RALEIGH, N.C. — N.C. State head baseball coach Elliott Avent announced Thursday that he will retire at the end of the season. Avent, who turned 70 on May 1, coached the Wolfpack for 30 seasons after eight seasons at New Mexico State.

Avent compiled 1,103 wins at N.C. State and 1,327 overall in Division I, leading the Wolfpack to 22 NCAA regionals, six super regionals and College World Series appearances in 2013, 2021 and 2024. He was named Atlantic Coast Conference and National Coach of the Year in 2003 and USA Baseball's College Coach of the Year in 2021.

The Wolfpack finished the regular season 32-22 and lost to Duke in the ACC Tournament. The team hopes to receive an NCAA tournament at-large bid when the field is announced Monday.

Avent thanked his coaching and support staff, players and fans in a farewell statement. "Not many people get the chance to do what they love at a place that means so much to them," he said.

In 2021, the Wolfpack defeated Stanford and Vanderbilt at the College World Series before several players tested positive for COVID-19. The NCAA sent the team home after three games and one win away from the finals, citing recommendations from its medical team and the local health department in Omaha, Nebraska. The order came hours after a 3-1 loss to Vanderbilt in which only 13 players were available.

"Although we're all heartbroken, this team will never be forgotten and will live in the hearts of Wolfpack and baseball fans forever," Avent said of that team. A Nash County native, Avent has 31 former players currently playing professional baseball, including four on Major League Baseball rosters.

Governor Josh Stein honored him with the Order of the Long Leaf Pine Award, and the new baseball clubhouse at Doak Field was named the Elliott Avent Clubhouse in his honor.

"Coach Avent will forever be a part of the rich fabric of NC State Athletics, having been at the heart of NC State's baseball program for 30 years," Chancellor Kevin Howell said. "We are incredibly grateful for his decades of commitment to coaching and mentoring our student-athletes, so many of whom have gone on to have successful careers in the sport."