Mules Head Coach Darin Hendrickson

Since his college playing days, Darin Hendrickson knew of the tradition of the Central Missouri State University baseball program. Named the Mules’ 12^th head coach in the summer of 2003, Hendrickson now has the opportunity to direct one of the top baseball teams in NCAA Division II. The 34-year-old native of Edwardsville, Ill., is thrilled to be wearing the Cardinal & Black.
“The tradition is something I was really looking forward to when I accepted the job,” Hendrickson says. “Looking at the history, it was just amazing.

In his first year at CMSU, Hendrickson made sure the Mules lived up to the tradition, as he led Central Missouri State to a mark of 57-8, a school record for wins in a season.  The Mules also won their 13th consecutive MIAA regular season title with a 26-5 mark, and captured their fifth straight NCAA-II Central Regional Championship.  At the NCAA-II Championships in Montgomery, Ala., the Mules failed to reclaim the national title they had won the previous year, but did advance to the semifinals for the fourth consecutive year before being eliminated by eventual national champion Delta (Miss.) State.

Hendrickson knew about winning prior to his hiring at CMSU.  In eight seasons as a college head coach (four at Fontbonne College, an NCAA-III school in St. Louis whose program he started, and then at St. Louis Community College at Forest Park) he posted a career record of 281-128 (a winning percentage of .704).

Hendrickson led Forest Park to a combined record of 155-74 (56-24 in the Midwest Community College Athletic Conference), four trips to the National Junior College Athletic Association Super Regionals championship game, and one trip to the NJCAA World Series. He was named Region Coach of the Year all four seasons, and was District Coach of the Year and MCCAC Coach of the Year in 2001, when he led Forest Park to the World Series with a record of 41-22, 18-4 in conference action. In his final season, Hendrickson’s Highlanders posted a record of 45-10, 14-4 in league play. His squad was ranked No. 1 in NJCAA Division II the last five weeks of the season.

Hendrickson also served as athletic director at Forest Park.

At Fontbonne, Hendrickson developed the baseball program from scratch in 1995. The St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Coach of the Year and Region Coach of the Year in 1998, he led the Griffins to a mark of 126-54. His squads went 49-12 and finished second in the SLIAC three times and won the conference title in 1998, when they went 41-7, 16-1 in league play and advanced to the NCAA Central Regional. He served in the dual role as assistant athletic director as well.

From 1992-95, Hendrickson served as assistant coach at his alma mater, Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville. It was there that he began to make a name for himself as a junior and senior for the Cougars baseball program.

In two seasons at SIU-Edwardsville, Hendrickson posted an 18-5 record. A two-time first-team All-Region selection, he is second in school history in both wins (10 in 1991) and innings pitched (111.3 in 1991). Ironically, the only team that was able to stop Hendrickson the pitcher was Central Missouri State. He lost three decisions to the Mules – 4-3 as a junior in 1990 when he went 8-1 on the year, and 3-2 and 2-1 vs. the Mules as a senior in 1991 when he finished with a mark of 10-4. Still, he is fourth in SIU-Edwardsville history in career winning percentage and 12^th in career victories.

Hendrickson graduated from SIU-Edwardsville in 1992 with a bachelor’s degree in political science and in 1995 with a master’s degree in sociology. For the past five years, he has also served as batting practice pitcher for the St. Louis Cardinals.

He and his wife, Laura, have two children: son Reid (5) and daughter Paige (3).

“We are thrilled to have Darin Hendrickson and his family join our family at Central Missouri State,” Athletics Director Jerry Hughes said at the press conference announcing the new Mules' mentor. “When we talked to various coaches, the thing that kept coming up was that Darin has tremendous work ethic, he is a great recruiter, and he is an encyclopedia of baseball knowledge. Those are the same things that can be said of our previous coaches who have made the Central Missouri State University Mules into the national power it is today. We know that Darin is going to continue that tradition, and we are delighted to name him our new head coach.”

Darin Hendrickson by the Years

Fontbonne College  1996    23-19 (10-4 & second in SLIAC)

                                  1997    27-16 (13-3 & second in SLIAC)

                                  1998    41-7 (16-1 & first in SLIAC, berth in Central Regional)

                                              SLIAC and Central Region Coach of the Year

                                  1999    35-12 (10-4 & second in SLIAC)

St. Louis Community

College at Forest Park        2000    35-22 (14-6 & second in MCCAC, advanced to Super Regional Championship Game)

                                              Region Coach of the Year

                                  2001    41-22 (18-4 & first in MCCAC, advanced to Division II World Series)

                                              MCCAC and Region Coach of the Year

                                  2002    34-20 (10-10 & fourth in MCCAC, advanced to Super Regional Championship Game)

                                              Region Coach of the Year

                                  2003    45-10 (14-4 & second in MCCAC, advanced to Super Regional Championship Game)

                                              Region Coach of the Year

Central Missouri State

                                  2004    57-8 (26-5 & first in the MIAA, advanced to the NCAA-II Semifinal Game)
                                                MIAA & Regional Coach of the Year