Field, located on the university's campus. Donnie Marbut has been the program's head coach since prior to the 2005 season. As of the end of the 2012 season, the team has appeared in four College World Series and 16 NCAA Tournaments. In conference postseason play, it has won one Northwest Conference Tournament, one Pacific Coast Conference Northern Division Tournament, one Pacific-8 Conference North Division Tournament, and four Pacific-10 Conference Northern Division Tournaments. In regular season play, it has won five Northwest Conference Championships, 12 Pacific Coast Conference Northern Division titles, four AAWU Championships, nine Pac-8 North Division titles, and 11 Pac-10 North Division titles. As of the start of the 2013 Major League Baseball season, 32 former Cougars have appeared in Major League Baseball.
The first season of organized baseball at the school came in 1892, shortly after the school's founding. In that season, the team had an 11-1 record. The program's first game, a 26-0 victory, was played on March 12, 1892, against Pullman Military College. After a three-year hiatus from 1893–1895, the team returned for one season in 1896. After another break in 1897, the team returned permanently in 1898. For the 1901 season, the program, which had previously been led by team captains, named H.E. Lougheed its first head coach. Through the end of the 1909 season, the program competed as an independent, compiling a 110-59-1 record in that period.[1]
In 1910, the program joined the Northwest Conference. Prior to the 1912–1913 academic year, former Washington State football coach John R. Bender had returned to the school from Saint Louis University. He also served as the school's head baseball coach beginning with the 1913 season. In that season, the team won its first Northwest Conference title, finishing with a 7-1 record. The team won the conference title in 1914 and 1915 under Bender, as well, along with the conference tournament in 1915.[1]
After the 1915 season, Bender left the school to coach football at Kansas State. He was replaced by Fred Bohler, who led the team to Northwest Conference titles in 1916 and 1918. Following the 1918 season, the program joined the Pacific Coast Conference (PCC), which had been formed in December 1915. In its first season in the PCC, the team finished fourth.[1]
In 1919, the college adopted the Cougar as its athletic programs' official nickname.[2]
Prior to the start of the 1927 season, Buck Bailey became the program's head coach. In Bailey's first season, the program finished first in the PCC North Division and won the PCC Tournament. The team also won the North Division title in 1933, 1936, and 1938.[1]
Bailey returned prior to the start of 1946 season and resumed his coaching duties. From 1947–1950, the program won four consecutive PCC North Division titles. This run culminated in the program's first College World Series appearance in 1950, the first College World Series played at Rosenblatt Stadium in Omaha, Nebraska. To qualify, the Cougars defeated Stanford to win the PCC Tournament. At the World Series, after winning their first three games over Tufts, Alabama, and Rutgers, the Cougars lost to Texas in their first loss in the double-elimination tournament. The team later faced Texas again in the national championship game, which Washington State lost 3-0.[1][8] Future Major Leaguers Ted Tappe and Gene Conley played on the 1950 team.[9]
The program reached the College World Series again under Bailey in 1956. To qualify from District VIII, the team defeated USC in the PCC Tournament. At the World Series, the Cougars were eliminated after consecutive defeats to Bradley and New Hampshire.[1][8]
On July 1, 1959, the PCC dissolved following a scandal involving illegal payments to football players at several of the conference's schools.[10] In reaction, five former PCC members, formed the Athletic Association of Western Universities (AAWU), which Washington State's baseball program joined when play began in the 1960 season.[11] With the addition of several other schools over time, the conference eventually became known as the Pacific-12 Conference.[12][13]
The program qualified for the NCAA Tournament in each of its first two seasons in the AAWU. In both 1960 and 1961, the Cougars were eliminated in the District VIII Regional.[8]
Following Buck Bailey's retirement at the end of the 1961 season, the school hired Bobo Brayton, a former Washington State player and then-head baseball coach at Yakima Valley College. In Bailey's first three seasons, the team failed to qualify for the postseason. In 1965, however, the team won the AAWU North Division and qualified for the NCAA Tournament. In the second round of the District VIII Regional, the Cougars defeated Stanford and advanced to the 1965 College World Series. There, the team finished third, with wins over Texas and Connecticut and two losses to Ohio State.[1][8][14]
After missing the playoffs for three consecutive seasons from 1967–1969, the Cougars won the Pac-8 North Division title and qualified for the Pac-8 Tournament in 1970. This division title started a streak of 11 consecutive North Division titles (1970–1981) and 19 of the 22 from 1970–1991. In that stretch, the program qualified for eight NCAA Tournaments (1975, 1976, 1977, 1978, 1984, 1987, 1988, 1990). In 1976, the Cougars hosted and won the West Regional, defeating Pepperdine and Cal State Fullerton twice, in order to advance to the College World Series. In its first game, the team defeated Oklahoma, but then was eliminated by consecutive losses to Arizona State and Maine.[1][8][17][18][19][20][21][22][23]
Following the 1979 season, renovations of Martin Stadium, Washington State's football venue, led to the construction of a new running track on the site of the baseball venue, Bailey Field. As a result, the school built a new baseball venue, which retained the name Bailey Field.[24] In 1984, stadium lighting was installed at the venue, and the first nighttime college baseball game in the Pacific Northwest was played between Washington State and Washington on May 11, 1984.[25][26] In 1989, the field hosted Washington State's first nationally televised games, played on April 30 and May 1 against California and shown on ESPN.[27]
In the late 1980s and early 1990s, two Cougars were named First-Team All-Americans. Both John Olerud, selected in 1988, and Aaron Sele, selected in 1990, would go on to play in Major League Baseball. Olerud, in addition to being named an All-American in 1988, was named the National Player of the Year.[1]
Following the 1994 season, Bobo Brayton retired, finishing his career with 1,162 wins in 33 seasons. Brayton's teams reached ten NCAA Tournaments and two College World Series.[28][29][1]
Lower Columbia College head coach Steve Farrington was hired to replace Brayton.[30] Farrington's first season, 1995, was the third season of NCAA sanctions that had been imposed on the program for rules violations.[31] In it, the Cougars finished first in the Pac-10 North but were defeated in the Pac-10 Tournament and did not receive an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament.[1]
From 1996–1998, Farrington's teams finished third in the Pac-10 North three times, missing the playoffs in each season. In both 1999 and 2000, after the Pac-10 abolished its divisions, Washington State finished last in the Pac-10.[1] Farrington's contract was not renewed following the 2000 season.[32]
During the 2000 season, Bailey Field was renamed Bailey–Brayton Field, adding Bobo Brayton's name to the Cougars' home venue.[24][33]
Prior to the start of the 2001 season, Albertson College head coach Tim Mooney was hired to replace Farrington.[34] The team had losing records in each season from 2001–2004 and finished no higher than 8th in the Pac-10. These struggles, combined with cases of Mooney physically and verbally abusing players, led to his resignation following the 2004 season.[1][35][36]
Donnie Marbut, who had served as an assistant under Mooney in 2004, was hired as the program's next head coach. In Marbut's first several seasons as head coach, the program struggled, finishing no higher than a sixth-place tie in the Pac-10.[1] Marbut was also officially reprimanded by the university in 2006, when a Seattle Times report revealed that he had falsified parts of his résumé when applying for a coaching position at Washington State.[37][38][39]
In 2009 and 2010, however, the Cougars finished near the top of the Pac-10 and appeared in the NCAA Tournament in both seasons.[1] In the 2009 tournament, the team appeared in the Norman Regional as a #3 seed. After losing the opening game to Arkansas, the Cougars defeated Wichita State 3-2 in an elimination game. In the next game, however, they were eliminated by Oklahoma. In the 2010 tournament, the team earned a #2 seed in the Fayetteville Regional. This time, the team made it to within one win of the Super Regional round, but lost to Arkansas 7-2 in the elimination game.[8]
During head coach Buck Bailey's second tenure as head coach (1946–1961), the program's home venue was renamed Bailey Field.[40] The program used the field as its home venue through the end of the 1979 season. It was located on the current site of Mooberry Track.[41][24]
Following the 1979 baseball season, the university announced plans to renovate Martin Stadium, the school's football venue. As part of those renovations, a new track & field venue would be built on the site of the school's baseball field. The university built a new baseball stadium to the east of the original venue. The new field maintained the name Bailey Field when it opened at the start of the 1980 season.[42][24][43]
The field was renovated in 1981, 1984, and 1988. In 2000, it was renamed Bailey–Brayton Field for Chuck Brayton, the program's head coach from 1962–1994. The facility has a capacity of 3,500 spectators and features an artificial turf surface, electronic scoreboard, and stadium lighting.[24][33]
The program's longest-tenured and most successful head coach is Chuck Brayton, who was head coach for 33 seasons (1962–1994). Under Brayton, the program won 1,162 games.[44]
National champion
Postseason invitational champion
Conference regular season champion
Conference regular season and conference tournament champion
Division regular season champion
Division regular season and conference tournament champion
Conference tournament champion
^ abcdefg"All-Time Results". NCAA Division I Baseball Record Book. NCAA. pp. 9–17. Archived from the original(PDF) on 17 December 2012. Retrieved 17 December 2012.
^"Four Coast Schools Form New League". The Lodi News-Sentinel. Lodi, California, USA. United Press International. 25 August 1958. p. 8. Archived from the original on 2012-08-23. Retrieved 23 August 2012.
^"Frisella Picked". The Spokesman-Review. Spokane, Washington, USA. Associated Press. 8 June 1966. p. 13. Archived from the original on 17 December 2012. Retrieved 17 December 2012.
^"3 Cougars Sign Pacts". Spokane Daily Chronicle. Spokane, Washington, USA. 17 June 1968. p. 5. Archived from the original on 17 December 2012. Retrieved 17 December 2012.
^Jordan, Jeff (18 May 1976). "Regional at Pullman". The Spokesman-Review. Spokane, Washington, USA. Archived from the original on 17 December 2012. Retrieved 17 December 2012.
^Stalwick, Howie (22 May 1990). "Cougars Face Rugged Regional Field". Spokane Chronicle. Spokane, Washington, USA. p. B1. Archived from the original on 17 December 2012. Retrieved 17 December 2012.
^"Lights for Bobo". The Spokesman-Review. Spokane, Washington, USA. 7 May 1984. Archived from the original on 17 December 2012. Retrieved 17 December 2012.
^Miedima, Laurence (18 May 1994). "Bobo Era: It's All Over Friday". Moscow-Pullman Daily News. Moscow, Idaho, and Pullman, Washington, USA. p. D1. Archived from the original on 17 December 2012. Retrieved 17 December 2012.
^"#47 Steve Farrington". WSUCougars.com. Washington State Sports Information. Archived from the original on 17 December 2012. Retrieved 17 December 2012.
^Davis, Hugh (12 July 1979). "Stadium to Get Student Money". The Spokane Daily Chronicle. Spokane, Washington, USA. p. 16. Archived from the original on 2012-08-26. Retrieved 26 August 2012.
