SAN FRANCISCO — Legendary college baseball coach Augie Garrido passed away early Thursday morning at the age of 79. Garrido's storied 48-year baseball coaching career spanned six decades and found its start at San Francisco State in 1969. Garrido will be remembered as one of the most successful coaches in college sports history.

Garrido led the 1969 Gators to a 28-14 finish. He went on to have a prolific coaching career that lasted until 2016 and tallied 1,975 career victories. Garrido guided squads to National Championships in four different decades, and is also one of only three coaches in history to win five or more NCAA titles (1979, 1984, 1995, 2002, 2005). Garrido is also the first baseball coach to lead two different schools to national titles (Cal State Fullerton and Texas).

A native of Vallejo, California, Garrido was inducted into the American Baseball Coaches Association Hall of Fame in January 2016 and into the National College Baseball Hall of Fame in July 2016. Garrido recently returned to San Francisco State for the baseball team's annual First Pitch Dinner on Jan. 20, where he was the keynote speaker.