USC baseball has its new pitching coach
South Carolina has made a hire for its vacant pitching coach position.
Michigan State pitching coach Skylar Meade is set to join the Gamecocks’ staff, a source confirmed to The State. Brian Sakowski of Perfect Game first reported the news.
Confirmed via multiple contacts that @GamecockBasebll will hire Skylar Meade of @statebaseball for their vacant Pitching Coach position. Superstar hire both in terms of development and recruiting.
— Brian Sakowski (@B_Sakowski_PG) November 20, 2017
Meade has been with the Spartans since 2015 after coming over from Middle Tennessee State. He has had three impressive seasons in East Lansing as Michigan State’s top three strikeout totals in school history have come each of the past three years.
The Spartans set a school record for strikeouts in 2015 with 409 before posting 466 in 2016 and 420 in 2017.
Michigan State led the Big Ten in ERA (2.75), opponent’s batting average (.234) and runs allowed (199) in 2016. Last season the Spartans had a team ERA of 3.79, and their ERA was 3.82 in 2015.
Meade also had a successful stint at MTSU as the pitching staff lowered its team ERA in each of his two seasons there.
Meade started his coaching career at Eastern Illinois, working as a grad assistant in 2008 before being hired full time in 2009.
He played college baseball at Louisville and helped the Cardinals to the College World Series in 2007.
Meade will replace Jerry Meyers on the head coach Mark Kingston’s Gamecocks staff. Meyers is taking an indefinite medical leave of absence from the University of South Carolina and will not return to his position with the baseball team, the school announced earlier this month.
It is possible that Meyers could be placed in another position within the USC Athletics Department down the road if he is capable of returning to work.
“Jerry is one of the best pitching coaches in the country, but at this point his health must be his top priority,” Gamecocks coach Mark Kingston said in a statement earlier this month. “In a short time, Jerry has become a close friend, so we will focus on supporting him and his family through this process. Jerry's contributions over the course of 16 years will leave a lasting legacy on Gamecock baseball.”
This story was originally published November 19, 2017 at 9:25 PM with the headline "USC baseball has its new pitching coach."