UC Irvine's Mike Gillespie named NCBWA National Coach of the Year

UC Irvine Athletics

Last Updated - Jun 14, 2014 13:26 EDT

OMAHA, Neb. -- UC Irvine head coach Mike Gillespie was honored Saturday as the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association Coach of the Year at TD Ameritrade Park.

Gillespie, who became the 16th active head coach to reach the 1,000 career victories, has led UCI to its second College World Series appearance. Gillespie's Anteaters were the No. 3 seed in the Corvallis Regional and defeated UNLV in the opening game and then defeated the national one seed, Oregon State to advance to the Stillwater Super Regional. There, the team captured the first two games of a three-game series against Oklahoma State to punch its ticket to the College World Series.

It is the second time in Gillespie's career he has been named the National Coach of the Year after winning the title in 1998. He is in the midst his 20th NCAA postseason trip and sixth College World Series appearance and he has guided UCI to the NCAA tournament in five of his seven seasons at the helm of the Anteater program.

With a 40-23 record, Gillespie has led one of his squads to a 40-win season for the 14th time in his 27 seasons as a collegiate head coach.