STARKVILLE — Mississippi State baseball is parting ways with assistant and pitching coach Scott Foxhall, the school announced Monday. It’s the first change to coach Chris Lemonis’ assistant staff since he was hired after the 2018 season.

The move comes amidst pitching woes for the Bulldogs. Last season, fresh off a national championship, Mississippi State had an SEC-worst 6.07 ERA. The 263 walks (third-most in the SEC) were a big reason for the struggles. However, injuries to key pitchers such as Landon Sims and Stone Simmons didn’t help.

The woes continued in 2023 with Mississippi State owning the SEC’s worst ERA (6.62).

“While this is a difficult decision because of the tremendous respect I have for Scott as a person and a coach, it is in the best interest of our program," Lemonis said in a school release. "I want to thank Scott for his contributions to Mississippi State over the last five years, and I am appreciative of all he's devoted to our program. He has played a significant role on our staff during his time here, including helping us win a College World Series Championship. I sincerely wish Scott and his family the absolute best in the future.”

Foxhall’s tenure also featured plenty of success. MSU has had 11 pitchers drafted since the 2019 season. The Bulldogs broke the program’s strikeout record in 2019 and followed it up by breaking the record against in 2021.

The 817 strikeouts in 2021 is an NCAA record for a single season. Will Bednar headlined the staff with a 3.12 ERA and 139 strikeouts. He made five postseason appearances, including six scoreless innings in the national title clinching win against Vanderbilt. He was the 14^th overall pick in the 2021 MLB Draft.

A graduate of the College of Charleston, Foxhall’s career started at his alma mater in 1995 as the pitching coach. He was there until 2009 when he was hired as Auburn’s pitching coach for six seasons. He spent four seasons in the same position at NC State before he was hired by Lemonis.

“Mississippi State is the premier program in college baseball," Lemonis said. "There's no question our expectations are to be the gold standard of the sport. That has and will always be true. No one is satisfied with the results since our run to a national title not long ago. Starting with me as the leader of our program, I can assure you we are going to continue to work, prepare and compete as hard as possible to put a product on the field that meets the standard of Mississippi State Baseball."

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: Mississippi State baseball fires pitching coach Scott Foxhall