Southern Connecticut State University Athletics

Joseph Bandiera, MS ’75, 6th Year ’81, was the winningest baseball coach in Southern history with a 496-426-5 win-loss-tie record. He was an assistant football and baseball coach for six years before becoming head baseball coach in 1975. During his 26-year career, he coached four All-Americans, and he had 16 seasons with winning records, including 11 seasons with 20 or more wins. He took four teams to the ECAC tournament, winning in 1998. His last team, in 2001, became the first Southern baseball team to appear in the NCAA Division II championship tournament and set the single-season record of 38 victories. Bandiera was named the 2001 Northeast-10 Conference Baseball Coach of the Year. He is also a Connecticut certified basketball official.