Belton, TX – The University of Mary Hardin-Baylor has removed the Interim tag from Head Baseball Coach Derek Dunaway, giving Dunaway the job on a full-time basis, UMHB Vice-President for Athletics
Ben Shipp announced today. Dunaway spent the 2011 season as Interim Head Coach following the resignation of Micah Wells in August.
“Derek's impact on our baseball program went far beyond wins and losses this season,” Shipp said. “I see Derek as an up-and-coming leader in the field of collegiate baseball and I have every confidence that he will lead us back to the American Southwest Conference Tournament and beyond in the near future.”
“I am thankful to
Ben Shipp and the UMHB administration for believing in my abilities to lead the Cru baseball program,” Dunaway said. “We have a great group of guys that excel on and off the field. I am looking forward to next year and I am very appreciative of this opportunity.”
The Cru baseball team went 19-20 overall and posted a 9-12 mark in ASC play this season. UMHB won a series in Seguin against Texas Lutheran University for the first time in 15 years and the Cru showed remarkable resiliency late in the season, posting a ninth-inning comeback to secure a series victory against Sul Ross State after UMHB had been eliminated from ASC Tournament contention.
“Winning the series at Sul Ross spoke volumes about Derek's leadership,” Shipp said. “The team was seven hours away from home and battled back with two outs in the ninth inning to win a game that had no postseason implications. Derek and the players refused to give up and never stopped fighting until the final out of the season and that is a real credit to the respect the players have for his leadership.”
Off the field, the Cru baseball program was also heavily involved in clean-up efforts following the devastating flood in Salado last fall under Coach Dunaway's guidance. The UMHB players also point to improved team morale and cohesiveness and give Dunaway much of the credit.
“I feel like he deserves this opportunity because of his leadership this season,” UMHB junior third baseman
Josh Fredrick said. “Things didn't always go right this season and it would have been easy for us to pack it in. But the last weekend of the season, when we were out of the playoffs, we still kept fighting and had the pride to keep coming back. That is all a credit to his leadership and we are excited that he will have this opportunity.”
“Coach Dunaway recruited me and things got off to a good start in the fall. He expected us to work hard and we adopted the slogan 'Find A Way,'” Cru junior shortstop
Zach Young said. “As a team, we rallied around that slogan and it pulled us through some difficult situations in the spring. We are happy that Coach Dunaway has this opportunity and we are already looking forward to getting started on next year.”
Prior to taking over as Interim Head Coach, Dunaway spent five seasons as an assistant coach for the Cru baseball program. He worked primarily with the pitching staff and recruiting efforts during that time and coached eight ASC All-West Division pitchers during his tenure as an assistant coach. Dunaway also spent three years as an assistant coach at East Texas Baptist University and served as ETBU's compliance coordinator in 2005. Dunaway is a 2001 graduate of UMHB and he was a four-year letterman as a starting pitcher for the Cru. He still holds UMHB career records for victories and innings pitched and his career strikeout record stood until 2007. Dunaway's wife, Farrah, is also a UMHB graduate and the couple has two children.
