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Truman State University Athletics

Dan Davis

Davis Career Record At Truman
2007: 9-38   2008: 8-42 
2009: 11-45 2010: 12-41 
2011: 17-31 2012: 16-32
2013: 12-34 2014: 26-28
2015: 35-22 2016: 20-30
2017: 18-30 2018: 12-36
2019: 7-34 2020: 4-14
2021: 7-33 2022: 18-32
2023: 19-31 Total: 251-553


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Dan Davis is in his 18th season as the head coach of the Truman baseball program in 2023 after taking over in the summer of 2006. He previously served as the pitching coach at the NCAA Div. I University of Northern Iowa.

He is first among Bulldog Baseball Coaches in wins with 251 during the previous 17 years and has had 37 players earn all-conference honors.

He was named the America Baseball Coaches Association Midwest Coach of the Year following the 2015 season in which he led the Bulldogs to a school record 35 games, their first NCAA Tournament berth, a Midwest Regional Championship and a trip to the NCAA Division II Baseball National Championship Tournament. In addition to the coach of the year award, Davis’ Bulldogs were named the winners of the GLVC Sportsmanship Award for baseball.

The team won the GLVC James R. Spalding Sportsmanship Team Award in 2023, and also received ABCA Team Academic Excellence Award honors.

Davis has had 11 players earn conference player of the week honors, nine Academic all-District selections and three CoSIDA Academic All-Americans. In addition, his teams are consistently among the top conference schools in terms of Academic All-Conference selections, averaging 20 players each season.

Davis’ teams are active in the community with volunteer service projects. They raised over $5000 in 2015 as part of the Vs. Cancer Foundation with a special event following a home game in which all the team members shaved their heads.

He also hosts several camps throughout the year, including a winter hitting league for area kids to hone their skills prior to the start of the season.

Since his arrival, the Truman Baseball Field has featured one of the best playing surfaces in the Midwest under his direction and care. The field has received numerous updates during his tenure including drainage and irrigation system installed, new backstop, scoreboard, press box and improved seating areas. Davis is one of the top fundraisers in the entire Truman Athletics department.

Prior to arriving at Truman, Davis served as the pitching coach at Northern Iowa from 2001-2006. When he arrived at UNI, the team featured an ERA just under eight, but Davis helped that number drop over the years to a low of 4.63 in 2006 – the lowest mark since the school moved to the Division I level. That year, his pitching staff struck out over 400 hitters for only the third time in school history, twice with Davis as the pitching coach.

Other highlights at Northern Iowa include helping the team win the 2001 Missouri Valley Conference tournament and advance to the NCAA tournament for the first time. That year, Davis coached Nic Ungs, the MVC Pitcher of the Year and a second-team all-American. Davis also coached a freshman all-American pitcher in 2002. During his time at UNI, Davis coached nine pitchers who signed professional contracts. None of the nine were drafted out of high school before eventually advancing to the professional level.

Davis also has coaching experience from his alma mater – SIU-Carbondale – as well as the El Dorado Broncos and Independence Community College.

Davis pitched for SIU in 1994 and 1995, and, in his first year at the school, broke a school record for innings pitched and led the team in strikeouts. The next year, he led the team in strikeouts and ERA, and tied for the team-high in wins. Davis was awarded the James J. Mundo Spirit award after his senior season.

After his collegiate career, he played professionally in the Frontier league for two seasons with the Kalamazoo Kodiaks and the Newark Bison.

Davis graduated from SIU in 1995 with a Bachelor’s degree in Exercise Science and received his Master’s degree in higher education and administration from the same school in 2000.

He and his wife, Heather, reside in Kirksville with their son; Dax Kadan.
 
Season Recaps:
2023: Truman State baseball finished the season with a 19-31 record and went 9-23 in conference play. The Bulldogs went 10-15 at home and 9-16 on the road, winning six one-run games along the way.

Holden Missey was named second-team All-GLVC in his final season in a Truman State uniform, going down as one of the best players in program history. Missey led the team in batting average (.353), slugging (.576), on-base percentage (.458), hits (60), doubles (15), home runs (7), and total bases (98). Holden Missey also had a 6-5 record on the mound with a 6.99 earned run average in 55.1 innings pitched.

Truman State received the GLVC James R. Spalding Team Sportsmanship Award.

2022: Truman State battled to an 18-32 record and were 8-16 in GLVC play during the season. The season saw the debut of a new turf infield playing surface and the Bulldogs had a flare for the dramatics throughout the season. The Bulldogs picked up wins against two ranked opponents during the season with game one series wins over Quincy University and Illinois Springfield. They played in eight games in which the game was decided in the final at bat going 5-3 and played in 13 one-run games in which they posted an 8-5 record. 

Holden Missey earned second team all-Midwest region by the American Baseball Coaches Association and first team by the Conference Commissioner's Association  as a utility. Missey hit .361 with 13 home runs, 17 doubles while also recording six saves and a 3-1 record on the mound. He along with pitcher Zachry Schneider were first team all-GLVC selections. Schneider was third in the GLVC in innings pitched with 80.2 and fifth in ERA at 2.90. 

The Bulldogs were also recognized off the field with the GLVC Academic team award and the GLVC Sportsmanship Award. 

2021: The Bulldogs finished the year 7-33, with a 7-25 record in the GLVC. Against William Jewell and Southwest Baptist Truman split a four game set, while also picking up wins over Drury, Missouri S&T and Rockhurst. The Bulldogs had two walk off wins: Jake Schneider hit a game winning two run homer in the 11th against SBU to take the first game of that series while Luke Turner hit a two run shot to lift Truman over Drury 12-11.

Holden Missey led the team with a .358 average, while Kory Carter led the team with nine home runs. Carter and Steven Bradbury were named second team All-GLVC. Seven pitchers picked up wins for the Bulldogs: starters Connor McKenna, Zachry Schneider and Michael Daggett each got wins as did relievers Jack Owens, Jaren Guck, Alex Leary and Tucker Olson.

2020: During a season shortened by the covid-19 pandemic, the Bulldogs went 4-14 and 1-2 in the GLVC. The Bulldogs won two of their first three games by defeating NW Oklahoma State 12-7 and Rockhurst 5-4. The team later defeated Upper Iowa 16-10 in Pittsburg, Kan. and then closed their season with a 4-3 win over Indianapolis in the GLVC opening series and first home series of the year.

Holden Missey led the team with 16 hits, nine RBIs and four homeruns, hitting .254 during the shortened season. He also led the team with a 4.63 ERA in 27.2 innings pitched. He picked up one win, along with starter Connor McKenna and reliever Tyler Blackington picked up two wins.

2019: Truman finished 7-34 and 7-26 in the GLVC. Holden Missey led the team with .328 batting average and .879 OPS, and was second on the team with three homeruns and 19 RBIs. Adam Stolley led the team with five homers and 22 RBIs; as well as 23 walks. Mason King led the way with 15 stolen bases.

Rian Markes led the pitching staff with 32 strikeouts while Caleb Buerhle led the way with three wins and two saves. Along with Tanner Forck Buehrle led the way with 13 appearances.

2018: Charlie Kreh and Kent Frantz earned Truman's all-conference honors following the season in which the Bulldogs finished 12-36 and 6-22 in the GLVC. Kreh was a first team choice after batting .379 and reaching safely in the final 23 games during the season. Frantz was named to the second team and became Truman's all-time pitching wins leader with 19 and took over the career lead in innings pitched as a Bulldog with 273. The Bulldogs earned the GLVC Sportsmanship Award for the fourth straight year.

Closer Peter Young cemented his name into the Truman record book. Young finished with 25 career saves, 14 better than second place and was third on the lowest ERA list with a 1.72 in 78.1 innings pitched. 

Following the season, Kreh earned CoSIDA Academic All-District honors, 22 players were named to the Academic All-GLVC team and the program's facility earned a "Best of" award by the American Baseball Coaches Association. 

2017: Truman finished 18-30 and was 11-15 in the Great Lakes Valley Conference. Jason Priest led the team with one of the highest single-season batting averages since 2003 and the fifth highest single-season average of all time at .398. Priest finished the year with nine home runs and 47 RBIs, three off the single season record. Charlie Kreh tied the single season doubles record with 19.

The Bulldogs hit .288 as a team with 31 home runs, the highest total since 1993 and three shy of the team single-season record.

On the mound, Bryan Clark led the team with four wins while Peter Young notched seven saves and was 1-1 with a 2.81 ERA. 

Priest and Young earned first team all-GLVC honors while Chris Iliopoulos was a second-team DH with eight HRs and 21 RBIs.

2016: The Bulldogs won 20 games for the third straight season and fourth time in program history. Truman finished 20-30 overall and 12-16 in the Great Lakes Valley Conference. The season featured an all-region selection for Shortstop Nick Agliolo, a single season and career saves record for pitcher Peter Young and the most home games in school history.

Agliolo was a second team selection to the ABCA/Rawlings all-Midwest region team as well as earning first-team all-GLVC honors. He led Truman in hitting with a .360 batting average with eight doubles, three triples and 34 RBIs. He matched the Truman single-season record in walks with 31 and was among the league and national leaders in on-base percentage.

He was joined on the all-conference team by senior T.J. Wood (Second Team) and junior Dave Gambino (Second Team).

Young nailed down eight saves and went 3-1 in a team high 18 appearances with a 1.80 ERA. His eight saves were only one shy of the career record of nine held by Dan Hillen from 2003-05 and coupled with his six from his freshman year, Young sits atop the career list with 14 heading into his junior season. Alex Hoffmann led the staff with five wins and Mark
Roberts completed his Bulldog career with the most innings pitched with 267.1.

The Bulldogs played 31 of their 50 games in Kirksville, including 22-straight during the entire month of March. However, the Bulldogs could only string together three wins in a row on three separate occasions during the season.

In addition to the three all-conference players, the Bulldogs had 24 players earn Academic All-GLVC honors; the team won their second straight GLVC Sportsmanship Award and was named a GLVC Team Academic Award winner. The Bulldogs were one of 20 programs to be named to the ABCA Team Academic Excellence list out of 140 Division II teams.  

2015:
A historic season for the Truman Baseball as the program earned its first trip to the NCAA Division II Tournament, then won the Midwest Regional championship to earn the right to play for a national championship in Cary, North Carolina. The team finished with a school record 35 victories.

The Bulldogs won their first six games to start the season and seven of their first eight before a 10-2 loss to the hands of the University of Missouri. The following weekend, the team went on the road to open conference play and swept the reigning Division II National Champion, Southern Indiana in four straight games. The team did not lose a conference series as they won two and split the remaining seven to finish with a 21-15 league record.

At the conference tournament, Truman opened the bracket with their fifth straight win over Southern Indiana by a 7-2 score but was then felled by Quincy 6-4. Facing elimination, the Screaming Eagles got a measure of revenge with a 6-4 win over Truman knocked them out of the tournament.

Truman grabbed one of the four at-large bids for the NCAA Midwest Regional tournament and were seeded fourth in the bracket. They shutout fifth-seeded William Jewell 6-0 in the opener then defeated Drury on consecutive nights by scores of 9-5 and 5-3 to be the only undefeated team in the bracket. In the championship game against Ashland (Ohio), a bases clearing triple in the top of the ninth lifted the ‘Dogs to a 6-3 win and a trip to Cary, North Carolina.

At the USA Baseball National Training Complex, Truman lost a heartbreaker 3-1 in 11 innings to #3-ranked Mercyhurst in the first game. The Bulldogs were eliminated two days later, 13-2 by #8 Cal Poly Pomona.

Cody Gardner was named the Most Valuable Player for the regional tournament and Zak Larkin, Blake Deaton, Dave Gambino and T.J. Wood were named to the all-tournament team. Kent Frantz was named the GLVC Freshman of the Year and earned first-team all-conference honors along with seniors Paul Trenhaile and Jarod Hahn. Gardner, Larkin and Brendan Trimble were second-team all-GLVC honorees.

Frantz and Gardner set school records by tying for the single-season wins record for a pitcher with nine and Garnder set a career record for pitching wins with 15.

Trenhaile, Hahn and Larkin left their mark on the Bulldog record book on the offensive side.
Trenhaile became the all-time hits and RBI leader at the school while also earned CoSIDA Academic All-America honors for the second year in a row. He was named Truman’s Most Outstanding Male Senior Student Athlete.

The team assisted with the Miracle League of the Triangle while attending the National Championship in Cary and also raised over $5,000 for the Vs. Cancer Foundation in a season-long fundraiser.
 
2014:
The team had a breakout season in their first year as a member of the Great Lakes Valley Conference. The Bulldogs set new program records in wins with 26 and conference wins with 18 while reaching and advancing to the semifinals of the GLVC Baseball Postseason Tournament in Evansville, Indiana.

Corban Williams was a first-team all-GLVC selection after breaking the school record for stolen bases with 35 and third in runs scored with 42. Jarod Hahn, Will Nader and Paul Trenhaile were second team choices while 19 players were named Academic All-GLVC. Trenhaile set a new single-season record with 71 hits and drove in 39 runs and Larkin set a new program high with 196 at bats.

The Bulldogs had the fifth highest batting average in school history at .289 and the highest since the 2001 season. They set program bests in runs scored (292), hits (482), RBIs (248), hit by pitches (76) and stolen bases (118). They scored 21 runs, second most in a game against Southwest Baptist and had four games rank in the top 10 in runs scored and hits.

The pitching staff had the second fewest walks allowed per game (3.27) and tied for the program lead with nine saves. The defense posted the highest fielding percentage at .961.

2013:
Finished 12-34 on the season and had two players earn all-MIAA honors. Sophomore Paul Trenhaile led the team with a .371 batting average, the highest by a Bulldog in 10 years while collecting 59 hits, four off the single-season record. Fellow sophomore Corbin Williams hit .320 with 11 stolen bases. Both were named honorable mention. The team tied the school's single-season stolen base record with 77 swipes in 108 attempts.

2012:
Devon Myers and Steven Rose left their marks on the Bulldog baseball program during the 2012 season that saw Truman go 16-32 and 13-25 in the MIAA. Myers became the career hitting leader for the team as he collected 197 basehits during his four-year career and was also named a CapitalOne, CoSIDA Academic All-America.

Myers was a third team all-MIAA selection while also ranking second in at bats, doubles and runs batted in.

2011:
Finished with 17 overall wins, then the second most in school history and broke the Bulldog record with 16 conference wins, five more than the previous mark set in 1999. The team posted five shutouts, one off the school record of six in 1976 and had four complete-game shutouts after not having one in 11 years. The Bulldog pitching staff also set a school record in strikeouts with 273 and had several lows of over 10-plus years in runs allowed, walks allowed, home runs allowed and opponent batting average.

A total of five players, the most in over 10 years for the program, were voted all-MIAA by league coaches in 2011. Junior pitcher Ryan Trimble was a second team choice while senior pitcher Christian Witt, sophomore hurler Jarrett Eiskina, junior catcher Devon Myers and senior outfield Michael Reese were honorable mention selections.

Witt became the first Bulldog since 1999 and the first under Davis to be drafted in the Major League Baseball Amateur Draft in June taken in the 36th round by the Kansas City Royals.

Trimble, Eskina and Witt all had sub 3.00 ERA’s and helped the team post the lowest ERA in nearly 20 years.

2010:
Davis had three players earn all-MIAA honors in junior Luke Crader and sophomores Ryan Trimble and Steven Rose.

Crader hit .299 and had a .956 fielding percentage at second base while Rose started all 53 games and hit .295.  Rose set a school record with 161 defensive assists.

Trimble finished the 2010 campaign as one of the program's most accomplished single-season pitchers.  He was the first Bulldog since 2001 to win five games and posted the lowest ERA since 1993 in a 3.25.

The pitching staff lowered their team ERA by two full runs despite the 12-41 record.

2009:
Squad set new program records for hits, doubles, total bases, fielding percentage and pitching strikeouts. That came against the toughest schedule Truman had ever faced, playing 29 of its 51 games against ranked opponents or opponents who received votes in the top-30.

2007 & 2008:
In his first campaign as a Bulldog, Davis led a young Bulldog squad to five MIAA wins, including a season-split with Washburn University. Then, in 2008, Davis guided the Bulldogs to six conference victories and increases in team batting average, home runs, walk:strikeout ratio and stolen bases from his first year in 2007. The squad also picked up wins against rivals Quincy (Ill.) and Northwest Missouri State for the first time since 1998 and 2002 respectively.

Despite compiling just eight total wins in 2008, Davis’ squad was competitive throughout the season, as the team dropped nearly half of its contests by three or fewer runs.