The roller-coaster ride that’s been Mississippi State baseball took a turn towards better things last year. No one would have predicted at the end of 2021—when the Bulldogs finally got that elusive first national title—that the program would go 9-21 in the league each of the next two seasons and miss the NCAA tournaments each time.
The Bulldogs, unranked in any preseason Top 25 heading into last year, then went 17-13 in the league. Somehow, that wasn’t good enough to host, and MSU fell in the Charlottesville regional final.
Now, the Bulldogs move forward without the heart of last year’s team in the starting-pitching duo of MLB first-round pick Jurrangelo Cjintje and second-rounder Kyle Stephen, who may have been the league’s best one-two punch on the hill.
What MSU does have is experience, including much of last year’s lineup and key bench players, as well as many experienced arms, even if some of coach Chris Lemonis’s key pitchers haven’t thrown much in recent years.
“I’m pretty confident in our group,” Lemonis said. “We’ve had a good spring training, we’ve had a good fall, we’ve got some nice pieces. We still need to see some guys in between the lines on game day in the (uniform) do it, but I like our group a lot.”
“Just watching them all year, seeing who they are, the age—we’re an older team” he continued. “A lot of our talent is young but (we have) a lot of an older kids on the ball club. I feel like we’ll pitch at a pretty high level, knock on wood, and I think we can do some pretty special things in the lineup.”
The Bulldogs have made 12 College World Series appearances in program history, two of those under Lemonis. Is another in the cards?
THE LINEUP
The good news: The Bulldogs have 13 hitters who had at least 75 plate appearances at the collegiate level last year.
The bad news: Not a lot of them had banner offensive reasons at the major-college level last season.
The reality: Experience and health (MSU didn’t always have the latter last season) and several players in the lineup are capable of more than they provided a season ago.
The lineup’s headliner is first baseman Hunter Hines, whom nobody would have expected back for 2025 following his .300/.393/.600, 16-home-run freshman campaign of 22, and especially not his .297/.375/.683, 22-homer follow-up.
But Hines dipped to .257/.346/.486 a year ago and some of the fall-off in production can certainly be attributed to last year’s 26% strikeout rate. As a result, Hines has something to prove as a senior after going un-drafted last summer. He enters the season with 54 career home runs, just 13 away from Rafael Palmeiro’s school record.
Lemonis’s biggest offseason addition was probably Houston’s Ace Reese, who played left and center collegiately last year, then, saw time at first and third in the Cape Cod League. He’ll play third or short for the Bulldogs.
Sawyer Reeves, a transfer from The Citadel, and sophomore returnee Dylan Cupp will likely occupy second and third, probably in that order.
Reeves, a career .300/.368/.414 hitter over 623 career plate appearances with 30 steals in 37 tries, has spent most of his career on the left side of the infield, but has played first and second some between college and summer ball.
Cupp, whom Perfect Game rated the No. 66 player in the 2023 class, showed some good things at the plate in terms of selectivity (13% walk rate, 17% strikeout rate) as a freshman. The Bulldogs home he’ll drive the ball more this year after he had just four extra-base hits (all doubles) in 88 plate appearances.
North Alabama transfer Gehrig Frei, a career .307/397/.532 hitter with 22 home runs in 470 plate appearances at North Alabama, should see some playing time in the infield after playing first, second, third, short and right field the last two years between college and summer ball.
The Bulldogs are deep at catcher, with Ross Highfill the likely starter and veteran returnee Joe Powell as well.
Highfill hit .231/.312/521 with nine homers over 142 plate appearances for MSU as a freshman in 2023 before an injury (which resulted in surgery) ended his season in March after 14 plate appearances. He was the No. 73 recruit in the country in 2023 according to Perfect Game.
Lemonis has five outfielders who could play a lot in 2025.
Powell had 109 of his career 445 plate appearances (the rest coming at Cincinnati) last year. He’s a career .272/343/.462 hitter with 15 home runs.
“I thought his spring training was great,” Lemonis said. “He missed most of the fall with a minor injury but he’s been really good this spring training. Pretty good defensive catcher. Great thrower. Ross needs that flexibility; Ross can’t catch every day and Joe’s probably played as well as Ross back there, day to day. Ross just has the ability to do some really special things at times but I think you’ll see Joe fall into a nice spot like he did last year.”
The outfield was unsettled as of the last week of practice.
JUCO transfer Jackson Owen, who hit .360/.475/.703 across 139 plate appearances at Northeast Mississippi, could also see time.
“I probably have more (variability) in the outfield. … Some of those guys have had really good spring trainings,” Lemonis said.
Bryce Chance, who started 57 games in left last season, should start again. He’s a career .300/.394/.49 hitter with eight home runs over 379 plate appearances.
Two-way talent Nolan Stevens (ranked 69th out of high school per Perfect Game) is another highly-regarded sophomore talent who played 29 games but had just 28 plate appearances, with two starts in right and one in left.
Another sophomore lefty, Michael O’Brien, is in the mix after getting in 13 plate appearances across 24 games last season. O’Brien had just six at-bats in SEC games last year, and Stevens, six.
Aaron Downs, in his fourth year as a Bulldog, owns the most experience of the returning outfielders aside from chance. He’s a career .276/.375/.322 hitter over 179 collegiate plate appearances, with 111 of those coming last season.
Ethan Pulliam started 16 times at second, three at right and once at DH last season. He hit .227/.307/.348 with one home run in his first year on campus. He’s also a reserve punter for the football team.
Campbell transfer Reed Stallman, who’ll turn 22 on March 4, has played just one collegiate season, that coming last year when he hit .238/.441/560 in 223 plate appearances due to a 21% walk rate. Solely a first baseman at Campbell, he might see outfield time.
Lemonis says that USC Upstate transfer Noah Sullivan will likely begin the year as the DH. He was a career .313/.430/.494 hitter with 22 home runs in his time there.
“Been good for us this spring training,” Lemonis said. “Had three really good years coming in.”
Lemonis said that some of his outfielders could also factor in at catcher.
THE PITCHING
The Bulldogs could start the season with a rotation that’s among the league’s oldest. However, all of Lemonis’s weekend starters have missed large chunks of their collegiate careers due to injury. That might be one reason Lemonis emphasized the temporary nature of where the Bulldogs begin.
“We actually have a lot of guys in the mix that could start,” Lemonis said. “A lot of our talent on the mound is young get. They haven’t been out there (to play at home) yet. So maybe handing it to some of the older guys that are out there (is what I do). But I think there’s a good mix right now. But I do think some of the younger guys can really fight for some starting roles down the road.”
Pico Kohn will get the ball to start the season. Kohn has a 4.23 career ERA over 66 innings, with 70 strikeouts and 29 walks. He missed all of 2023 with an injury, but the way he ended 2024 left a lasting impression on Lemonis.
“When you go back to that Virginia game (in MSU’s season-ending regional), and he’s 92-94 (again) arguably one of the best lineups in college baseball, after we’d sat in the dugout for eight hours that day and pitched the way he did,” Lemonis said. “That’s what you were hoping when you got back.
“And he’s kind of been back in that form this spring training. He came back for a reason. He wanted to get better. He felt like he had areas to get better. I think he’s the heaviest he’s been in his career. I think he’s mechanically the strongest he’s been in his career. I’m excited for him. I think he has an exciting season ahead of him.”
Karson Ligon threw 23 2/3 innings last season, missing some time with what Lemonis termed being “banged up” a year ago, on the heels of missing time at Miami in 2023 with shoulder inflammation. Ligon has thrown 149 2/3 career innings with w 4.81 ERA, 125 strikeouts and 73 walks.
“He’s a totally different pitcher fundamentally, just mechanically,” Lemonis said. “And I think that’s the biggest thing you’ve seen. I this time last year, I don’t even know if he was throwing. A little banged up. Mechanics were off. He’s done a great job with (pitching coach Justin Parker) working to get back. And he’s still got some work to do. And he’ll tell you that. But you’re getting a 22-year-old guy who’s pitched in a lot of college baseball games and atmosphere. He’s got real, plus stuff. Can he harness it? I think that’s the biggest thing. It’s a little more command. It’s not wild, he’ll throw it down the middle and not to the corners, and I think those are the pieces that you’re trying to get out of.”
Stone Simmons started his college career at Furman, then, made 19 appearances with a 4.81 ERA over 24 1/3 innings, with 29 strikeouts and eight walks, for MSU’s national title team in 2021. He got hurt after throwing 4 1/3 innings in 2022 and hasn’t pitched since, but he’ll also start on opening weekend.
“I’m real confident (in his ability to handle the role mentally and physically),” Lemonis said on Feb. 10. “He’s probably a little limited. He’s probably a week behind everybody else. Just building up his volume right now is the most important thing for us, trying to get him to the right volume, not pushing too hard too early. You’ll see us probably handle him a little different than the other starters. But he’s so efficient—probably the most efficient pitcher we have—that he could run out there and give you some real quick innings.”
Lemonis used a ton of arms in that ’21 title year and hopes he’ll have the bullpen quality to do that again.
“Some of those guys in that bullpen really have a chance to do some special things. Mekhai Grant is a guy who’s back who’s really doing some special things. Dane Burns is a young kid that we have that’s doing some special things. Nate Williams is a kid that’s been on the shelf for two years and is starting to work his way back into the fold. I can probably list seven or eight of them that are probably making some jumps and I think (Parker) has really done a great job with those guys.”
Grant was rated the No. 122 player in the 2023 class by Perfect Game, but didn’t pitch last season.
Williams has missed the last two seasons, but the 6-foot-4, 250-pound senior logged 11 starts over 12 appearances, posting a 4.56 ERA with 84 strikeouts in 47 1/3 innings at Florence-Darlington Tech.
The Royals took Burns in Round 17 of last year’s MLB Draft, but the hard-throwing lefty will finally pitch for Mississippi State will finally pitch for the Bulldogs after originally signing in 2023 and then missing a year to recover from Tommy John surgery.
The biggest bullpen arm, however, is probably Virginia transfer Chase Hungate, who saved two games and pitched 53 innings for the Cavaliers last year. Hungate has thrown 141 career innings with a 4.02 ERA and 104 strikeouts. His value is keeping the ball on the ground (a 34% rate last year) and in the yard (10 career home runs).
A pair of two-way players could throw out of the bullpen.
Sullivan, a righty, had a 4.88 ERA and a 24% ground-ball rate over 75 2/3 innings at USC Upstate, and should have a significant role for the Bulldogs.
Stevens, a lefty, had a 4.72 ERA across 26 2/3 innings with a 24% strikeout rate and a free pass rate of just 10%.
Indiana State transfer Jacob Pruitt had a 3.71 ERA, a 31% strikeout rate and a 20% ground-ball rate last year at Indiana State, and should be a key bullpen righty.
Righty Evan Siary is also back. In league games, he threw 14 1/3 innings with a 9.42 ERA.
POTENTIAL STRENGTHS
Lemonis did an outstanding job breeding leadership and getting many players to buy into roles in that 2021 national title year. He also did a phenomenal job recovering from the two disastrous seasons that followed and built MSU into a team that got better as last year progressed. Combine that with taking Indiana to three regionals in four years, and coaching looks like a strength. Hines has shown up big when it’s mattered before, and players like Cupp and Highlfill could be primed for breakout years if they can stay healthy. It’s an old team with a good bit of experience and adding durable bullpen vets Hungate and Pruitt was big, as was adding Reese and Sullivan to the offense. When the Bulldogs play at home, they’ll play in front of one of the biggest and best crowds in America and the Bulldogs’ league schedule appears to be the SEC’s easiest, as MSU avoids Tennessee, Georgia, Arkansas, Texas A&M and Vanderbilt.
POTENTIAL CONCERNS
So much of this team just hasn’t been able to stay healthy and none of MSU’s starters logged even 30 innings a year ago. Hines’s batting average, on-base and slugging percentages declined in ’23 and then again in 24 and his strikeouts went up each year; can he reverse that? The Bulldogs don’t have a single regular on the roster who posted an on-base mark north of .400 at a major college school last season.
FINAL ANALYSIS
The Bulldogs are a hard team to figure. Certainly, the past production isn’t in line with the top half of the SEC. Still, Lemonis has found a way before and has had his teams playing their best ball at or near the end of 2019, 2021 and again in 2024, when they won four of their final weekend series. If MSU can win enough early in 2025 to get to that point, history suggests the Bulldogs aren’t an opponent you want to face in June.
– Chris Lee, with help from Graham Doty