Mark Marquess, Who Made Stanford a Baseball Powerhouse, Dies at 78

Mark Marquess, who led Stanford University to two N.C.A.A. baseball championships and became so identified with the program that players simply called him “Nine,” died on Jan. 30 in Mountain View, Calif. He was 78. The cause was a stroke, his wife, Susan (Lawler) Marquess, said.

Marquess spent a half century at Stanford as a player, assistant coach and, from 1977 to 2017, 41 seasons as head coach. His teams won consecutive national titles in 1987 and 1988, reached the College World Series 14 times, finished as runner-up three times and compiled a career record of 1,627-878-7, the fourth-highest victory total among Division I coaches.

He was named N.C.A.A. coach of the year in 1985, 1987 and 1988 and was inducted into the National College Baseball Hall of Fame in 2021. More than 200 of his players were chosen in the major league draft, including first-rounders Mike Mussina and Jack McDowell, and he led the United States to a gold medal at the 1988 Seoul Olympics when baseball was an exhibition event.

United States, Mountain View, Calif.

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