LAWRENCEVILLE, NJ – The Rider University Athletics Community is mourning the loss of legendary coach and Athletics Hall of Famer Tom Petroff. A member of Rider Athletics' inaugural Hall of Fame class in 1990, Petroff passed away Monday at the age of 95.
 
Petroff led the Broncs' baseball team from 1961-70, guiding the team to 155-84-2 record and the program's lone appearance in the College World Series in 1967. Petroff additionally led Rider to the NCAA District Tournament in 1963 and 65.
 
"He was my dearest friend and mentor for over 50 years," said Sonny Pittaro, former Rider Baseball Head Coach and Petroff's successor. "Rider has lost the greatest coach in its history."
 
Petroff's influence on the game of baseball extended beyond Rider, later becoming the first ever coach to guide two different programs to the College World Series, and becoming President of the American Baseball Coaches Association in 1984. He was the ABCA National Coach of the Year in 1971 and received the 1975 ABCA/Wilson Lefty Gomez Award for his significant contributions to the game of baseball locally, nationally, and internationally. He was inducted into the ABCA Hall of Fame in 1986. At the time of his passing, he was the longest-tenured Lifetime Member of the organization.
 
"Tom Petroff set the standard for baseball coaches at Rider University leading his 1967 team to the College World Series," said current head coach Dr. Barry Davis. "His 1965 team may have been his best though, losing only one game, its last. His remarkable career continued at Northern Colorado. At that time, to be the only coach to take two different programs, especially two that are not synonymous with big time college baseball, to the game's ultimate tournament clearly speaks volumes on the type of coach he was. No doubt one of the best ever."
 
A well-known clinician, Petroff conducted skills clinics in 40 states and in six foreign countries. He coached the U.S. Olympic team in Los Angeles in 1984, then went on to be the head coach for the Netherlands in the 1988 Olympic Games in Seoul, South Korea.