The program began play in the 1901 season, in which it went 4-6 under head coach Fred Schlock. After not competing in 1902, the team returned in the 1903 season. From its inception through the end of the 1915 season, the team did not belong to a conference. Prior to 1923, most of the program's head coaches served only one or two seasons, with Dode Brinker being the only exception.[1] Brinker served four tenures as the program's head coach (1906, 1909–1910, 1915–1916, 1918–1919), in between which he also played professional baseball.[2][3] In his seven seasons as the team's head coach, Washington had a 59-28 record.[1]
Under Brinker, the program joined the Pacific Coast Conference (PCC) for the 1916 season. After not playing in 1917 due to World War II and competing as an independent in 1918, the team rejoined the PCC in 1919. Washington won the 1919 conference championship with a perfect 10-0 record in Brinker's final season. It won the PCC Championship again in 1922 under head coach Robert L. Mathews.[1]
In 1922, the university adopted the husky as its mascot and athletic nickname. Since 1920, the teams' nickname had been the Sundodgers, and prior to that the university's athletic programs were known as both the Indians and the Vikings.[4][5]
Prior to the 1923 season, Tubby Graves became the program's head coach. Under Graves, the Huskies won six PCC North Division titles, all in Graves' first ten seasons as head coach.[1] In 1931, the team did not participate in the Pacific Coast Conference due to a mid-season trip to Japan to play games against Japanese college baseball teams.[6] In 1932, the Huskies rejoined the PCC and won the North Division title with a 13-4 conference record. The division title was the team's last under Graves, who coached through the end of the 1946 season.[1] In the 1930s, the team's home venue was named Graves Field in honor of Graves, and the name carried over to the next venue used by Washington from the late-1960s until the end of the 1997 season.[7][8]
After finishing no higher than second in the PCC North Division from 1932 to 1951, the team tied for the division title in 1951. In the 1959 season, the Huskies won the North Division title outright under coach Dale Parker. In doing so, the program qualified for its first NCAA Tournament. It finished second in the District VIII Regionals with a 1-2 record.[1]
On July 1, 1959, the PCC dissolved following a scandal involving illegal payments to football players at several of the conference's schools.[9] In reaction, five former PCC members, including Washington, formed the Athletic Association of Western Universities (AAWU), which began play in the 1959-1960 school year.[10] With the addition of several other schools, the conference eventually became known as the Pacific-12 Conference.[11]
Washington struggled in its first two decades after beginning play in the AAWU in the 1960 season. It did not have a winning conference record in its first 19 seasons in the AAWU (renamed the Pacific-8 Conference following the 1968 season). The stretch included five consecutive last-place finishes from 1967–1971 under head coach Ken Lehman. The program had its first winning conference record in the 1979 season, when it finished in second place in the North Division of the Pacific-10 Conference, which had been renamed prior to that season.[1][11]
In 1981, head coach Bob MacDonald, who had held the position since prior to the 1977 season, led the team to its first division title since 1959.[1] MacDonald was also the head coach in 1985, when the team qualified for its first Pac-10 North Division Tournament. The Huskies qualified for the tournament in each of the next five seasons, finishing as the tournament runner-up in 1987 and 1990.[12] In 1992, MacDonald's final season, the Huskies qualified for their second NCAA Tournament with a 39-21 record and North Division title. The team was seeded sixth in the six-team West Regional. After defeating first-seeded Arizona and fourth-seeded Fresno State in its opening two games, the team lost consecutive games to Pepperdine and Hawaii and was eliminated.[13]
Following the 1992 season, MacDonald left Washington to become the head coach at Navy. He was succeeded by Washington assistant coach Ken Knutson.[14][15] In 1993, Knutson's first season, the team won the Pac-10 North and had a 39-19 overall record but did not receive an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament. In 1994, the team did qualify for the NCAA Tournament and played in the Midwest II Regional.[1] The Huskies lost to Georgia Tech in the regional finals. The program continued to have success in the 1990s, winning the Pac-10 North Division title in 1996, 1997, and 1998. It qualified for the 1997 and 1998 NCAA Tournaments after winning the Pac-10 North-South Division Playoff in each season.[12] Individually, Chris Magruder, who later played Major League Baseball, was named a Second Team All-American by the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association in 1998.[1][16]
Prior to the 1998 season, the program opened Husky Ballpark, a newly built on-campus home venue that replaced Graves Field.[8] In Washington's first game at the new facility, the Huskies lost to Gonzaga 4-3.[17]
In the three seasons from 1999–2001, the program finished with a conference winning percentage of .500 or worse and did not qualify for the NCAA Tournament. From 2002–2004, however, the team qualified for three consecutive NCAA Tournaments.[1] Its most successful tournament came in 2004, when the Huskies qualified as the second-seeded team in the Oxford Regional. After losing its opening game to Tulane, the team defeated Ole Miss and Western Kentucky in consecutive elimination games before being eliminated by Tulane in the Regional Finals.[13] Future Major League Baseball players on the 2004 team included Tim Lincecum and Brent Lillibridge.[18] Lincecum was named that season's co-National Freshman of the Year by Collegiate Baseball.[19]
Following the 2009 season, head coach Ken Knutson was fired after four consecutive losing seasons in the Pac-10. He was replaced by Indiana State head coach Lindsay Meggs.[20][21]
Although a 1931 source refers to the team's home venue simply as the "Husky ball lot," sources as early as 1936 refer to the program's home venue as Graves Field, named for Tubby Graves, the program's head coach from 1923–1946.[6][7][22][23][1] The field was located near the current sites of Graves Hall and the Intramural Activities Building on Washington's campus.[24][25] In addition to Washington baseball, the field hosted freshman football games and the Whitworth College (NAIA) baseball team for periods of its history.[26][27]
In the late-1960's, a new baseball field was constructed near the intersection of Seattle's NE 45th Street and Union Bay Place (now Mary Gates Memorial Avenue). Originally intended as a practice field, it became the program's venue shortly after its construction and was also named after former head coach Tubby Graves.[14] In 1973, it underwent $19,000 renovations.[28] It had a seating capacity of 1,500 spectators.[29] The field was used by the program until the end of the 1997 season.[8] The field's former location is now occupied by intramural athletic fields.[30]
During the 1973 season, while Graves Field was being renovated, the Huskies used Seattle's Sick's Stadium. The stadium, which opened in 1938, was used by Major League Baseball's Seattle Pilots for the 1969 season.[28]
During the 1990's, plans for a new stadium to replace Graves Field were announced. Prior to the 1998 season, the $4.75 million construction of Husky Ballpark was completed. The venue, located north of Husky Stadium near the former site of Old Graves Field, has a capacity of 2,212 spectators. It features an artificial turf surface.[8][31]
In 2011, plans were announced for a $15 million building project on a new Husky Ballpark. The new stadium, which is planned to be completed by the start of the 2014 season, will be located on the same site as the current Husky Ballpark and will have a capacity of 2,500 spectators. In addition to chairbacked seating behind home plate, it will feature berm seating past the left field fence. Like its predecessor, the venue will have an artificial turf surface.[33][34][35]
The program's most successful head coach is Ken Knutson, who coached the team from 1993–2009 and had 584 wins. Its longest tenured head coach is Tubby Graves, who coached for 24 seasons (1923–1946).[1]
National champion
Postseason invitational champion
Conference regular season champion
Conference regular season and conference tournament champion
Division regular season champion
Division regular season and conference tournament champion
Conference tournament champion
^"Brinker Is Star Coach". The Spokane Daily Chronicle. Spokane, Washington, USA. 20 March 1909. p. 10. Archived from the original on 2012-08-23. Retrieved 23 August 2012.
^"Bill Brinker". Baseball-Reference.com. Archived from the original on 2012-08-23. Retrieved 23 August 2012.
^ ab"Sport Tabloids". The Bend Bulletin. Bend, Oregon, USA. 16 May 1936. p. 2. Archived from the original on 2012-08-17. Retrieved 17 August 2012. ... as they prepared to play a second game on rain-soaked Graves' field.
^ abcd"No. 12 Baseball Begins New Era". GoHuskies.com. Washington Sports Information. 24 February 1998. Archived from the original on 2012-08-17. Retrieved 17 August 2012. Friday's game will mark a long-awaited day in Husky baseball history as Washington plays its first game at the new Husky Ballpark after playing its games at Graves Field since the 1960s.
^"Four Coast Schools Form New League". The Lodi News-Sentinel. Lodi, California, USA. United Press International. 25 August 1958. p. 8. Archived from the original on 2012-08-23. Retrieved 23 August 2012.
^"Huskies Load Up on Sophomores". The Spokesman-Review. 31 March 1949. p. 16. Archived from the original on 2012-08-17. Retrieved 17 August 2012. ... in a doubleheader at Graves Field.
^"Graves Hall 13-P". Washington.edu. University of Washington Facilities Services. Archived from the original on 2012-08-17. Retrieved 17 August 2012.
^"UW, WSC Frosh Set". Tri-City Herald. Pasco, Kennewich, and Richland, Washington, USA. 8 November 1956. p. 8. Archived from the original on 2012-08-17. Retrieved 17 August 2012. The game is scheduled for 1:30 on Graves Field.
^"I.E. College Squads Set Busy Weekend". The Spokesman-Review. p. 26. Archived from the original on 2012-08-17. Retrieved 17 August 2012. Central, boasting a 5-1 record, visits Graves Field where the Pirates try to improve a 1-6-1 record.
