Head Coach Rocky Ward

Before Rocky Ward came to New Mexico State, the Aggies were lacking some positive tradition when it came to their baseball program. Now the tradition is positive, hard working and successful.

Ward heads into his 16th season at NM State in 2012, 13 of which have been as head coach and a couple (2001-02) as co-head coach along with his father Gary. During the 15 seasons that Ward has been part of the Aggie program, NM State has set or tied 68 team records and set or tied 51 individual records.

The 2011 season was another banner year for Ward and the NM State baseball team.  The Aggies finished the season with a 34-24 record, marking their third consecutive season with at least 30 wins.  Ward, the all-time winningest baseball coach in NM State history, now stands at 368 wins in his Aggie coaching career, 436 counting the two seasons he co-coached with his father. 

Under the tutelage of Ward, NM State won the 2011 NCAA Division I batting average title with a combined .337 batting average on the season.  Twelve Aggie players finished with a batting average above .300, including eight starters who finished with a batting average above .325.  The Aggies also led the nation in slugging percentage (.474), were third in total runs (495), third in walks (333), had a 10-win pitcher for the first time since 1995 and had five players who earned All-WAC honors.

Ward came to Las Cruces from Kansas State, where he served two years as the hitting and infield coach and recruiting coordinator for the Wildcats from 1995-96. Prior to Kansas State, Ward spent the 1994 fall season as the top assistant coach at the University of Indianapolis. He served as the interim administrative assistant at Oklahoma State in the spring of 1994 before moving to Indianapolis.

A 1988 graduate of Oklahoma State, Ward played third base and catcher for the Cowboys from 1986 to 1988. The 1987 team finished as the runner-up at the College World Series, losing to Stanford in the championship game. The 1988 team ended its campaign with an amazing 61-8 record and was ranked No. 1 in the nation by Baseball America for a record 12 consecutive weeks. Ward was a two-time Phillips 66 Academic All-Big Eight selection during his three-year playing career at OSU.

He began his collegiate playing career at Connors State College in Warner, Okla., where he helped the squad to a 72-13 record in 1984. Ward transferred to Western Oklahoma State University in 1985.

Ward earned his bachelor's degree from Oklahoma State in 1988 and his master's at the University of Central Oklahoma in 1992. He spent some of his childhood growing up in Las Cruces while his father was working towards his master's degree at New Mexico State. Ward is married to the former Jennifer Whitaker. The couple has three daughters, Emily (20), twin girls Malia (10) and Jorie (10), and two sons, Garrett (14) and Bradan (13).