Jan. 7, 2010

Gillespie to be inducted into ABCA Hall of Fame

UC Irvine head coach Mike Gillespie (left) has been elected to the American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA) Hall of Fame.

He will be inducted on Friday, Jan. 8, at the ABCA Hall of Fame/Coach of the Year banquet in Dallas, Texas.

Gillespie has spent two seasons with the Anteaters. UCI was ranked No. 1 during the 2009 season. Gillespie was named Big West Coach of the Year as the Anteaters posted a 22-2 conference mark.

Gillespie spent 20 years as head coach at USC, leading the Trojans to 15 regional appearances and four trips to the College World Series. USC won the national title in 1998, its 12th in school history, and Gillespie was named National Coach of the Year. He has an overall record of 850-504-2 at the Division I level, a winning percentage of .627.

Prior to his arrival at USC, Gillespie started the program at the College of the Canyons. He had a record of 418-165 (.717) in 16 seasons with 11 Mountain Valley Conference titles. Gillespie was also athletic director at Canyon from 1977-86 and taught English, physical education and health education.

Gillespie is one of two men to play for and coach an NCAA championship baseball team, joining Arizona’s Jerry Kindall. Gillespie was the left fielder for USC’s 1961 national championship squad.

(photo courtesy of UCI Media Relations Office)