Middle Tennessee State University Athletics
4/29/2021 12:35:00 PM | Baseball
MURFREESBORO, Tenn. – Head Coach Jim Toman and the Middle Tennessee baseball team welcome Volunteer Assistant Coach Forrest Arnold to the Blue Raider coaching staff. Arnold will coach first base and will assist with coaching the pitchers during the remainder of the 2021 season. Arnold will also be the team's camp director and oversee the stadium and managers.
"Middle Tennessee baseball is very fortunate to be able to hire Forrest Arnold as our new volunteer coach," said Head Coach Jim Toman. "[Arnold] will be a great addition to our coaching staff."
Arnold joins the Blue Raiders after spending the past two seasons at Savannah State University where he served as the team's pitching coach. During the 2021 season Arnold's staff had a 4.40 team earned run average including six players with a sub-three ERA. The Tigers finished the regular season 13-5 and were selected as the No. 1 seed in the first ever Black College World Series at the D-II level.
Before Savannah State, Arnold served as the Assistant Coach/Pitching Coach at the University of South Carolina Union from 2018-2020 and was also head coach for the Litchfield Dolphins in the Beach Collegiate Baseball Summer League in 2019. The Dolphins won the 2019 BCBL Championship and Arnold was named 2019 BCBL Coach of The Year.
Arnold attended Coker University, where he was a pitcher for the Cobras. In his four-year career at Coker, Arnold made 42 starts in 64 appearances and tossed 245 innings for the Cobras from 2014-2017. Arnold had a career best 3.99 ERA and was named Astroturf South Atlantic Conference Pitcher of the Week twice during his senior season. The 6-foot-8-inch right-hander also posted an impressive 50:19 strikeout-to-walk ratio in 2017.
Arnold will be replacing Lukas Ray, who held the same position. Ray received a job in the San Diego Padres organization earlier this month.
"We wish former volunteer coach Lukas Ray success with the San Diego Padres organization and appreciate his outstanding work with our program," said Toman.
