Dallas Baptist University has enjoyed a long, storied tradition of winning baseball with 32 consecutive winning seasons. As a past NAIA member, DBU qualified for 10 NAIA World Series tournaments between 1984-2002, and was ranked in the top 10 for 16 consecutive seasons, including finishing twice as National Champion-Runner Up (1985 and 2000). DBU won back-to-back National Christian College Athletic Association World Series in 2003 and 2004.
In their first five years of active membership at the NCAA Division I level and competing as an Independent, DBU has a record of 166-112 and, in 2008, just their third year as a Division member, received an at-large berth to the College Station NCAA Regional (as a #2 seed), after finishing the regular season with a 37-17 record and the 29th best RPI in the country. DBU became the first Independent team to make a NCAA Regional other than Miami since 1992.
DBU has had over 125 players drafted or signed to professional contracts, with 20 of those coming since 2006. Two of DBU’s highest draft picks came in 2009, as Victor Black was chosen with the 49th overall pick in the Supplemental 1st Round by the Pittsburgh Pirates, and Ryan Goins was selected in the fourth round by the Toronto Blue Jays.
DBU has had a total of 11 former players playing in Major League Baseball. DBU’s most recent Major League player is 2009 All-Star from the Tampa Bay Rays, Ben Zobrist, who played for the Patriots in 2004. Also, Freddy Sanchez, the third baseman of the San Francisco Giants played at DBU in 1999. Sanchez has been a MLB All-Star three times in the last four years and was the 2006 NL Batting Champion.
DBU has also had 69 members of their baseball program capture All-American honors, including four NCAA Division I All-Americans and five Freshman All-Americans in the last five years.
The DBU Baseball Program has taken an active role in supporting the University’s mission of developing servant leaders through participation in numerous volunteer and service projects throughout the Dallas/Fort Worth community and abroad. The players and coaches have served the community by conducting several free baseball clinics, volunteering at the Special Olympics of Texas State Track and Field Meet, The Feast of Sharing, Operation Christmas Child, Habitat for Humanity, and the North Texas Food Bank.
The Patriot Baseball Team has also taken part in the DBU Global Sports Mission Initiative (GSMI), traveling to Guatemala in the Fall of 2007. While in Guatemala, the Patriot Baseball team played three games against the Guatemalan National Team, as well as working in the orphanages and offering free baseball clinics throughout the community. The GSMI was created to allow DBU student-athletes the opportunity to share the love of Christ, while using their God-given athletic talents and gifts to minister and spread the Word of God abroad. The GSMI has included trips to Guatemala, Peru, and South Korea, with plans for two trips this summer to Northern England.
Coach Heefner commented on the team’s desire to continue to serve when he said, “We consider it a great privilege to play a part in the University’s mission of developing servant leaders by serving in our surrounding community. It is something we will continue to do on a consistent basis. We are extremely blessed, and it is easy to lose perspective as college athletes. Every time we serve, we have the opportunity to grow in humility as we put others’ needs ahead of our own. Growing in humility through serving others is one of the greatest lessons we want our players to learn as they go through our program.”