Indiana Baseball: Head Coach Chris Lemonis Leaving IU For Mississippi State
The Indiana baseball program will be in search of a new coach.
A source confirmed to TheHoosier.com late Sunday night that IU head coach Chris Lemonis is set to leave the program and take the same position at Mississippi State. D1Baseball.com's Kendall Rogers was first to report Lemonis' move to Mississippi State.
In four seasons leading the Hoosiers, Lemonis compiled a 141-91-2 overall record and led IU to NCAA Regional appearances in three of those four years. This past season, Indiana went 40-18 for its most wins in a single season under Lemonis, falling in the Austin Regional final. Lemonis takes over for interim coach Gary Henderson, who guided the Bulldogs to the College World Series after former head coach Andy Cannizaro quit three games into the 2018 season.
Lemonis arrived in Bloomington in 2015, replacing former IU head coach Tracy Smith after his departure to Arizona State following the 2014 season. Lemonis helped IU earn its only three at-large NCAA tournament births in program history in each of the three years (2015, 2017 and 2018) qualified for the postseason under his watch.
Additionally, Indiana hauled in the nation's 29th-, 61st-, 39th- and 39th- best recruiting classes in each of the last four years under Lemonis, according to PerfectGame.org's college recruit rankings.
The success from the first three classes saw 13 individual players get selected in the MLB Draft - including four this month in right-handed pitcher Jonathan Stiever, left-handed pitcher Timmy Herrin, right fielder Logan Sowers and third baseman Luke Miller.
However, Indiana never managed to make it to the Big Ten tournament championship or past regional play in Lemonis' four seasons.
The next head coach Indiana hires will be the 25th in program history.
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