Foxhall Earns National Accolade

by: Greg Campbell, Assistant Director/Communications

STARKVILLE – Success has been a constant for Mississippi State baseball assistant coach Scott Foxhall during his 23-year coaching career and in January he will be recognized as the Rod Dedeaux Foundation Teaching Professional of the Year at the American Baseball Coaches Association's convention in Nashville.

Since 2009, the Teaching Professional of the Year award has been handed out annually to a coach or instructor who exemplifies the art of teaching. Whether it be the mental game or on-field instruction, a college coach or academy instructor, the recipient demonstrates a passion for teaching, adapting and learning.

In the 11 years the award has been handed out, Foxhall is just the fourth collegiate coach – third college assistant coach – that has been bestowed the honor.

"Scott did an unbelievable job with our pitching staff last season and this award embodies everything that Scott is as a teacher of the game," said head coach Chris Lemonis. "When you look at the numbers and awards, not only did he have the National Pitcher of the Year, SEC Pitcher of the Year and National Freshman Pitcher of the Year, he did a great job developing each of the pieces of our pitching staff. He is an innovator in the pitching industry and continues to push our pitchers to be their best."

Foxhall's 2019 pitching staff ranked among the top 10 nationally in three categories; strikeouts per nine innings (10.8; 4th), strikeout-to-walk ratio (3.09; 7th) and WHIP (1.23; 9th), while seven of the 11 student-athletes taken in the 2019 Major League Baseball First Year Player Draft were pitchers.

Left-handed pitcher Ethan Small became the second Diamond Dawg in program history to earn a national pitcher of the year honor, when the Collegiate Baseball Foundation and ABCA tabbed him with the top honor following his 2019 campaign. Small became the seventh Diamond Dawg to earn unanimous first-team All-America honors, joining Jeff Brantley (1985) and Chris Stratton (2012) as the only pitchers in program history to earn a unanimous first-team selection.

After striking out an NCAA-best 176 hitters in 2019, Small was selected with the 28th overall pick in the 2019 MLB Draft by the Milwaukee Brewers. His 176 strikeouts are the MSU single-season standard, rank No. 5 on the SEC's single-season charts and pushed his career total to 318. He joined Eric DuBose (428; 1995-97) and Brantley (364; 1982-85) as the only MSU pitchers to reach 300 strikeouts in the maroon and white.

One of the most dominating debuts in Mississippi State baseball history, JT Ginn enjoyed a won a pair of national awards and a bevy of Freshman All-American honors. After posting an 8-4 record and a 3.13 ERA in 17 starts, Ginn was tabbed as the SEC Freshman of the Year, Perfect Game National Freshman of the Year and Collegiate Baseball Newspaper Co-National Freshman Pitcher of the Year.

His national freshman of the year honor is just the second in program history, joining Rafael Palmeiro (Baseball America) in 1983. The eight victories tied Paul Maholm (2001) for the most by a Bulldog rookie pitcher and his 106 strikeouts are No. 2 on the MSU freshman charts, just off the mark of DuBose (109; 1995).

The quartet of Cole Gordon, Jared Liebelt, Peyton Plumlee and Colby White provided highlights throughout the 2019 campaign, with all four improving their numbers from years prior. Gordon finished tied for No. 7 on the all-time saves chart with 16, including a career-best 11 during the 2019 run to the College World Series. Liebelt posted a 2-0 record with five saves in 34 appearances, owning a 2.96 ERA in 2019. Plumlee won the CWS-clinching game with 6 2/3 innings of one-run work in a start versus Stanford and ended the season with a 7-5 record, 3.08 ERA and a .211 batting average against. White appeared in 27 games – all in relief – and struck out 48 batters to only nine walks to go along with a 3-1 record.

Along with Foxhall's ability to teach on the field, his student-athletes enjoy the luxury of Foxhall's tutoring inside the state-of-the-art Pat McMahon Pitching Lab, a 4,100 square-foot training area at Dudy Noble Field.

The technology inside the pitching lab includes five Edgertronic high speed, slow motion cameras to capture video from every angle of a pitcher's delivery, a Rapsodo Pitching Unit that records analytical data from every pitch, two 65-inch televisions for immediate video/analytics feedback and a video editing system.

Equipped with three regulation mounds, turf and weight-room flooring, and specialized lighting it creates the optimal training environment for the Mississippi State pitching staff. The three regulation mounds include an exaggerated table-top area for drill work, while the room also includes arm-care stations featuring Jaeger Bands and Cross-Over Symmetry training systems. The area is also equipped with a fully-functional weight room for baseball-specific strength training, agility training, and recovery workouts, which includes a plyo wall for warm-up and drill work.

The Bulldogs open the 2020 season with a three-game series at Dudy Noble Field against Horizon League champion Wright State on Feb. 14-16. The season opener is slated for 4 p.m. on Friday, Feb. 14. The series continues with a 2 p.m. start on Saturday, Feb. 15 and 1 p.m. first pitch on Sunday, Feb. 16.

While reserved seating season tickets are sold out for the 34th straight season, general admission/standing room only season tickets are available for a cost of $199.

New for the 2020 season, the Mobile Access Pass will provide access to already-sold chairback seats at Dudy Noble Field. The Mobile Access Pass provides a GA/SRO ticket for all games on the 2020 home schedule, while also offering access to the already-sold chairback seats for all home weekend series – excluding Super Bulldog Weekend – on a game-by-game basis. The cost for the Mobile Access Pass is $225.

The Mobile Access Pass and GA/SRO season tickets can be purchased at the Mississippi State Ticket Office, located in the Bryan Building off of Lakeview Drive. Tickets can also be purchased by calling 1-888-GO-DAWGS or online at hailstate.com/tickets.

Mississippi State University Athletics

Foxhall Earns National Accolade

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JT Ginn

Cole Gordon

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Peyton Plumlee

Ethan Small

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