Mississippi State’s Tomas Valincius Named to National Pitcher of the Year Watch List

Mississippi State’s first-year coach Brian O’Connor had to hit the ground at a full sprint when he took over the baseball program last summer.

The NCAA baseball transfer portal necessitated a quick start to the job and O’Connor’s work building a transfer portal class was like a first-pitch home run.

One of the biggest reasons O’Connor built one of the top-rated portal classes was bringing former Virginia LHP Tomas Valincius with him to Starkville.

Three up, three down with two strikeouts to begin Tico's outing pic.twitter.com/rTPwYT4foa
— Mississippi State Baseball (@HailStateBB) March 7, 2026

Valincius was one of the highest-rated players to enter the transfer portal last summer and his status as one of the best pitchers has been validated.

Valincius was one of 142 pitchers named to the National Pitcher of the Year watch list by the College Baseball Hall of Fame on Wednesday.

National love for Tico 👀

📰: https://t.co/rC2L3FGATi #HailState pic.twitter.com/TVlxt9A3cR
— Mississippi State Baseball (@HailStateBB) March 11, 2026

The sophomore left-hander from Lockport, Illinois has made four starts for the Diamond Dawgs this spring. Valincius is 3-0 with a 1.74 earned run average, 26 strikeouts and six walks through 20 2/3 innings of work. Opposing teams are hitting just .227 against him.

It’s still early in the season and June is still a long ways off. But so far, the expectations set when O’Connor was hired and players like Valincius were brought in are on track to be reached.

2026 National Pitcher of the Year Award Watch List

Ben Alekson, RHP, Junior, Fairfield, MAAC
Cooper Allen, RHP, Junior, UNCW, CAA
Colby Allen, RHP, Senior, Southern Miss, Sun Belt
Jeremiah Arnett, RHP, Junior, Rice, American
Brady Bendik, RHP, Junior, Navy, Patriot
Seth Benes, RHP, Junior, Lindenwood, OVC
Reid Bertram, LHP, RS-Senior, Gardner Webb, Big South
Brady Bickett, LHP, Junior, Charleston Southern, Big South
Gavin Blachowicz, RHP, Sophomore, Nebraska, Big 10
Ben Blair, RHP, Junior, Liberty, CUSA
Ryder Brooks, LHP, RS-Junior, UC Irvine, Big West
Ty Brooks, RHP, Sophomore, Indiana St, MVC
Landen Burch, RHP, Senior, MTSU, CUSA
Zach Busick, RHP, Junior, Little Rock, OVC
Kyle Calzadiaz, RHP, Senior, San Jose St, MWC
Cole Carlon, LHP, Junior, Arizona State, Big 12
Ryan Castillo, RHP, Junior, New Mexico, MWC
Ciaran Caughey, RHP, Senior, Kent St, MAC
Tyler Charlton, LHP, RS-Junior, Missouri St, CUSA
AJ Ciscar, RHP, Sophomore, Miami, ACC
Collin Clarke, RHP, Junior, Oregon, Big 10
A.J. Colarusso, LHP, Senior, Boston College, ACC
Chansen Cole, RHP, Sophomore, West Virginia, Big 12
Christian Coppola, RHP, Senior, St Joseph's, A10
Marty Coyne, LHP, Junior, Penn, Ivy
Matthew Cuccias, RHP, Junior, Wichita St, American
Ben Dean, RHP, Sophomore, Duke, ACC
Jason DeCaro, RHP, Junior, North Carolina, ACC
Evan Dempsey, LHP, Junior, FGCU, ASun
Gavin DeVooght, RHP, Junior, Michigan, Big 10
Liam Diehl, RHP, Junior, Towson, CAA
Felix Digiacomo, RHP, Graduate, VCU, A10
Kendall Dove, RHP, Junior, UTSA, American
Jacob Dudan, RHP, Junior, NC State, ACC
Luke Earnhardt, LHP, Junior, Winthrop, Big South
Mason Edwards, LHP, Junior, USC, Big 10
Tommy Egan, RHP, Senior, Troy, Sun Belt
Ryan Featherston, RHP, Junior, Oregon, Big 10
Colin Fisher, LHP, Junior, Arkansas, SEC
Jackson Flora, RHP, Junior, UC Santa Barbara, Big West
Cameron Flukey, RHP, Junior, Coastal Carolina, Sun Belt
Jack Frankel, RHP, Sophomore, Tulane, American
Gabe Gaeckle, RHP, Junior, Arkansas, SEC
Braden Gebhardt, LHP, Senior, Youngstown St, Horizon
Brayden Gilley, RHP, Junior, Winthrop, Big South
Grant Govel, RHP, Sophomore, USC, Big 10
Tyler Grenn, RHP, Senior, Navy, Patriot
Ed Hall, RHP, Senior, Davidson, A10
Trevor Hansen, RHP, Junior, UC Irvine, Big West
Logan Hastings, RHP, Sophomore, Maryland, Big 10
Hekili Robello, RHP, Junior, Hawaii, Big West
Landon Hood, RHP, Freshman, Gonzaga, WCC
Ty Horn, RHP, Junior, Nebraska, Big 10
Drew Horn, RHP, RS-Senior, MTSU, CUSA
Will Howell, RHP, RS-Sophomore, Memphis, American
Jaxon Jelkin, RHP, Junior, Kentucky, SEC
Sean Jenkins, RHP, Sophomore, East Carolina, American
Andrew Johnson, RHP, Sophomore, USC, Big 10
Cameron Johnson, LHP, Junior, Oklahoma, SEC
Noah Kenney, RHP, Junior, Washington, Big 10
Aidan King, RHP, Sophomore, Florida, SEC
Kole Klecker, RHP, Senior, Arizona State, Big 12
Aidan Knaak, RHP, Junior, Clemson, ACC
Reese Kortum, LHP, Junior, Wichita St, American
Tegan Kuhns, RHP, Sophomore, Tennessee, SEC
Will Labonte, RHP, Freshman, Portland, WCC
Tommy LaPour, RHP, Junior, TCU, Big 12
Ethan Lay, RHP, Senior, Sacramento St, WAC
Justin LeGuernic, LHP, Junior, Clemson, ACC
Rohan Lettow, RHP, Junior, SDSU, MWC
Chris Levonas, RHP, Sophomore, Wake Forest, ACC
Carson Liggett, RHP, RS-Senior, Kansas St, Big 12
Dylan Loy, LHP, Junior, Georgia Tech, ACC
Landon Mack, RHP, Sophomore, Tennessee, SEC
Micheal Malki, RHP, Sophomore, Cal Baptist, WAC
Jake Marciano, LHP, Sophomore, Auburn, SEC
Ryan Marohn, LHP, Junior, NC State, ACC
Duncan Marsten, RHP, Sophomore, Wake Forest, ACC
Kurt Marton, RHP, Junior, Sacramento St, WAC
Wes Mendes, LHP, Junior, Florida State, ACC
LJ Mercurius, RHP, Junior, Oklahoma, SEC
Maddox Meyer, RHP, Sophomore, Omaha, Summitt
Ryland Morin, LHP, Junior, UAPB, SWAC
Wylan Moss, RHP, Sophomore, UCLA, Big 10
Eric Nachtsheim, RHP, Senior, McNeese, Southland
Griffin Naess, RHP, Junior, Cal Poly, Big West
Jackson Nash, RHP, Junior, Longwood, Big South
Mathis Nayral, RHP, Junior, Kansas, Big 12
Mikiah Negrete, LHP, Senior, Cal State Fullerton, Big West
Josh Newell, RHP, Senior, Lindenwood, OVC
Jake Nobles, RHP, Freshman, St. Mary's, WCC
Jack Ohman, RHP, Sophomore, Yale, Ivy
Chris Olivier, RHP, Senior, Lamar, Southland
Alex Overbay, RHP, Junior, Arizona State, Big 12
Brigden Parker, LHP, RS-Senior, Little Rock, OVC
Bryan Peck, RHP, Graduate, Cal Baptist, WAC
Gage Peterson, RHP, Junior, Appalachian St, Sun Belt
Garret Plata, LHP, RS-Junior, Pacific, WCC
Jalen Porter, RHP, Graduate, UAPB, SWAC
Daniel Powell, RHP, Junior, Kennesaw St, CUSA
Sawyer Pruitt, RHP, Senior, Louisiana, Sun Belt
Walter Quinn, RHP, Senior, TCU, Big 12
Daniel Quintana, RHP, RS-Junior, Radford, Big South
Jack Radel, RHP, Junior, Notre Dame, ACC
Cord Rager, LHP, Freshman, Oklahoma, SEC
Kaysen Raineri, RHP, Sophomore, Texas Tech, Big 12
Kyle Remington, RHP, Junior, Illinois, Big 10
Bryce Riggs, RHP, Junior, Eastern Illinois, OVC
Ruger Riojas, RHP, Senior, Texas, SEC
Richie Roman, RHP, Junior, Houston, Big 12
Aidan Russell, RHP, Senior, SDSU, MWC
Edwin Sanchez, LHP, Senior, Bethune Cookman, SWAC
Will Sanford, RHP, Sophomore, Oregon, Big 10
Paul Schmitz, RHP, Senior, Houston, Big 12
Nic Schutte, RHP, Senior, Murray St, MVC
Matt Scott, RHP, Senior, Georgia, SEC
Spencer Seid, LHP, Graduate, Georgetown, Big East
Michael Senay, RHP, Freshman, USF, American
Michael Sharman, LHP, Senior, Clemson, ACC
Kade Shatwell, RHP, Senior, Austin Peay, ASun
Sam Simmons, RHP, Senior, UTSA, American
Aiden Sims, RHP, Sophomore, Texas A&M, SEC
Braden Smith, RHP, Junior, UCF, Big 12
William Soignier, RHP, Junior, Bradley, MVC
Alex Solis, RHP, Junior, Houston, Big 12
Patrick Steitz, RHP, RS-Senior, VCU, A10
Cayden Suchy, LHP, Sophomore, UConn, Big East
Camden Sunstrom, RHP, Sophomore, Southern Miss, Sun Belt
Joseph Taylor, RHP, Junior, Charlotte, American
Zach Todd, RHP, RS-Junior, Pacific, WCC
Cade Townsend, RHP, Sophomore, Mississippi, SEC
Adam Troy, RHP, RS-Junior, USC, Big 10
Easton Tumis, RHP, RS-Sophomore, Kent St, MAC
Tomas Valincius, LHP, Sophomore, Miss St, SEC
Dylan Volantis, LHP, Sophomore, Texas, SEC
Joey Volchko, RHP, Junior, Georgia, SEC
Parker Warner, RHP, Sophomore, Stanford, ACC
Brannon Westmoreland, RHP, Junior, Little Rock, OVC
Dax Whitney, RHP, Sophomore, Oregon St, Independent
Lance Williams, RHP, Sophomore, Maryland, Big 10
Bradley Zayac, RHP, Sophomore, Liberty, CUSA