Joe Litterio is out after six seasons as Rutgers University’s head baseball coach.

Litterio’s contract won’t be renewed, Rutgers Athletics Director Pat Hobbs announced Tuesday. Litterio was in the final year of a two-year contract that paid him $156,000 this season. The contract expires June 30.

"Joe has led the program with class and character, and served as a positive mentor to our student-athletes,” Hobbs said in a statement. “We are grateful for his contributions and proud to have had an alum shepherd the team through its Big Ten transition.''

Litterio compiled a 140-173-1 record in six seasons after replacing Hall of Fame skipper Fred Hill four games into the 2014 campaign. Litterio also spent two seasons as a Rutgers assistant coach after a 12-year stint as the head coach at Wagner in Staten Island.

A Cranford native, Litterio played for the Scarlet Knights as an infielder from 1990-93, contributing to four straight Atlantic 10 regular-season titles and playing in three NCAA Tournaments during his time on the banks.

Litterio’s departure comes after a late-season swoon prevented Rutgers from a top-8 finish in the Big Ten and its first-ever conference tournament appearance.

The Scarlet Knights entered the final regular season series at Big Ten regular season champion Indiana in eighth place but were swept by the Hoosiers to finish 10th in the 13-team league, 2.5 games back of the final playoff spot. Rutgers lost nine of its final 11 conference games and finished the season 20-31 overall and 9-14 in Big Ten play.

Hobbs will conduct a national search for a new coach. But the Rutgers Athletics Director may not have to go very far to hire the 13th head coach in the program’s 149-year history.

Rutgers pitching coach Phil Cundari, who was appointed interim head coach, is expected to be a top candidate to replace Litterio. Cundari and Hobbs were previously together at Seton Hall and the Scarlet Knights’ pitching staff was the team’s strength for most of this season after a rough start.

Cundari, a Cliffside Park native, has never been a head coach. Rutgers assistant coach Jim Duffy, a Newton native who previously served as the head coach at Manhattan, is another likely candidate.

Two other coaches with Rutgers ties who make sense as potential successors include Kean University head coach Neil Ioviero and Boston Red Sox Minor League outfield/base running coordinator Darren Fenster.

Ioviero, a Hazlet native who pitched for Rutgers in the early 1990s, has compiled a 691-297-2 (.698) record in 22 seasons, guiding the Union-based Division III program to 14 NCAA Tournament appearances, six College World Series appearances and a National Championship in 2007.

Fenster was a standout Rutgers infielder in the late 1990s before serving as a top assistant under Hill for six seasons. A Middletown native, Fenster spent the past six years managing Minor League teams in the Red Sox organization.

"We are committed to hiring a head coach who will enhance the trajectory of the program, while also adhering to the strong values that exemplify Rutgers Baseball,'' Hobbs said.

The next coach will inherit a program that is in much better shape than it may appear at first glance. While Rutgers’ baseball stadium is widely regarded as the Big Ten’s worst, the Scarlet Knights boast a state-of-the-art indoor practice facility and Litterio recruited well in recent years.

Rutgers will return a young, but now experienced, roster next spring. In addition to graduating just four seniors, the lineup is expected to include six returning starters and could get back infielder Dan DiGeorgio, who missed the entire 2019 campaign with a knee injury. If MLB Draft prospect Tevin Murray returns, the Scarlet Knights also will return all three weekend starters next season.

Since taking over as Rutgers AD in late November 2015, Hobbs has dismissed men's basketball coach Eddie Jordan, women's swimming coach Petra Martin, gymnastics coach Lou Levine, softball coach Jay Nelson and men’s soccer coach Dan Donigan.

He has hired football coach Chris Ash, men’s basketball coach Steve Pikiell, women’s rowing coach Justin Price, gymnastics coach Umme Salim-Beasley, softball coach Kristen Butler, men’s soccer coach Jim McElderry and promoted women’s tennis coach Hilary Ritchie and women’s swimming co-head coaches Fred Woodruff and Jon Maccoll.

Hobbs is also in the midst of a national search for a new women’s lacrosse coach after Laura Brand Sias resigned following 17-year run earlier this month.

Keith Sargeant may be reached at ksargeant@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @KSargeantNJ. Find NJ.com Rutgers Football on Facebook.