SAN FRANCISCO — University of San Francisco baseball head coach Nino Giarratano reached a major career milestone Tuesday with the Dons' 6-0 win over UC Davis, winning the 900th game of his collegiate head coaching career that spans 29 years across five decades at USF and the junior college level.
 
Tuesday's win gave Giarratano 590 at the NCAA Division I level, all during his 22 years on The Hilltop that started in 1999. He is now only 10 victories away from his 600th career win as a Division I head coach. He currently ranks 57th among active head coaches in the nation. 54 other active coaches in Division I have reached the 600-win mark.
 
Giarratano is the winningest head coach in USF baseball history. He earned that honor in 2009 with his 374th career Division I win. He won his 500th career game on May 12, 2016, with a 6-5 walkoff win over BYU. He is one of only two active head coaches in the West Coast Conference (Rich Hill, San Diego) who have at least 500 career wins.
 
Giarratano also won 310 games during a very successful junior college coaching career from 1989-96. His head coaching career began at Trinidad State Junior College in Trinidad, Colo., where he was named the National Junior College Coach of the Year three times and took his team to the NJCAA World Series in all five of his years there. Giarratano went 233-76 (.730) while at Trinidad State. He later moved to Yavapai Community College in Prescott, Ariz., from 1995-96, where he sent 25 players to the professional ranks in just two seasons and compiled a record of 77-36.
 
"This is such a fantastic accomplishment for one of our longest-tenured coaches on The Hilltop," said Director of Athletics Joan McDermott. "Nino has always embodied every one of our department's values with his teams, and that includes being a winner on the field. He's won everywhere he's been, and we're excited to continue watching him, his staff & the Dons' successes."
 
Giarratano and the Dons are back in action this weekend at CSU Bakersfield in a three-game series starting Friday. Fans can find all live coverage links on USFDons.com.