South Carolina baseball: Skylar Meade accepts head coaching job

South Carolina baseball begins its pitching coach search.

The South Carolina baseball team was led by its pitching staff this season. Gamecock arms combined to win 34 games and post a 3.80 ERA. The staff was one of just five in the SEC to produce a sub-4.00 ERA, and finished sixth in the country by striking out more than 11 batters per nine innings. That performance helped guide the program to a regional appearance.

The Gamecocks recently learned that the majority of its starting rotation will be headed to the next level following this week’s MLB Draft, with Brett Kerry, Thomas Farr, and Brannon Jordan all being selected by professional organizations. Three more relievers were nabbed, too, bringing the draft total to six members of the South Carolina staff. Now, it looks like another key piece will be missing as pitching coach Skylar Meade has accepted a head coaching position.

Meade, who’s been on staff in Columbia since the 2018 season, will be the new head coach for the Troy Trojans. Troy posted a 27-26 overall record last year, leading to the departure of then-coach Mark Smartt. The Trojans have missed out on the NCAA tournament in each of the last two seasons.

This will be Meade’s first head coaching gig, but he’ll bring with him eight years of experience as a pitching coach at South Carolina, Michigan State, and Middle Tennessee State. He’s seen success at every stop, and is now looking to take the next step in his career. He’ll be tasked with improving a Trojans’ pitching staff that posted an ERA of 4.52 and finished 170th in the nation in strikeouts per nine innings.

The search is on for Mark Kingston to fill the void. Whoever he brings in should inherit a great situation that includes freshman All-American Will Sanders and dominant lefty Julian Bosnic. Stay tuned to Garnet and Cocky for further news.