Peyton McLemore will return to the McNeese baseball staff as an assistant coach and pitching coordinator after spending two seasons with UT-Tyler, head coach Justin Hill announced Friday morning.
"I'm proud of Peyton going off on his own at another program, but I'm so excited to have him back on our staff. He's a winner and our entire team, especially the pitching staff, will be better because of him," said head coach Justin Hill.
McLemore returns to his hometown of Lake Charles where he attended Sam Houston High School before attending McNeese. He earned his bachelor's of science in education in sports management and both his master's of exercise physiology and health promotion as a Cowboy.
"I'm blessed to be back in Lake Charles," said McLemore. "I can't thank Coach Porche enough for the opportunity to work under him at UT-Tyler. I'm excited to get back to work at my alma mater with coach Hill and his staff."
A right-handed pitcher, McLemore joined the Pokes in 2017 for a three-year stint, earning a career ERA of 4.32, amassing a 5-4 record throughout 72 appearances. He fought his way to earning 127 strikeouts with two savers during his tenure.
Following his time on the diamond, he was retained on staff as the Director of Player Development and Analytics in 2019 before moving into the spot of Pitching Coach from 2020-22. While in his first stint with the Pokes, he helped the team to an SLC Championship and 2019 NCAA Nashville Regional as a player and another SLC Championship and 2021 NCAA Fort Worth Regional as a coach.
McLemore departed to be a pitching coach at the University of Texas at Tyler for two seasons before ultimately decided to return home.
While playing for McNeese, he worked as a Summer League Head Coach at Sam Houston High School in 2018 and as a Head Coach at Bullet Baseball Academy from 2014-17.
During his coaching tenure, McLemore has coached the 2022 SLC Pitcher of the Year and 2023 MLB Draft pick Grant Rogers and 2022 SLC Relief Pitcher of the Year Cameron Foster, a 2022 MLB Draft pick. At UT-Tyler, he coached three Lone Star Conference All Americans and a Lone Star Pitcher of the Year.
