Wes Davis enters his 16th season with the ORU coaching staff in 2024 and seventh year as an assistant coach after taking over the role of pitching coach prior to the start of 2018. He previously spent seven years as the Golden Eagles' Director of Operations after working his first two years as volunteer assistant.
During his time as the pitching coach, Davis has developed four Summit League Pitchers of the Year, 17 All-League pitchers, three All-Americans and nine MLB draft picks.
In his sixth season as the pitching coach in 2023, Davis oversaw the continued development of closer Cade Denton, who was named the NCBWA Stopper of the Year and Summit League Pitcher of the Year. Denton, who was a six-time All-American in 2023, became only the third player in program history to earn All-America honors in consecutive seasons under the tutelage of Davis. In addition to Denton, Davis worked with a starting trio (Jakob Hall, Harley Gollert and Brooks Fowler), that combined to go 27-7 with a 3.83 ERA.
In the 2023 MLB Draft, Denton and fellow reliever Jacob Widener were taken inside the Top 10 rounds by the Colorado Rockies and Kansas City Royals, respectively. The selections mark the second straight season a Golden Eagle pitcher has heard their name called inside the Top 10 rounds.
As a staff, the Golden Eagles finished the 2023 campaign ranked seventh nationally in ERA (4.03) and WHIP (1.28). ORU set a program record for saves with 23 and registered 615 strikeouts, which matched the 2002 squad for the most in program history. Davis' staff saw three relievers (Denton, Widener and Dalton Patten) reach 30-plus appearances and five pitchers surpass 80-plus strikeouts (Denton, Hall, Fowler, Gollert and Widener).
Under the guidance of Davis in 2022, the Golden Eagles had two pitchers named All-Americans in Ledgend Smith (2022 Summit League Pitcher of the Year) and Denton. In the MLB draft, starter Isaac Coffey was taken in the 10th round by the Boston Red Sox. As a staff, ORU finished Top 20 nationally in ERA (4.07), WHIP (1.27), walks per nine (3.17) and shutouts (five).
In his first season leading the pitching staff, Davis coached five players that had their names called in the 2018 MLB Draft, including Summit League Pitcher of the Year Miguel Ausua. ORU was one of only 12 college programs in the nation to have five or more pitchers drafted in 2018. The Golden Eagles had a team earned run average of 3.89, ranking 64th in the nation and combined for a strikeout total of 516, third-most in single-season history.
A former two-way player in junior college and at the NAIA level, he begins his 14th season of coaching collegiate baseball where he has worked with more than 80 players that have gone on to be drafted or sign professional contracts.
Davis took the reins of one of the nation's top pitching staffs as the Golden Eagles ranked sixth in all of NCAA Division I baseball with a 3.06 earned run average after the 2017 campaign, which was the eighth-lowest in a single season in program history.
In his role as the Director of Operations, Davis supervised all student managers, coordinated the bullpen, organized all baseball fundraising and team community service, as well as serving as the director of Ballpark Baseball Academy.
Davis came to ORU prior to the 2009 season after working for four years as an assistant coach at the University of Texas at Tyler.
At UT Tyler, Davis’ duties included strength and conditioning, defense, base running and assisting with hitting. Under his guidance, the Patriots posted the conference's best fielding percentage three-straight seasons and also topped the league in hitting all four years. In his four seasons with the Patriots, the team compiled a 131-28 record (.824) and won three conference championships.
He also has been involved with various summer baseball teams spending two years as the head coach of the Florence Red Wolves of the Coastal Plain League, where he led the team to a first-half division crown and a playoff appearance in 2008.
The previous summer, Davis served as the hitting coach of the Wilson Tobs of the CPL, who also advanced to the playoffs. In 2005, he acted as the hitting coach for the Kenai Peninsula Oilers of the Alaskan Baseball League, and had 12 of its players end up playing professionally.
Davis played collegiate baseball for two years at Seward County Community College in Liberal, Kansas, and then wrapped up his playing career at Oklahoma Baptist, where he helped lead the squad to a NAIA regional appearance in 2004. Davis played prep baseball at Owasso High School and guided the Rams to two Oklahoma Class 6A state championships and two runner-up finishes.
Davis and his wife, Kara, have three children; Major, Makinley and Molly.
