Amhest’s Bill Thurston, who served from 1985 to 2000 as the NCAA Baseball Rules Committee’s secretary-rules editor, collected his 800th coaching victory last weekend.

He is the 12th coach in Division III history to reach 800 wins, and he achieved the milestone in his 44th season with the Lord Jeffs.

Thurston achieved the milestone in a program that has averaged only 29.4 games per season during his tenure and has never played more than 37 games in any year. Eight of the coaches ahead of Thurston on the victories list averaged 40 games per season and the 11 other 800-game winners collectively averaged 36 games per season.

He now ranks eighth among active Division III coaches in wins.

Amherst has had only one losing season since 1970 and has won at least 19 games in each of the past 14 years. From 1995 to 2008, Thurston’s teams posted a record of 299-160-3 (.650), advanced to the Division III Baseball Championship four times and won two New England Small College Athletic Conference titles.

Of Thurston’s 800 career victories, 90 came against archrival Williams. Amherst has posted a 90-34-1 record against the Ephs since 1966. College baseball’s two oldest rivals – they played the first collegiate game against each other in 1859 – will commemorate the 150th anniversary of the sport in a nationally televised game May 3 in Pittsfield, Massachusetts.

Victory No. 800 came March 20 in Florida, in a game against NESCAC rival Bowdoin, which does not count in conference standings.