Peyton Fowler is the newest member of the Mississippi State baseball signing class, as he pledged his commitment to the Bulldogs earlier today. Fowler spent his prep days at Germantown High School right here in the Magnolia State before heading off to Meridian Community College for a pair of years. Bulldog head coach Chris Lemonis has had a lot of success with JuCo pitchers on the mound throughout his tenure in Starkville, with names like Preston Johnson, Houston Harding, and Colby White standing out, and Fowler hopes to be the next.
“The family atmosphere and tradition,” Fowler explains why he chose Mississippi State. “The fans are outrageous. Coach (Justin) Parker does a really good job with the pitchers, and that was a really big deal to me. The relationship I had with Coach Lemonis was awesome from the moment I stepped on campus.”
The 6-3, 188-pound right-handed pitcher has taken a step forward this season at Meridan Community College, moving from a reliever to a starter for Dillon Sudduth’s Eagles squad. He has made eight appearances this season, seven of them starts, and he has racked up 39.2 innings pitched, a 2-2 record, 18 earned runs, a 4.08 ERA, and a 1.11 WHIP. He has struck out 58 compared to 15 walks. He explained what he has learned about himself during his junior college days and how he has improved.
“Going into JuCo, I was not highly recruited or anything like that. I was an under-the-radar guy, and I did not have a great freshman year,” Fowler said. “In my exit meetings with my coach, I told him I wanted to come back and be one of the best pitchers on the team. This summer, I was training with my guy in Flowood and went there every day, developed an arsenal, and just went to work, and it turned out good for me.”
When Fowler arrives in Starkville, he will work with Diamond Dawg pitching coach Justin Parker, who has done wonders with the maroon and white pitching staff since arriving in the summer of 2023. The former South Carolina assistant turned State’s pitching staff from one of the worst in 2023 to one of the best in 2024. The thought of getting to work with one of the best pitching coaches in the country is exciting for Fowler, as well as getting to play for Lemonis.
“To me, he just felt easy to talk to,” Fowler said of Parker. “Any questions I had or anything like that, he explained it to me where it was so easy for me to understand, and whenever I am having conversations with him, it is just like talking to one of my friends, and I really enjoy that.”
“He is a real down-to-earth guy,” Fowler said of Lemonis. “The first thing he did was talk to my dad about golf before he shook my hand, which I thought was awesome. He is definitely a guy I would like to play for, and he is easy to talk to. He wants me to be good when I get there, even past Mississippi State.”
Fowler’s decision was easy because he understands Mississippi State’s tradition and the honor that comes with the MoverS.
“You are getting a winner and a guy who will go out there and compete his tail off every single pitch no matter what, and I am going to go out to the mound and give it my best every single time,” Fowler said on what Bulldog fans should expect for him.
