Former college baseball coach Gordie Gillespie dies at 88

JOLIET, Ill. (AP) - Gordie Gillespie, one of the winningest coaches in college baseball history who also had success coaching football and basketball, has died. He was 88.

The University of St. Francis said Gillespie died Saturday night at his home in Joliet. He spent a quarter-century of his 59-year career as the baseball coach at the NAIA school.

Gillespie had 2,402 wins in four sports, though he is most remembered for his accomplishments on the baseball diamond.

He retired in 2011 with 1,893 victories, which were the most in college baseball at that time at any level. Texas' Augie Garrido passed Gillespie last year.

Gillespie, who also had stints as St. Francis' athletic director and athletic chairman, was inducted into the National College Baseball Hall of Fame in 2009.

"He left an indelible mark on all of us," St. Francis athletic director Dave Laketa said in a statement. "The teachings that he provided have been priceless and something that we have carried with us and will continue to carry with us throughout our lives."

Gillespie began his baseball coaching career in 1953 with a 24-year stint at Lewis, where he won three NAIA national championships. He spent 10 seasons at Division III Ripon in Wisconsin, starting in 1996, when he replaced his son Bob, who was also the school's athletic director. Ripon went to the NCAA playoffs in six of his last seven years.

"Gordie treasured his time at Ripon College and was extremely proud of the athletes he coached while he was there," Bob Gillespie said in a story posted on Ripon's website. "He left an indelible mark on the Ripon community as he did every place that he coached."

Two stints in baseball at St. Francis for Gillespie sandwiched his tenure at Ripon.

"Saturday, we lost a great person, but also a terrific teacher of life skills," Ripon Athletic Director Julie Johnson said. "Gordie touched so many lives on our campus and community."

St. Francis' baseball team won the school's first national title in any sport in 1993.

Gillespie also coached men's basketball at Lewis for 15 years and started the women's basketball program at St. Francis in 1976.

In football, Gillespie coached Joliet Catholic High School to five state titles and 222 wins during his 27-year tenure even though he never played the game. He started the football program at St. Francis, guiding the team to the NAIA playoffs in its second year.

Funeral arrangements were pending.