Page 44 - 2024 DBU Baseball Media Guide

CLIFF PENNINGTON–RECRUITING COORDINATOR
Cliff Pennington is in his third season as the Recruiting Coordinator and Assistant Coach for the DBU Baseball team. Pennington, who played 11 seasons in the Major Leagues from 2008- 2018, came to DBU from Texas A&M where he was on the coaching staff for two years.
In his first two seasons with the Patriots, DBU has reached the postseason both years, highlighted by the 2023 team that set a school record with 47
wins, won the Conference USA regular season title, and reached the finals of the Stillwater Regional. During that time, Pennington has helped to orchestrate one of the top offenses in college baseball. In 2023, DBU set school records for both home runs (119) and stolen bases (134) and was one of only four teams in the nation to hit 100 over home runs and steal more than 100 bases.
Pennington’s impact on the run game has been instrumental in DBU’s success since his arrival. The Patriots’ 134 stolen bases in 2023 ranked as the seventh- most in the nation and helped to produce the 19th-highest scoring
average (8.3 runs per game) in all of college baseball. DBU’s 218
stolen bases over the last two seasons also ranks as the 17th- most in the country.
During Pennington’s first two seasons with the Patriots, DBU has produced a pair of All-Americans in Grant Jay and Ethan Mann, as well as the league’s Freshman of the Year in Grant Jay (2023 - Conference USA) and Luke Heefner (2022 - Missouri Valley Conference). Both Jay and Heefner also received Freshman All- American honors. Additionally, 17 players from DBU have garnered All-Conference recognition including a league-high nine All-CUSA selections in 2023.
Pennington was a standout at Texas A&M from 2003-05 where he was a three-time All-Big 12 selection and earned All-American honors in 2005. In one of the most decorated careers in Aggie baseball history, Pennington ranks in the top 10 on the Aggies’ career list for hits (246), triples (10) and stolen bases (53). Pennington finished his collegiate career with a .346 batting average in 182 games.
Following his junior season at Texas A&M, Pennington was selected by the Oakland Athletics as the 21st overall pick in the first round of the 2005 Major League Baseball Draft. Three years later, Pennington made his Big League debut with the Oakland A’s on August 12, 2008. Pennington spent five seasons in Oakland and completed his 11-year career in the Majors with four other teams including the Arizona Diamondbacks, Toronto Blue Jays, Los Angeles Angels and Cincinnati Reds.
The Corpus Christi, Texas, native finished his MLB career with 678 hits, 121 doubles, 21 triples, 36 home runs, 242 RBI and 84 stolen bases in 971 games.
His finest seasons came between 2010 and 2012. In 2010, he set career-highs in five categories including games (156), doubles (26), runs (64), triples (8), and stolen bases (29), while hitting six home runs and collecting 46 RBI. The following year, Pennington batted .264 with a career-best eight home runs and 58 RBI, while matching his career high in doubles (26).
Pennington was a part of two teams that reached the postseason during his Major League career. In 2012, Pennington and the Oakland A’s won the American League West and played in the American League Division Series. Three years later, Pennington was a key part of a Toronto Blue Jays team that clinched the AL East and reached the American League Championship Series.
Pennington holds the distinction of being the first position player to pitch in an MLB playoff game when he pitched in the ninth inning in Game 4 of the 2015 ALCS against the Kansas City Royals.
Cliff and his wife Missy have three children, Brady (14), Hudson (10), and Kinsley (8).
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