| |||||||||||||||||
Tracy Smith is in his fourth season as Indiana baseball's head coach. In his three years at the helm of the Hoosiers, IU is 72-99. In 11 years as a head coach, Smith has a career record of 389-319-1 (.549).
The 2008 season was a significant upward turn for the Hoosiers, as Indiana made its first Big Ten Tournament appearance since 2004 by rallying for a sixth-place finish in the regular season. IU then eliminated Ohio State, Illinois and Penn State at the conference tournament before falling in the semifinals to Purdue.
The Hoosiers went 11-4 over their final 15 conference games, including a series split with first-place Michigan and three wins over third-place Purdue. IU was the only Big Ten team to defeat the Wolverines more than once during the 2008 season and the only conference foe to knock off the Boilers three times.
Indiana's surge was capped off by a four-game sweep at Michigan State to eliminate the Spartans and Northwestern from the playoff hunt. It marked IU's first sweep of a Big Ten series since a four-game set against the Wildcats in 1999. The Hoosiers finished 8-8 on the road in conference action, a 6 1/2 game improvement over the 2007 squad.
Indiana had a stellar season individually in 2008 as well. Josh Phegley became one of the most lauded players in school history, as he was a unanimous First Team All-Big Ten selection and garnered second team All-America honors. Phegley finished second in the country with his .438 average, 19th with his 98 hits and 15th with his 80 RBI.
Phegley was one of three Hoosiers to earn first team All-Big Ten honors during the 2008 campaign. Sophomore hurler Matt Bashore struck out 86 batters and had a 7-3 record to go along with his 3.59 ERA. Andrew Means earned his second straight All-Big Ten mention, being anointed to the first team with a .357 average and 33 stolen bases. Additionally, first baseman Jerrud Sabourin earned Freshman All-America honors after hitting .383 with five homers and 53 RBI.
Following the season, juniors Means and Tyler Tufts were selected in the MLB First-Year Player Draft, with Means going in the 11th round and Tufts in the 32nd. They became the 22nd and 23rd players to be drafted under Smith over the last eight seasons. Nine of those players were drafted in the top 10 rounds, including one second-round pick, two third-round picks, three fifth-round selections, and one each in the sixth, eighth and ninth rounds.
Smith has not shied away from recruiting top talent to Bloomington, as six players that have signed on to join the Hoosiers in his tenure have been drafted by the majors out of high school. Four current Hoosiers - Kipp Schutz (26th round, Baltimore), Kyle Leiendecker (25th, Cleveland), Blake Monar (26th, New York Yankees) and Alex Dickerson (48th, Washington) - were drafted by MLB teams out of high school before electing to come to IU.
In 2007, Smith led one of the youngest teams in the country, with 19 freshmen and six sophomores, to a 19-win season. The Hoosiers scored a 7-9 record at home in Big Ten play, including series splits with two of the conference's top three teams, Penn State and Minnesota. IU finished the year by taking back-to-back contests from the Golden Gophers, who earned an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament.
Smith posted a 22-34 record in his first season in Bloomington. After a slow start, Indiana came on strong toward the end of the season in 2006. IU won 11 of its final 18 non-conference games and garnered its best conference record in three seasons.
Smith has not shied away from facing top competition as a head coach. In the 2007 and 2008 seasons, the Hoosiers scheduled 28 games against 10 NCAA Tournament teams. During non-league play in 2004 and 2005, Smith's final two years at Miami, the RedHawks played a total of eight NCAA Tournament teams, including taking two of three games from nationally ranked Alabama in Tuscaloosa, Ala., in 2005.
Smith is no stranger to Bloomington as he spent two seasons (1995-96) as pitching coach at IU. In Smith's final season, the Hoosiers boasted the lowest ERA in the Big Ten, won the Big Ten Tournament and advanced to the 1996 NCAA Midwest Regional, where the picked up their first-ever win in an NCAA Tournament game. All four of Indiana's primary starters saw significant drops in their ERA from 1995 to 1996, and three of the four saw their ERAs drop more than two runs. Three of Smith's pitchers were chosen in the Major League Draft in 1996.
Prior to returning to Bloomington, Smith completely changed the fortunes of Miami University after inheriting a 12-40 ballclub. The RedHawks reached the Mid-American Conference (MAC) Tournament nine times, including six championship game appearances and the 2000 and 2005 titles. Smith amassed a 317-220-1 (.590) record with Miami and a MAC regular-season mark of 152-95 (.615). He led the RedHawks to eight straight 30-win seasons, marking only the second time the program had accomplished that feat, and he finished his career in Oxford third on the school's all-time wins list.
Smith led the RedHawks to a 45-18 (.714) mark in 2005, his second 40-win season (40 wins in 2000), and matched the school record for victories in a season. Miami's .714 mark was the 12th-best winning percentage in the nation. The RedHawks captured the MAC regular season and tournament championships and advanced to the NCAA Tournament, their second trip to the postseason under Smith's tutelage, where it set an NCAA Regional record with 35 runs in a 35-8 victory over Quinnipiac.
In 2005, the RedHawks ranked among the nation's top 20 in ERA (16th, 3.33), triples per game (19th, 0.38) and stolen bases per game (16th, 2.08). In addition, two-sport athlete and current Carolina Panther Ryne Robinson ranked among the top 20 in the nation in triples and stolen bases. Miami finished the season with a 16-6 mark on the road, the fifth-best record away from home in the NCAA.
Smith also played an instrumental part in Miami's facility fundraising effort. In 2002, the RedHawks opened a new chapter in their tradition-rich history with the debut of Stanley G. McKie Field at Joseph P. Hayden Jr. Park. McKie Field boasts a fully operational press box, a 12-seat luxury suite, two heated dugouts with bathrooms, the Smokey Alston luxury room, two separate bullpens from the field, year-round lights and an indoor hitting facility in left-field foul territory.
After capturing the program's first outright regular-season title in 22 years, Miami notched a program-record eight players on the 2005 all-conference teams, breaking the record six RedHawks that earned selections in 2003. Additionally, Smith added 2005 MAC Coach of the Year honors to his impressive resume. During Smith's era, Miami players picked up 16 All-MAC first team honors and collected five All-America nods. In addition, 19 student-athletes secured Academic All-MAC honors, including 2000 & 2001 Verizon Academic All-Americans Tom Yost and Luke Reinhart.
The 2000 Ohio College Coach of the Year, Smith directed that season's squad to its first MAC Tournament Championship since 1983. The RedHawks also went on to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 1983, playing in the Arizona State Regional, where they notched a victory over Creighton.
A four-year letterwinner from 1985 through 1988, Smith was a shortstop, third baseman and pitcher for the RedHawks. In 1988, Smith captained the team to a 37-22 mark, the sixth-highest single-season win total in Miami baseball history.
After graduation, Smith spent three seasons as a minor league pitcher and infielder in the Chicago Cubs' organization from 1988-1990.
Smith began his coaching career in 1990 as head coach at the Miami University-Middletown campus. In the fall of 1992, Smith participated in the Major League Scouting Bureau's Professional Scout School as a representative of the Chicago Cubs.
During the 1993 and 1994 seasons, Smith was an assistant coach at Miami. Over that span, Smith served as hitting instructor and worked with infielders and outfielders before heading to Bloomington.
Smith, a native of Kentland, Ind., earned his bachelor's degree in education from Miami in 1989 and completed a master's degree in sport organization from Miami in 1992.
Tracy and his wife, Jaime, reside in Bloomington with their three sons, Casey, Ty and Jack.
