South Carolina Baseball: Coach leaves for SEC rival

In 2023, South Carolina baseball had its best season since 2016 but fell to the Florida Gators in the Gainesville super regional. In the era of the transfer portal, it came as no surprise that Mark Kingston’s roster started to change as soon as the season ended.

Carolina has seen two players (rising junior infielder Michael Braswell and rising graduate senior relief pitcher Brett Thomas) leave via the transfer portal and has brought in four commitments (outfielders Austin Brinling and Blake Jackson and pitchers Ty Good and Garrett Gainey). All four players could play a real role on the 2024 version of the Gamecocks.

Now, the changes to Kingston’s program are no longer limited to just the roster as the coaching staff will look different in 2024. Pitching coach Justin Parker is leaving the program to join the staff at Mississippi State.

Parker will serve in the same role for head coach Chris Lemonis and will receive a raise for making the move across the SEC. Parker replaces the outgoing Scott Foxhall who was let go during the 2023 season.

Parker coached for two years as the Gamecocks’ pitching coach after former pitching coach Skylar Meade left to become the head coach at Troy. Parker’s unit was extremely hamstrung by injuries in both seasons he spent as the pitching coach in Columbia. Overall, the production was relatively disappointing, but the injuries make it hard to fairly evaluate Parker’s tenure as a Gamecock.

Nothing is done yet, but according to many sources, including D1Baseball’s Kendall Rogers, Liberty’s Matt Williams is set to become Parker’s replacement in Columbia. Williams has been the pitching coach at Liberty since 2020 and is considered a rising star in the coaching industry. He has several connections to the state of South Carolina which should help with in-state recruiting.

New Gamecock transfer pitcher Garrett Gainey played for Williams last season at Liberty.