Mississippi State baseball hires Justin Parker as Chris Lemonis' next pitching coach

STARKVILLE — Mississippi State baseball's search for a pitching coach, which started on May 1 after Scott Foxhall's firing, is over.

Coach Chris Lemonis has hired former South Carolina assistant Justin Parker to fill the position, MSU announced on Monday.

"Justin is one of the top pitching coaches in the country and is on the rise in the coaching ranks of college baseball," Lemonis said in a statement. "He is a terrific baseball talent, and an incredible vision for what he wants to do on the mound and defensively here at Mississippi State. Justin is a huge asset for the Diamond Dawgs, and we are excited to welcome him and his family to Starkville."

Parker, 36, has spent the past two seasons at South Carolina under Mark Kingston. In that time, the Gamecocks saw an impressive return to success fueled in large part to their performance on the mound.

In 2021, before Parker's arrival, South Carolina went 34-23 and lost in regionals. The Gamecocks had a team ERA of 3.80. In Parker's first season, USC struggled en route to a losing record with a 5.41 ERA. However, Parker helped steer the ship.

The Gamecocks won 42 games this year and made it to super regionals behind a 4.19 ERA − second in the SEC. South Carolina had 10 pitchers throw more than 20 innings and collect an ERA below five − a benchmark only four MSU pitchers reached.

"I want to thank coach Lemonis for this incredible opportunity to join an amazing staff and a program with a storied tradition," Parker said. "Coach Lemonis and I share many of the same coaching philosophies, and I'm excited to begin this next chapter of my coaching career with this storied program. My family and I are fired up to get to Starkville and join the Mississippi State family. I can't wait to build relationships with, teach and develop our players on and off the field."

Parker will inherit a unit that combined for the worst ERA (7.01) in the SEC. It was the worst single-season mark in MSU's history. That came after the Bulldogs owned the SEC's worst ERA in 2022 (6.05) despite winning a national championship the year before.

Parker's college baseball career started as an infielder for Wright State. Despite being selected by the Minnesota Twins in the 43rd round of the 2005 MLB Draft, he elected to play college ball. He was later drafted by the Arizona Diamondbacks in the sixth round of the 2008 MLB Draft and spent three years in the minor leagues.

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He started his coaching career in 2011 when he returned to his alma mater. He spent six seasons at Wright State before two at Central Florida.

Parker jumped to the Power Five level when he was hired at Indiana ahead of the 2019 season by his former Wright State head coach Jeff Mercer. Parker's arrival at IU came after Lemonis left the Hoosiers for MSU. In 2019, Indiana had an ERA of 3.81 en route to a Big Ten title. In 2021, Parker's final season with IU, the Hoosiers had an ERA of 3.17.

Parker is a native of Fort Wayne, Indiana. His brother Jarrod Parker was a former MLB pitcher.

Stefan Krajisnik is the Mississippi State beat writer for the Clarion Ledger. Contact him at skrajisnik@gannett.com or follow him on Twitter @skrajisnik3.

This article originally appeared on Mississippi Clarion Ledger: Justin Parker hired as Mississippi State baseball pitching coach