Winthrop baseball coach Joe Hudak picked up his 800^th career win May 16 when the Eagles beat North Carolina-Asheville, 13-12, in extra innings. Winthrop’s team showered their coach with a cooler full of ice to commemorate the occasion.

"It's very cold, but it feels very good," said Hudak. "I have to thank all the players that played for me and all the coaches that coached with me since Geneva College."

Hudak is the 28^th active baseball coach to reach 800 wins. His team is now 23-31 overall and earned a spot in the Big South tournament.

"It did not come easy," said Hudak. "I've got a lot of gray hair from these guys over the years. Eight hundred wins is nice. I really appreciate all the hand-shakes and (junior infielder Aaron) Bonomi kept the ball for me, which was nice, but the most important thing was that we are in the Big South top four."

Hudak has coached at Winthrop for 24 seasons. He began coaching high school in 1976, then became head coach at Geneva College. Eventually, he was named an assistant at Mississippi State, where he earned his graduate degree. Hudak was a collegiate shortstop at NAIA Malone College.