Baseball
- Title:
- Assistant Baseball Coach
- Phone:
- 325-3597
Scott Foxhall, the 2021 ABCA Assistant Coach of the Year, enters his 29th season in college baseball and fifth year on the Mississippi State baseball staff. During his career, he has made 10 NCAA Tournament appearances, including six straight trips to the NCAA Regional round. Foxhall has coached 11 major leaguers, including Gold Glove award winners and World Series Champions. His pitching staffs helped lead the Bulldogs to two consecutive College World Series appearances (2019 and 2021), winning the National Championship in 2021.
During Foxhall’s short tenure with the Bulldogs (2019-2022), 15 pitchers have been selected in the MLB draft, including seven in the first five rounds. Bulldog hurlers have received over $13 million in signing bonuses over the last four years.
In 2022, the Diamond Dawgs pitching staff continued to record strikeouts. After the previous two seasons, Mississippi State set program records in strikeouts, the Diamond Dawgs put up the fifth most in program history in 2022 with 592. Behind Foxhall’s leadership, the Bulldogs pitching staff ranked fourth in the nation and first in the SEC in strikeouts per nine innings (10.9). In the 2022 MLB Draft, four pitchers selected, Landon Sims, Preston Johnson, KC Hunt and Jackson Fristoe, with three of the four signing professional contracts.
In 2021, Foxhall’s pitchers broke the school record for strikeouts for the second consecutive season. Bulldog pitching led the nation with 817 strikeouts, which is also the all-time NCAA record for strikeouts in a single season. The Mississippi State pitching staff finished in the nation’s top 15 in seven different categories, including strikeouts (No. 1), shutouts (No. 3) and hits allowed per nine innings (No. 6).
Will Bednar was named the College World Series Most Outstanding Player in 2021 on his way to becoming the 14th overall pick in the first round of the MLB draft. Bednar combined with Landon Sims to set the all-time College World Series record for strikeouts in a single game with 21 punchouts in an opening round game versus Texas.
Bednar, Sims, and Christian MacLeod all had over 100 strikeouts on the season giving the Bulldogs the only staff in the country with a trio of 100 strikeout performers. Sims was named All-SEC and an All-American for his efforts.
The Bulldog pitching staff threw the program’s first no-hitter since 1999 when four MSU pitchers shut out Kent State 13-0 on March 7. Freshman Jackson Fristoe threw six innings before giving way to the bullpen trio of Sims, Mikey Tepper and Cam Tullar.
In addition to Bednar’s first round selection, MacLeod and Eric Cerantola were taken in the fifth round of the MLB draft. MacLeod was named the SEC Pitcher of the Week twice while Sims and Fristoe earned the award once each.
Following the shortened 2020 season, JT Ginn was selected in the second round of the MLB draft. Other highlights from the season include MacLeod and Spencer Price each winning the SEC Pitcher of the Week award and MacLeod and Bednar being named Freshman All-Americans. For the second year in a row, a Bulldog pitcher was named the National Freshman of the Year when Collegiate Baseball Newspaper tabbed MacLeod the recipient of the award.
In his first season at Mississippi State, Foxhall’s Diamond Dawg pitching staff set the school record for strikeouts in a single season (718) and posted the second-most victories (52) in program history. The 2019 pitching staff ranked among the nation’s top 15 in five categories, including the top 10 in strikeouts per nine innings (4th; 10.8), strikeout-to-walk ratio (7th; 3.09) and WHIP (9th; 1.23). The 718 strikeouts ranked second nationally.
Left-handed pitcher Ethan Small led the NCAA in strikeouts with a program single season record of 176, a total that ranks No. 5 all-time in SEC history. Small and teammate JT Ginn each posted 100-strikeout seasons in 2019, marking the fourth time in MSU history two pitchers each fanned more than 100 batters in a season.
Small claimed National Pitcher of the Year honors from the American Baseball Coaches Association and College Baseball Foundation. The senior lefty was also named the SEC Pitcher of the Year as he went 10-2 with a 1.93 ERA. JT Ginn earned national freshman of the year honors from Collegiate Baseball Newspaper and Perfect Game. Ginn posted the second-most strikeouts by a freshman in a single season in program history with 105. Ginn ranked second nationally in wins among freshmen pitchers on his way to winning the 2019 SEC Freshman of the Year.
The 2019 SEC Pitcher of the Year, Small became the second Diamond Dawg in school history to lead the NCAA in a pitching category when he paced all Division I pitchers in strikeouts. He joined Bobby Reed, who led the NCAA with a 1.09 ERA during the 1988 season.
Following the season, Small was a first-round selection by the Milwaukee Brewers, while six other Bulldog pitchers also heard their names called in the MLB draft. Foxhall was named the 2019 Teaching Professional of the Year, an annual award that honors the coach who best exemplifies the art of teaching, by the Rod Dedeaux Foundation.
Prior to coming to Mississippi State, Foxhall was the pitching coach at North Carolina State for four seasons. Foxhall helped the Wolfpack to four straight NCAA Tournament appearances and back-to-back appearances in NCAA Regional finals in 2017 and 2018. In all, 22 NC State student-athletes heard their names called in the MLB Draft, including 10 pitchers.
Foxhall’s 2018 NC State staff finished second in the ACC and No. 33 nationally in ERA (3.62) and garnered 42 victories, which were the most by a Wolfpack team since 2013. Individually, Brian Brown became the first NC State student-athlete to earn ACC Pitcher of the Year honors since 2012 on his way to second-team All-America honors. The first-team All-ACC selection was selected by the Boston Red Sox in the ninth round of the MLB Draft. Freshman Reid Johnston earned Freshman All-America and ACC All-Freshman accolades, while Joe O’Donnell was a third-team All-ACC pick.
Brown capped his career (which coincided perfectly with Foxhall’s tenure at NC State) as one of the top pitchers in NC State history, finishing with a school-record 61 career starts and ranking No. 3 in with 318 career strikeouts. His career innings pitched (4th; 333.0) and career victories (6th; 25) also sat among the top 10 all-time for the Wolfpack.
In 2015, Foxhall took over an NC State pitching group that would need to replace six contributors that either graduated or were selected in the MLB Draft, including all three weekend starters. He was able to mold that staff into one of the top units in the country. His 2015 group led the ACC and ranked No. 2 nationally in hits allowed per nine innings (6.97) and strikeouts per nine innings (9.4), while sitting No. 15 in the NCAA in ERA (2.95).
The 2015 Wolfpack made a run to the ACC Tournament championship game and NCAA Regional championship round. Previously undrafted pitchers Curt Britt, Jon Olczak and Brad Stone were all selected in the MLB Draft and Brown earned
Freshman All-America honors. Following the season, freshman reliever Tommy DeJuneas earned a spot on the 26-man roster with the USA Baseball Collegiate National Team.
Foxhall spent six seasons at Auburn as the program’s pitching coach and recruiting coordinator. In his final three seasons, the Tigers registered a sub-4.00 earned run average each season, including 3.40 and 3.34 marks in 2013 and 2014, respectively.
Foxhall proved himself to be a top recruiter during his time on The Plains, as his last three classes at Auburn ranked among the top 25 nationally and peaked with a No. 9 ranking ahead of the 2014 season. Foxhall also recruited future No. 1 overall pick in the 2018 MLB Draft, right-hander Casey Mize, during his time on the Tigers’ coaching staff. He also saw two of his pupils earn All-America honors, while 10 were selected All-SEC, including one SEC Player of the Year.
Foxhall’s coaching career began at his alma mater, the College of Charleston, in 1995. As the Cougar pitching coach, Foxhall tutored the Southern Conference Pitcher of the Year four times, while 10 student-athletes he recruited or coached earned All-America honors and 29 Cougars were selected in the MLB Draft.
In 2008, his pitching staff led the Southern Conference in strikeouts (480) and saves (18), a year after his 2007 pitchers topped the SoCon in strikeouts (445) and opponent batting average (.275), while ranking second in the league with a 4.82 ERA.
In 2006, Foxhall’s Charleston pitchers were one of the top staffs in the NCAA, ranking among the top 10 nationally in ERA (2nd; 3.02) and winning percentage (10th; .730), while helping the program win its first NCAA Regional title. The Cougars won three straight games to claim the NCAA Lexington Regional and became the only Southern Conference team in the Super Regional era (1999-present) and the first since MSU Head Coach Lemonis’ 1990 team at the Citadel to advance past the regional round.
Foxhall prepped three different student-athletes to the SoCon Pitcher of the Year, as Ryan Johnson (2004), Brett Harker (2005) and Nick Chigges (2006 & 07) each earned the award. Chigges is the only SoCon pitcher to win the conference’s Pitcher of the Year award twice and one of just three student-athletes in conference history to earn multiple specialty awards in a career.
The Cougars own the top two marks in SoCon history for victories in a single season, as his pitching staffs helped Charleston win 47 games in 2004, before claiming a conference-record 28 wins in 2005. A year later, the 2006 squad’s .238 batting average against set a conference record that continues to stand.
His pupils are also responsible for the only no-hitter in program history, as Zach Piccola and Brett Harker combined to no-hit Western Carolina on March 14, 2004.
Along with his student-athletes’ accolades on the field, Foxhall has also seen his cohorts excel in the classroom and professionally. Three of his former student-athletes are currently collegiate head coaches – Clemson’s Monte Lee, UT-Martin’s Ryan Jenkins, and Lander’s Brett Harker – while two others are pitching coaches in the professional ranks. Jordan Tiegs serves as a pitching instructor in the Rangers minor league system and Michael O’Neal is a pitching coach in the Brewers minor league system. Foxhall also recruited and coached Oliver Marmol, who was named the manager of the St. Louis Cardinals on October 25, 2021.
Throughout his career, Foxhall has helped stress success in the classroom, boasting four Academic All-Americas (nine total honors), one Academic All-American of the Year and three conference Student-Athlete of the Year award winners.
Philip Coker was a three-time Academic All-American – twice earning first-team honors – and was named the 2006 Academic All-American of the Year after leading the College of Charleston to the NCAA Tournament and finishing his undergraduate career with a 3.93 GPA in in Biochemistry. Joey Foxhall was a three-time selection to the nation’s top academic team, while Brent Anderson (twice) and Travis Howell also earned the honor for Charleston.
At Auburn, Foxhall recruited and coached a pair of student-athletes that earned high academic distinction, as Ben Jones (2009) and Cory Luckie (2010) were each named the Southeastern Conference Scholar-Athlete of the Year for all sports. Then, while at NC State, Brian Brown earned the ACC Baseball Student-Athlete of the Year Award in 2018, the same year that he won the ACC Pitcher of the Year award.
Before his coaching days, Foxhall spent two seasons at Auburn before pitching his final three collegiate seasons (1992-1994) at the College of Charleston. In three seasons with the Cougars, the right-hander finished his career among the school leaders in strikeouts (156), games started (28) and innings pitched (193.2), while his nine complete games still rank No. 3 all-time at College of Charleston. He played two seasons in Charleston against Lemonis’ teams at The Citadel. After their playing days were over, the two crossed paths on the recruiting trail for the better part of a decade while assistant coaches at their alma maters.
The Greer, South Carolina, native has seen 60 of his pitchers selected in the MLB Draft, including 16 in the first 10 rounds of the draft. Fifteen of those 16 student-athletes Foxhall helped place in the first 10 rounds of the MLB Draft were undrafted prospects out of high school.
During his time in the dugout, Foxhall has tutored 24 All-American selections, 16 Freshman All-Americans and seen six pitchers earn conference Pitcher of the Year honors. He coached the ACC Pitcher of the Year (Brian Brown) and SEC Pitcher of the Year (Ethan Small) in back-to-back seasons.
Foxhall and his wife, the former Laura Ballenger, have twin children, Kade and Kennedy. He holds his Bachelor of Science in education from the College of Charleston.
