OT: Chris Lemonis...

[ptrich]

While I didn't see anything to suggest he is on thin ice at Mississippi State, you know he has to be after going 9-21 in back-to-back seasons in the SEC. Like in football, they don't have much patience in the SEC when it comes to baseball, so he really needs to have a competitive year this season in the conference. They started the season with a series win at home over Air Force going 2-1. They then turned around and dropped a pair of midweek games at home to Austin Peay to have a 2-3 record going into this weekend's action at home with Georgia Southern.

Lemonis had a very successful first year there in 2019 making it to the College World Series. The 2020 season was canceled over Covid after they had a good start to the season, and then they won the College World Series in 2021. You could say after the 2021 season that Lemonis had a roster full of players that he recruited and that was when things started sliding downward there. Their pitching has been their Achilles heel, and they were dead last in the SEC in team ERA last season. He brought in former Hoosier pitching coach Justin Parker to try and turn that around. Fans there have a short memory, and they will probably not tolerate a third season of losing baseball in the conference if that happens.

 

[Bucket Getter]

While I didn't see anything to suggest he is on thin ice at Mississippi State, you know he has to be after going 9-21 in back-to-back seasons in the SEC. Like in football, they don't have much patience in the SEC when it comes to baseball, so he really needs to have a competitive year this season in the conference. They started the season with a series win at home over Air Force going 2-1. They then turned around and dropped a pair of midweek games at home to Austin Peay to have a 2-3 record going into this weekend's action at home with Georgia Southern.

Lemonis had a very successful first year there in 2019 making it to the College World Series. The 2020 season was canceled over Covid after they had a good start to the season, and then they won the College World Series in 2021. You could say after the 2021 season that Lemonis had a roster full of players that he recruited and that was when things started sliding downward there. Their pitching has been their Achilles heel, and they were dead last in the SEC in team ERA last season. He brought in former Hoosier pitching coach Justin Parker to try and turn that around. Fans there have a short memory, and they will probably not tolerate a third season of losing baseball in the conference if that happens.

Wow. Hadn’t been following him at all since they won it. Although I was happy for him, I never really was all that impressed during his time in Bloomington. Part of it was probably his appearance. Part of it was probably simply because he wasn’t Tracy Smith and his contagious enthusiasm. Sounds like he’d better pull a rabbit out of his hat soon. A big one.

 

[Seyton]

I always think years three, four and five are huge years for coaches because those are often the first years that the roster is mostly theirs.

Lemonis has gone:

52-15, 20-10
12-4
50-18, 20-10
26-30, 9-21
27-26, 9-21

They're off to a rough start this year. 4-4 against Air Force, Austin Peay and Georgia Southern.

It's interesting that the club Lemonis inherited had gone

44-18, 21-9
40-27, 17-13
39-29, 15-15

in the three seasons before him. So he was able to elevate the existing program but couldn't keep it going (or hasn't been able to to date).

 

[ptrich]

I always think years three, four and five are huge years for coaches because those are often the first years that the roster is mostly theirs.

Lemonis has gone:

52-15, 20-10
12-4
50-18, 20-10
26-30, 9-21
27-26, 9-21

They're off to a rough start this year. 4-4 against Air Force, Austin Peay and Georgia Southern.

It's interesting that the club Lemonis inherited had gone

44-18, 21-9
40-27, 17-13
39-29, 15-15

in the three seasons before him. So he was able to elevate the existing program but couldn't keep it going (or hasn't been able to to date).

Both Ole Miss, which won the College World Series title in 2022, and Mississippi St. can't claim bragging rights in the state right now since both have fallen on hard times after winning the title. Ole Miss has gone 6-24 and 14-16, respectively, in the SEC since their title and they are off to a slow start to this season.

 

[ptrich]

It looks like the move by Chris Lemonis to bring former IU pitching coach Justin Parker in as his pitching coach probably (IMO) saved his job at Miss. St. Under Parker, the Bulldog's staff pitching numbers have improved greatly, and after having the worst team ERA in the SEC at 7.01 last season, they now have a team ERA of 4.24 going into the last game of the regular season. After missing the Field of 64 the past two seasons, the Bulldogs are considered in as at least an at-large.

IU had a team ERA of 3.17 in Parker's last season with IU in 2021 before leaving for South Carolina.

 

[Bucket Getter]

It looks like the move by Chris Lemonis to bring former IU pitching coach Justin Parker in as his pitching coach probably (IMO) saved his job at Miss. St. Under Parker, the Bulldog's staff pitching numbers have improved greatly, and after having the worst team ERA in the SEC at 7.01 last season, they now have a team ERA of 4.24 going into the last game of the regular season. After missing the Field of 64 the past two seasons, the Bulldogs are considered in as at least an at-large.

IU had a team ERA of 3.17 in Parker's last season with IU in 2021 before leaving for South Carolina.

Compared to our current 6.07 team ERA. Ouch.