Tragedy struck the sports world on Sunday.

St. Louis Cardinals relief pitcher Josh Hancock (above) died in a car accident early Sunday morning, when his Ford Explorer struck the rear of a tow truck.

Hancock, 29, was pronounced dead at the scene. He pitched three innings in Saturday’s 8-1 loss to the Chicago Cubs.

Here are three people connected to Eastern athletics who died too young.

1. Erik Proffitt – Proffitt, a midfielder on Eastern’s men’s soccer team, died in April 1989 after contracting spinal meningitis. He earned two letters in the 1987 and 1988 seasons and played in all 38 games. Proffitt’s No. 19 jersey was retired at the beginning of the 1989 season. The Wichita, Kan., native was 20 years old at the time of his death.

2. Barry Stevens – Stevens didn’t play here at Eastern, but he was an assistant men’s basketball head coach for two seasons (2003-04 season and 04-05 season). The former Iowa State great died Feb. 21, 2007, while playing basketball with his 15-year-old son. Stevens, 43, collapsed and died of a heart attack.

3. Ricky Byrdsong – Byrdsong was an assistant men’s basketball head coach at Eastern from 1980-82. Byrdsong played at Iowa State while Samuels was an assistant there in the late-1970s. Byrdsong, the former head coach at Northwestern (1993-97), was murdered by a white supremacist outside his home in Skokie on July 3, 1999. He was 45.