TEANECK, N.J. -- Fairleigh Dickinson baseball head coach Gary Puccio officially announced his retirement on Friday afternoon after nearly eight full seasons at the helm of the program.

This season, Puccio became the third winningest coach in program history by notching career win No. 126 and passing John Orsino in the process. The New York native, has amassed an overall record of 135-254-1 across his tenure with the team.

"We are truly sorry to see Gary go," said Fairleigh Dickinson Director of Athletics David Langford. "Gary did a remarkable job improving the quality of our baseball program both on the field and in the classroom. He also did an excellent job engaging with our alumni and had a great impact on the surrounding campus community. His outstanding contributions will surely be missed."

In 2016, Puccio received a three-year extension after reaching a pair of career milestones with his 400^th collegiate coaching victory against Wagner on April 30 and his 100^th win at FDU coming on April 13 in a wild 35-24 victory over Coppin State. Puccio, who is the 11^th coach in program history, guided the 2016 squad to 28 victories -- tying the program-record -- and totaled three Northeast Conference Tournament appearances across his time at FDU.

A graduate of C.W. Post, Puccio served as a scout for the Seattle Mariners organization for 12 years and as head coach at several levels of baseball. He began at Division III SUNY Old Westbury for five seasons before moving to his first Division I job at Manhattan.

At Manhattan in 1998, Puccio helped the team register 20 wins – their highest total since the 1903 season. He then went on to coach at Suffolk Community College for four seasons before leading Briarcliffe to five straight USCAA National Tournaments, including a pair of National Championships from 2006-10.
 
Prior to taking over for the Knights, Puccio also taught mathematics at Island Trees High School in Levittown, New York

Puccio's retirement effective date is May 15. Assistant coach Justin McKay will head the Knights baseball program on an interim basis for the remainder of the season.