Terry Davis completed his third season at NM State in May of 2019. The 2019 season was Davis' second as the team's recruiting coordinator.
Davis has been part of a historic four year stretch that has seen the Aggies collect 147 wins the past four seasons. That stretch also includes four straight nationally recognized recruiting classes, two of them with Davis as the lead recruiter.
Davis, who coaches third base for the Aggies, helped lead the team to a 38-17 mark in 2019 and the programs second ever WAC Regular Season Championship - the first since 2012. The 38 wins was the fifth most in a single-season in program history and included a notable win on the road at Arizona on April 30, giving the program their first win against the Wildcats since 2012.
The offense, with Davis playing a large role, spent the majority of the year leading the country in eight offensive categories. NM State boasted a final batting average of .356, surpassing the previous school record of .355, set in 1988. The Aggies also shattered the single-season triples record (34) and finished one hit by pitch shy of tying the school record (119), which was set in 2018. NM State concluded the Regular Season leading the country in batting average, runs, runs per game, hits, triples, on base percentage, slugging percentage and hit by pitch. The Aggies were also Top 10 in the country in home runs, walks and sacrifice flies.
Individually, Davis helped guide position players Joey Ortiz, Nick Gonzales, Tristan Peterson and Tristen Carranza to historic seasons. Ortiz finished in the Top 8 in program history for a single-season in eight categories. The junior shortstop set a new single-season school record for hits (106), runs (85) and triples (10) en route to WAC Player of the Year honors - just the second WAC Player of the Year in program history. Ortiz also became the career leader in triples (18) and was a semifinalist for the Brooks Wallace Award (best shortstop in the country) and Dick Howser Award (best player in the country) in May 2019. Gonzales, a semifinalist for the Howser Award and the Golden Spikes Award (national player of the year) started the season on a terror and never let up en route to batting .432 with 16 home runs and 80 RBI. Gonzales finished the season Top 10 in the country in seven offensive categories (average, hits, runs, RBI, total bases, on base percentage and slugging percentage) under the tutelage of Davis. Peterson enjoyed a breakout season in his first year in the Crimson and White, batting .400 with 20 home runs and 90 RBI. The first basemen flourished with Davis' teaching, ranking Top 10 in the country in RBI, slugging percentage and on base percentage. Lastly, Carranza capped off a marvelous career batting .371 with 18 home runs and 73 RBI, a personal best in all three categories. The senior outfielder tied the school record with 21 hit by pitches, previously set by himself the season prior.
Defensively, Davis saw the Aggies collect an impressive .974 fielding percentage, a year after breaking the single-season school record with a .977 clip in 2018. Known as one of the best defenders in the West, Oriz committed only seven errors at shortstop while compiling a .973 fielding percentage.
At seasons end, NM State placed six players on the All-Conference list with Ortiz earning Player of the Year honors. Third basemen Eric Mingus was part of the group of six. After making zero starts in his first year in the program in 2018, Mingus compiled a .332 batting average with five home runs and 52 RBI in 2019 with the tutelage of Davis.
Off the field, Davis and the program earned the NM State Athletics Community Service Award for the fourth straight year in 2019 and set the program attendance record for the fourth time since 2015. The program has accumulated over 6,000 hours of Community Service since head coach Brian Green took over the program.
Davis helped guide the Aggies to a historic season in 2018, leading the team to a 40-22 overall record, a 17-7 mark in Western Athletic Conference play, the first WAC Tournament title in program history and just the fourth Regional appearance in the history of the program.
2018 marked just the second time in program history in which the team recorded 40 wins and reached an NCAA Regional.
Along the way in 2018, NM State shattered three team records and five individual records. NM State established new single-season team records in strikeouts (537), hit by pitch (119) and team fielding percentage (.977). Individually, Kyle Bradish broke the school record for strikeouts in a season (140), Jonathan Groff broke the record for wins (11), Brock Whittlesey broke the saves record (12), Tristen Carranza was hit by a program record 21 pitches and Caleb Henderson set a new school record for games played (62).
NM State placed seven players on the All-Conference list at the end of the Regular Season with three players claiming All-American honors. Groff became the first conference pitcher of the year in program history while Nick Gonzales earned WAC Freshman of the Year honors, the first Aggie to receive the honor in the schools history in the WAC.
Groff, Bradish and Gonzales all captured All-American honors. Groff earned Collegiate Baseball Newspaper Second Team All-American honors while Bradish was named a Third Team All-American by Perfect Game/Rawlings.
Meanwhile, Gonzales captured Freshman All-American honors from three different publications (Collegiate Baseball Newspaper, NCBWA and Perfect Game/Rawlings).
In June of 2018, Bradish became the highest drafted player in program history when the Los Angeles Angels selected him in the fourth round (121 overall). Bradish became the third Aggie since 2016 to be drafted in the top six rounds.
As an assistant in 2017, Davis helped coach a squad that finished 35-22 overall and 19-5 in Western Athletic Conference play.
With Davis' help, the NM State offense ranked in the top-25 nationally in multiple categories including second in triples (31), fourth in batting average (.322), seventh in slugging percentage (.501), eighth in scoring (7.9 runs per game), 12th in on-base percentage (.403), 17th in runs (453) and 18th in hits (650).
Prior to NM State, Davis was at Bellarmine University, where he served as the hitting coach and recruiting coordinator, and also worked with infielders. In addition to running the offense, Davis was also the third base coach. In his three years with the Knights, Davis helped the program to back-to-back Great Lakes Valley Conference Tournament berths in 2015 and 2016. Additionally, he coached six First Team All-GLVC players and two Second Team All-GLVC players, as well as the 2015 GLVC Player of the Year, Austin Crutcher.
Before arriving at Bellarmine in 2013, Davis spent 10 years as an assistant at St. Catharine College, where he helped the Patriots move from a junior college to an NAIA member institution. During his tenure there, Davis served in a variety of roles including recruiting coordinator, overseeing team defense and assisting in the development of the Patriot hitters. Davis was instrumental in the transition to NAIA by attracting high school and junior college transfers from all over the country that would allow the Patriots to compete on a national level. Under Davis, the Patriots received votes in the NAIA Top-25 rankings in just their third year at that level. During the five years that Davis was the recruiting coordinator at the NAIA level, Davis recruited 28 athletes who received All-Mid-South Conference First or Second Team honors. Also, Davis was instrumental in the development of 10 Patriots who moved on to play professional baseball, including the program's first ever big leaguer. Davis has developed a reputation for hard work as well as the ability to build relationships with prospective student-athletes and their families.
In the summers, Davis was an active camp director at the University of Kentucky and for Prep Baseball Report Kentucky. Davis also served as a group leader for Demarini/Top 96 Showcases throughout the United States. In 2009, he served as the head coach of the Fulton Railroaders, and led the team to a third place finish in the KIT League.
As a player, Davis helped Spalding University to the 2002 NAIA World Series and the program's first ever 50 win season. Davis then earned his bachelor's degree from St. Catharine College in sports leadership.
