Mike Forsythe enters his first season as Southeast Missouri’s volunteer assistant coach.
Forsythe was the pitching coach for one year at New Mexico after spending two seasons in the same role at Big Ten Conference member Maryland. Prior to that, he was an assistant coach at Louisiana Tech where he worked with the pitchers. He was also the pitching coach at the Northern Colorado, Southern Connecticut State, Quinnipiac and Fordham.
At Maryland, the pitching staff dropped its team ERA from 5.84 to 3.10 and had three pitchers with under a 3.00 mark. The pitching staff lowered its opponent batting average from .356 to .249 helping the Terrapins win 19 Big Ten games in 2021, most since joining the conference.
During his time at Louisiana Tech, Forsythe played a big part in helping three Lady Techster pitchers earn First-Team All-Conference USA honors. One of those pitchers, Krystal De La Cruz, was also named C-USA Newcomer of the Year in 2017, while another, Preslee Gallaway, was tabbed C-USA Pitcher of the Year in 2018.
Additionally, the Louisiana Tech pitching staff tossed 18 shutouts during the 2017 campaign, including a 1-0 win over Florida International in the C-USA Championship game. La Tech played 11 games against Power 5 teams, combining for a 2.48 ERA. The pitching staff held seven Top-25 team to two runs or less during the 2018 season.
Forsythe brings experience beyond the collegiate game having served on the pitching staff with the Akron Racers Women’s National Pro Fastpitch League.
He and his wife, Celeste, have two children and two granddaughters.
