Denney Crabaugh has built the winningest baseball program in the nation and a hall of fame career in 30 years at Oklahoma City University.
Crabaugh’s teams have contended for titles on a regular basis. The Stars recorded four consecutive appearances in the NAIA championship game from 2002-05, culminating in the 2005 national title. OCU has compiled more victories (1,387) than any college baseball program since 1991.
In 2018, the Stars (51-10) reached the NAIA World Series and 50 victories for the second year in a row. Oklahoma City has made 16 NAIA World Series appearances with 15 50-win seasons in program history. OCU captured the NAIA Championship Opening Round Oklahoma City Bracket and shared the Sooner Athletic Conference regular-season championship this year.
Crabaugh collected his 1,450th victory in the Stars' 19-8 rout of 18th-ranked Jamestown (N.D.) on May 14 at Jim Wade Stadium. Crabaugh has a 1,453-446-2 record with 14 NAIA World Series trips, 14 50-win seasons and the 2005 national championship in 30 years as OCU coach.
Crabaugh was named 2005 Rawlings-NAIA coach of the year. He became the sixth coach to win the award twice – Crabaugh was also named 2003 ABCA/Diamond Sports Company NAIA coach of the year. He has been named Oklahoma Baseball Coaches Association coach of the year in 1992, 2002 and 2005. With his achievements, Crabaugh was inducted into the Oklahoma City University Athletics Hall of Fame, Oklahoma Baseball Coaches Assocation Hall of Fame, the NAIA Hall of Fame and the American Baseball Coaches Association Hall of Fame. In 2009, Crabaugh recorded his 1,000th career win in the Stars’ 14-3 win over Bacone on Feb. 26 to join a select group.
Crabaugh guided the 2004 team to 73 wins, besting the NAIA single-season record. Under Crabaugh, OCU has won 13 conference regular-season titles, 12 conference tournament championships, one district title, five regional crowns, three area titles and six NAIA Championship Opening Round championships with 14 NAIA World Series appearances. The Stars reeled off 12 50-win seasons in a row from 1999-2010. Off the field, OCU has been an NAIA scholar baseball team five times for achieving a 3.0 team grade-point average.
His association with the program dates back to 1987 when he came to OCU as an assistant coach to Charley Lodes. Since then, Crabaugh has coached 143 future professionals, 69 Major League Baseball draftees, 86 all-Americans, 60 NAIA scholar-athletes, 15 CoSIDA academic all-Americans and seven national players of the year. OCU alums coached by Crabaugh to reach the majors include the Pittsburgh Pirates’ Freddy Sanchez, Philadelphia Phillies pitcher Joe Bisenius, Washington Nationals pitcher Chris Schroder and Ashur Tolliver, who made his MLB debut with the Baltimore Orioles in 2016. Sanchez is the 2006 National League batting champion, a three-time all-star and 2010 World Series champion with the San Francisco Giants.
Crabaugh came to OCU from Ada High School (Okla.) where he posted a 15-15 record as head coach. He also coached the Ada American Legion team to the AAA State Legion Championship. Before going to Ada, Crabaugh spent four years as an assistant at Ardmore High School. Crabaugh began his coaching career as graduate assistant and pitching coach at Southeastern Oklahoma State for Mike Metheny, the NCAA Division II all-time coaching wins leader.
As a student-athlete, Crabaugh attended Rose State College, Oklahoma State and Southeastern. In 1980, Crabaugh pitched two no-hitters to cap his senior season at Southeastern playing for Don Parham. He also earned a bachelor’s degree in social sciences in 1980 and a master’s degree in school administration in 1981 from Southeastern.
The Del City, Okla., native and his wife, Sue, have four children – Kaylee, Mindy, Cody and Amy.
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Crabaugh's year-by-year record
Year, school                                        W-L Pct.
1989, Oklahoma City …...…................. 37-19 .661
1990, Oklahoma City …...…................. 29-25 .537
1991, Oklahoma City …...…................. 41-22 .651
1992, Oklahoma City …...…................. 46-22 .676
1993, Oklahoma City …...…................. 41-13 .759
1994, Oklahoma City …...…............... 40-24-1 .623
1995, Oklahoma City …...…................. 33-21 .611
1996, Oklahoma City …...…................. 42-20 .677
1997, Oklahoma City …...…................. 49-15 .766
1998, Oklahoma City …...…................. 45-20 .692
1999, Oklahoma City …...…................. 57-13 .814
2000, Oklahoma City …...…................. 50-13 .794
2001, Oklahoma City …...…................. 58-12 .829
2002, Oklahoma City …...…................. 58-12 .829
2003, Oklahoma City …...…................. 63-8-1 .882
2004, Oklahoma City …...….................. 73-7 .913
2005, Oklahoma City …...…................. 67-12 .848
2006, Oklahoma City …...…................. 50-12 .806
2007, Oklahoma City …...…................. 50-11 .820
2008, Oklahoma City …...…................. 57-12 .826
2009, Oklahoma City …...….................. 53-9 .855
2010, Oklahoma City …...…................. 50-16 .758
2011, Oklahoma City …...…................. 47-12 .797
2012, Oklahoma City …...…................. 48-12 .800
2013, Oklahoma City …...…................. 49-13 .790
2014, Oklahoma City …...…................. 35-19 .648
2015, Oklahoma City …...…................. 46-13 .780
2016, Oklahoma City …...…................. 38-19 .667
2017, Oklahoma City …...…................. 50-10 .833
2018, Oklahoma City …...…................. 51-10 .836
Totals                                      1,453-446-2 .765
