Baseball | 1/14/2009 9:37:36 AM

FAYETTEVILLE, N.C. - Methodist University baseball coach Tom Austin, will be one of four inductees into the Fayetteville Sports Club's Hall of Fame this year.

The Fayetteville Sports Club has been inducting deserving men and women into their hall of fame since 2003 and features former Methodist coach and administrator and current USA South Athletic Conference Commissioner Rita Wiggs.  Austin will be inducted along with Terry Sanford High School tennis and girls' basketball coach Gil Bowman, former Reid Ross and East Carolina football standout Reggie Pinkney and former E.E. Smith and Georgia Tech football star Joe Harris.

Austin is set to begin his 30th season at the helm of the Monarchs boasting a career record of 902-371-9.  Just last season Austin picked up his 900th win, becoming the eighth coach in NCAA Division III to do so.  In his 29 seasons at Methodist, Austin's teams have never won fewer than 22 games in a season. Included in that are 17 30-win seasons and two 40-win seasons.

Austin has elevated the Monarch baseball program to one of the best in Division III. During his tenure at Methodist, he has guided the Monarchs to six NCAA Division III College World Series (1986, '88, '91, '92, '95, '96), finishing no lower than fifth. Their best finish occurred in the 1995 season, when the Monarchs finished as the national runners-up.

Under Austin's guidance, Methodist has tallied 13 Dixie Intercollegiate/USA South Athletic Conference and six NCAA Division III South Regional titles, and advanced to the NCAA Division III National Tournament 20 times.

Fayetteville Sports Hall of Fame

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