Northwestern baseball coach Jim Foster was fired Thursday amid allegations of misconduct, three days after football coach Pat Fitzgerald was dismissed because of a hazing scandal.

Foster spent just one season as the Wildcats' coach. The move was announced in a brief statement from athletic director Derrick Gragg.

"Nothing will ever be more important to Northwestern than providing its students a place that allows them to develop in the classroom, in the community, and in competition at the absolute highest level, and building a culture which allows our staff to thrive," Gragg said.

"This has been an ongoing situation and many factors were considered before reaching this resolution. As the director of athletics, I take ownership of our head coaching hires and we will share our next steps as they unfold."

The Chicago Tribune and WSCR-AM reported this week that Foster led a toxic culture and that his bullying and verbally abusive behavior prompted a human resources investigation by the university.

Multiple assistants left after one year, and at least 15 players entered the transfer portal, CBS Chicago reported, CBS Chicago reported.

Northwestern went 10-40 under Foster. Assistant Brian Anderson, a former major leaguer who won a World Series ring with the Chicago White Sox in 2005, will take over as interim coach.

Earlier this week, Fitzgerald was fired after a university investigation found allegations of hazing by 11 current or former players, including "forced participation, nudity and sexualized acts of a degrading nature," Northwestern President Michael Schill wrote.

In one alleged ritual known as "running," he says a younger player would be restrained by a group of eight to 10 older players while they dry humped him in a dark locker room. 

"Rubbing your genitals on another person's body, I mean, that's coercion. That's predatory behavior," Ramon Diaz Jr., who was an offensive lineman for Northwestern from 2005 to 2009, told CBS News.

Fitzgerald has maintained he was unaware of the hazing.

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• Northwestern University