“The greatest pitcher we ever had” in Lamar baseball history, according to former coach Jim Gilligan, has died.

Julio Alonso, the 1974 Southland Conference pitcher of the year, passed away Friday night, Gilligan announced. Alonso was 64, according to his baseball-reference.com file.

“Greatest pitcher we ever had,” said Gilligan, who won 1,353 games at Lamar from 1973-86 and again from 1992-2016. “Never seen anything like him. Unbelievable control. He comes back to our events every year.”

Gilligan did not say what the cause of death was.

Alonso, a Cuban-born player who finished high school in New York, made the All-Southland Conference teams in 1974 and 1975, earning NCAA All-District 6 recognition in 1974 after posting an 11-1 record with a 1.32 earned run average. Among his victories was a no-hit performance against UT Arlington.

His only loss that season came to the University of Texas. Gilligan said on a Facebook post Alonso dominated that lineup through five innings until the umpires forgot to call strikes.

“He didn’t really lose to Texas, if you know what I mean,” Gilligan said.

He was 18-6 for his career and set Lamar record for career earned run average (1.65) and single-season win percentage (.9917 in 1974).

The Chicago White Sox drafted Alonso in the ninth round of the 1973 MLB draft from Power Memorial High School in New York and the Detroit Tigers picked him up out of Lamar in the 23rd round in 1975. He never made it to a major-league roster, however, according to his baseball-reference.com file.

Alonso played five years with four teams in the minors (Montgomery, Alabama; Lakeland, Florida; Evansville, Indiana; and Orlando). He went 24-25 wth a 3.27 career ERA but posted a low of 1.58 while going 6-2 with Montgomery in 1977.