Dan Pirillo '08 completed his third season at the helm of the LIU baseball program in 2018-19.

Last season, Pirillo coached the program to its first win over a top-10 team and Southeastern Conference school with a 1-0 win over 9^th ranked Georgia in late February. LIU finished the season 20-33, 10-14 in the NEC and ranked second in the league with a .966 fielding percentage for the 2019 campaign. 24 student athletes were named to the Spring NEC Academic Honor Roll.

In 2018, he guided the Blackbirds to the school’s first Northeast Conference Championship and the first NCAA Tournament appearance since 1972. 

The 2018 LIU baseball team won a program-record 31 games and reached the NEC Tournament for the eighth time in school history. In the first NEC tournament appearance in five seasons, LIU went on to win all three NEC Tournament games en route championship title over Wagner, clinching the automatic NCAA Berth.

Pirillo has coached nine All-NEC honorees in his three seasons as the head coach at LIU. The five honorees in 2018 were the most in a single season for LIU since 1990. 2018 All-NEC First Team honoree Andrew Turner flourished under Pirillo’s tutelage. Turner increased his batting average 90 over points in two seasons, finishing his senior campaign with a .346 batting average and .493 on base percentage and was drafted in 39th round by the Miami Marlins.

Success has also translated off the field for Pirillo’s teams. His teams have excelled in the classroom, earning the NEC Team GPA award in back-to-back years (2018, 2019). LIU has also earned ABCA Team Academic Excellence Awards in the last two seasons for a cumulative team grade point average above a 3.00. His student-athletes have been named to the NEC Spring Academic Honor Roll 56 times and 15 were named to the ECAC Academic Honor Roll in 2018. 

Prior to Leading LIU

• Spent four seasons at Chicago State from 2013 to 2016, working his way up from assistant coach to associate head coach in his final season with the Cougars.
• As Chicago State's primary hitting coach, Pirillo developed the Cougars into one of the top offensive teams in the Western Athletic Conference.
• Pirillo went to Chicago State after serving as an assistant at NCAA Division II Georgia College. Pirillo assisted with recruiting, coordinated the outfield defense while developing the team's strength and conditioning programs. 
• He helped lead the Bobcats to a West Division championship in the Peach Belt Conference with a 29-20 record.
• He spent two summers with the Edenton Steamers in the Coastal Plains League. The team went on to win the first and second half Eastern Division Championships in 2013. His recruitment and development led to 10 Steamers earning professional contracts.
• In his first stint in the coaching ranks, Pirillo spent two seasons at LIU Brooklyn, coaching first base and assisting with recruiting. The 2011 squad set a then school record for victories in a season with 28. He also oversaw the academic performance of the team, with the Blackbirds recording a team GPA of 3.1 during his tenure.

Playing Career

• A versatile member of the Blackbirds during his four seasons in Brooklyn, Pirillo saw regular time at second base, third base and shortstop. He also saw action in the outfield and behind the plate. 
• In 2008, he turned in several strong statistical performances, batting .298 while playing in 47 games, which stood as the fifth-highest single-season total in school history at the time of his graduation.
• Pirillo also had 134 assists and stole 47 bases to place fourth and sixth all-time on the LIU single-season lists, respectively. 
• He finished his career in fourth place on the Blackbirds’ career assists list with 337. 

Pirillo owns a bachelor's degree in physical education and a master's in exercise physiology from LIU Brooklyn.