Cody Gardner is in his second stint on Missouri S&T's coaching staff for his second season as the team's pitching coach. Gardner had previously served as the pitching coach for the Miners from 2016-2020.
In his time away from S&T during the 2021-23 seasons, Gardner was the pitching coach for Lewis University.
In his first stint with the Miners, Gardner coached seven pitchers who earned All-GLVC accolades. Aaron Bedsworth (2016), Dan Borek (2018), Dalton Erger (2019) and Stuart Martin (2019) all earned first team honors while Borek (2016), Ethan Krenning (2016) and Conner Forsythe (2019) earned a spot on the second team. In the 2024 season, Dylan Mollett earned first-team All-GLVC laurels.
In 2016, as the Miners won the Great Lakes Valley Conference West Division title and reached the championship game of the NCAA Midwest Regional, Gardner guided the team to an earned run average of 4.21, including holding its opponents to a .284 batting average.
In 2019, under Gardner’s leadership, the Miners led the Great Lakes Valley Conference for the fewest hits allowed, fewest runs, and fewest runs earned. They also allowed the third lowest batting average in the conference at .261, the best of Gardner’s tenure.
Prior to arriving at S&T in 2016, Gardner spent four years at Truman State University as a pitcher for the Bulldogs, helping lead Truman to its first-ever NCAA Tournament appearance during the 2016 season. The Bulldogs won the NCAA Division II Midwest Regional title and advanced to the Division II Championships in Cary, N.C., where Gardner started the opening game against Mercyhurst and held the Lakers to one run and four hits over nine innings.
In 2015 at Truman, Gardner tied the Bulldogs' single season record for wins as he went 9-5 on the year with a 3.05 earned run average in 112 innings of work. He led the Bulldogs with 59 strikeouts and his 15 career wins are the most by any pitch in Truman history.
Gardner was named to the All-GLVC second team following the 2015 campaign.
He also won five games during his junior year and recorded an earned run average of 3.16 in 62 2/3 innings.
A native of Gray Summit, Mo., Gardner received his bachelor’s degree in 2015 in exercise science and sports management at Truman State.
