Gamecocks baseball hires new assistant

The University of South Carolina baseball program and head coach Mark Kingston announced the hiring of Skylar Meade as pitching coach for the Gamecocks.

“We are excited to welcome Skylar, his wife Jesse and their son Kasen to the Gamecock nation,” Kingston said in a release. “Skylar comes with the highest of recommendations from some of the most respected people in baseball. We set out to find a coach with some very specific attributes and Skyler has them all. He has a proven track record of leading his staff to achieve at an elite level, including the third-best ERA in the NCAA in 2016. He has a great energy for recruiting, which will be a big part of bringing top-level talent to Columbia.”

Meade joins Carolina after spending three seasons as the pitching coach at Michigan State University. Under Meade’s watch, an MSU pitcher led the Big Ten in earned-run average in each of the past two seasons (Walter Borkovich in 2017; Dakota Mekkes in 2016).

“I want to thank Coach Tanner and Coach Kingston for giving me the opportunity, for having me and my wife down here and treating us right and giving us a chance at such a great place,” Meade said. “I know there’s a lot of talent, and I’m excited to get there and get going, hopefully having this thing moving in the right direction immediately.”

Michigan State had the Big Ten’s best ERA (2.75), opponent’s batting average (.234) and runs allowed (199) in 2016.

Meade spent two seasons as the pitching coach at Middle Tennessee State University in Murfreesboro, Tennessee. The Blue Raider pitching staff lowered its team ERA in each of his two seasons at the school. Prior to joining the staff at MTSU, Meade worked for five seasons at Eastern Illinois, first as a graduate assistant and then as an assistant coach in 2009.

Meade joined the coaching staff at EIU after his playing career at the University of Louisville. With the Cardinals, Meade anchored a pitching staff that helped lead Louisville to the 2007 College World Series.

The native of Louisville, Kentucky, earned a bachelor’s degree in sports administration from Louisville in 2007 and completed a master’s degree in kinesiology and sports studies (sports management) in the summer of 2009 from EIU.

This story was originally published November 20, 2017 at 3:42 PM with the headline "Gamecocks baseball hires new assistant."