Mississippi State's Lemonis earns 100th MSU win
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May 14—STARKVILLE — Mississippi State baseball coach Chris Lemonis reached a career milestone on Thursday night, but the third-year skipper was quick to pass the credit to the players and staff around him.
Lemonis earned his 100th head coaching win at Mississippi State last night as the No. 3 Bulldogs came back to beat Missouri, 5-4, to open the weekend series.
He is the seventh coach to reach the milestone in school history, joining a legendary group of coaches that includes Ron Polk, Paul Gregory, John Cohen, Dudy Noble and a few others.
"That means we've had some great players and I have a great staff," Lemonis said of the milestone. "When we win, it is so little about me. This is a great program and just keeping it moving forward is our goal as coaches. I have a great staff and we've had some special players."
While he is the seventh coach to reach the mark, he is the fastest to ever do it.
As of Friday morning, Lemonis has a Mississippi State record of 100-30. He reached the 100-win mark 20 games faster than any coach in school history, beating out the legendary Polk (150 games). Gregory reached the milestone at 157 games.
Lemonis is also the only coach to reach the milestone in his third year at the helm.
It took Gregory seven years to reach the 100-win mark, but teams did not play as many per season during the 1950s and 1960s.
Polk nearly reached the milestone in his third year, but finished the season one game short. He finished the 1978 season with a 99-50 record and didn't earn his 100th win until the 1979 season.
"Twenty faster than coach Polk? He keeps telling me his name is on the stadium," Lemonis joked after the game. "He earned that. He gives me a hard time all the time, though, so now I have something I can hold over him. He's the guru. He's the godfather so I have to bust his chops."
Lemonis said senior outfielder Rowdey Jordan joked with him after the game, telling Lemonis that he entered the program at the perfect time. While it was a joke and Lemonis laughed about it, he couldn't agree more.
Lemonis took over in 2019 after the 2018 season saw a couple of coaching changes.
Andy Cannizaro started the 2018 season as the head coach, but resigned after an 0-3 start to the season. Pitching coach Gary Henderson then took over and led the Bulldogs to a 36-29 record and an Omaha appearance.
When Lemonis took over in 2019, he inherited a roster that included players such as Jake Mangum, Ethan Small, Jordan Westburg and Justin Foscue, along with current stars Jordan, Tanner Allen and Christian MacLeod.
"That's a tough one. I would like to think so," Lemonis said of whether he thought he would have this success so early. "I thought we would win. I thought we would be good. I always tip my hat to Gary Henderson. I don't think he gets enough credit. He did a great job of keeping that 2018 team together and teaching them how to play the game ...
"I think we have been able to keep that through the program. We expect us to win and that's the expectation here at Mississippi State. I don't think the high bar is every going away."
