Andy Cannizaro is released a week into his second Mississippi State season

Mississippi State will officially terminate the second-year baseball coach's employment Tuesday morning. Cannizaro’s dismissal is per sources with cause though University officials have yet to state on record what said cause is.

An official statement is forthcoming. The University will place pitching coach Gary Henderson in charge of the 2018 team for the remainder of this season. Mississippi State opened the schedule over the past weekend with a three-game sweeping at Southern Mississippi.

Cannizaro, 39, was hired as Mississippi State’s 17th head baseball coach on November 5, 2016. His hiring was made the same day nine-year head coach John Cohen was formally presented as athletic director. Cohen was able to take Cannizaro away from Louisiana State where he had spent two seasons as assistant coach and recruiting coordinator.

If the weekend was lost, that season was a success on the whole. Though taking over with only days left in fall training, Cannizaro and retained assistant staff were able to keep the program on track into 2017. Cannizaro became only the second Diamond Dog coach to record 40 wins in his first year.

The Bulldogs went 40-27, 17-13 SEC, and split four games in the SEC Tournament. Assigned to the Hattiesburg Regional as a #2 seed, Mississippi State lost its opening game to South Alabama before running off four victories in two days. The doubleheader sweep of host Southern Mississippi on elimination day provided the 13th NCAA Regional championship in program history, and sent Cannizaro’s club to Baton Rouge ironically enough where they were swept in super regional play by the eventual national runners-up.

Also in his one year Cannizaro was able to score four wins in as many meetings with Ole Miss. His Bulldogs swept the regular season series in Oxford, and took the neutral site matchup as well in Pearl. The ’17 team, though not able to defend the 2016 SEC Championship won by Cohen’s last club, did take other series from Kentucky, South Carolina, Alabama, and Texas A&M.

Cannizaro is a Tulane alumnus and Green Wave All-American player with eight playing seasons in professional baseball and two stints in Major League ball with the Yankees and Rays. He spent five years as a scout with the Yankees before going to college coaching.

Henderson is in his second season at Mississippi State. Hired by Cohen in the first place he stayed to coach Cannizaro’s pitchers. Henderson can handle SEC coaching of course as he was Cohen’s successor at Kentucky for eight seasons, and before than an assistant at Florida.

The Diamond Dogs have a day to recover from the stunning change of management. They are scheduled to play at Jackson State on Wednesday evening with a 6:00 start, weather permitting. Due to stadium construction the first home game will be March 6, and with an interim manager.

A player-only meeting was reportedly held Monday evening.