Stats show Mississippi State may be one of the nation’s toughest lineups

Mississippi State baseball opens fall ball with a roster designed to get on base and rarely strike out.

Mississippi State Outfielder Bryce Chance (#38), Mississippi State Infielder Sawyer Reeves (#2), Mississippi State Infielder Gehrig Frei (#34) and Mississippi State Head Coach Brian O'Connor during the Brian O’Connor Welcome Event at Dudy Noble Field at Polk-Dement Stadium in Starkville, MS. | Mississippi State Athletics

Mississippi State baseball is scheduled to hold its first intrasquad scrimmage on Friday.

Based on the official roster announced earlier this week, don’t expect to see a lot of Bulldogs strikeout.

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Mississippi State has 15 batters on its roster with college experience and, courtesy of one of the best Mississippi State statistics accounts on the site formerly known as Twitter @HailStateStats, six had more walks last season than strikeouts.

Additionally:

• 11 batters had a walk rate over nine percent, and five were over 13 percent;
• 12 batters had a .300-plus batting average;
• 12 had a .400-plus OBP;
• 10 had a .500-plus slugging percentage; and
• 11 had a .90o-plus OPS.

This team will be known for getting on-base and rarely striking out. Coach O'Connor is establishing his desired culture and style of play from day 1.

— Hail State Stats (@HailStateStats) September 16, 2025

As @HailStateStats pointed out in a follow up post, “this team will be known for getting on-base and rarely striking out.”

New Mississippi State coach Brian O’Connor has definitely put together a championship-caliber roster.

And the stats above don’t take into account the addition of a player like Jacob Parker, a true freshman who was included in a lot of first round MLB mock drafts this past summer.

As a high school senior, Parker posted a .525 average and .678 OBP with 17 home runs, 54 RBIs, 45 walks and 13 strikeouts. That fits into the type of players Mississippi State has.

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The roster should definitely have fans dreaming of a summer trip to Omaha and we haven't even mentioned anything about the pitching staff these Bulldogs will.

Pitching coach Justin Parker (also served as interim head coach at the end of last season) is staying in Starkville and he'll have a staff full of talented arms.

That includes new additions in former Virginia Tomas Valincius (top ranked pitcher in transfer portal) and fireballer Jack Bauer (highest-rated high school player to go to college) as well as returning pitchers like Charlie Foster, Duke Stone, Noah Sullivan and Ben Davis.

This year’s 𝐭𝐨𝐩 𝟓𝟎𝟎 𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐫𝐮𝐢𝐭𝐬 to make it to campus. ✍️https://t.co/NWhQ0xQdYi pic.twitter.com/i5kXCVkKwt

— Perfect Game USA (@PerfectGameUSA) September 16, 2025

Fans will get their first chance to see O’Connor’s Bulldogs this fall when the team plays 11 intrasquad scrimmages and two exhibition games against Florida State and Louisiana Tech.

Here’s the full fall schedule for the Bulldogs:

Mississippi State Baseball Fall Schedule

Intrasquad Scrimmages

• September 19 (6 p.m.)
• September 26 (6 p.m.)
• October 3 (6 p.m.)
• October 5 or 6 (6 p.m. or 3:30 p.m.)
• October 7 or 8 (3:30 p.m.)
• October 10 (6 p.m.)
• October 13 (3:30 p.m.)
• October 15 (3:30 p.m.)
• October 21 (4 p.m.)
• October 24 (7 p.m.)
• October 28 (3:30 p.m.)

Exhibition Games

• October 18: Mississippi State vs. Florida State, Pensacola, Fla., 1 p.m.
• November 1: Louisiana Tech at Mississippi State, 1 p.m.

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