Mississippi State
Troy
No. 4 MSU Hosts Two Midweek Contests
February 16, 2026 | Baseball
STARKVILLE – A busy beginning to the 2026 season continues for fourth-ranked Mississippi State.
The Diamond Dawgs will take the field for a pair of midweek games against Troy on Tuesday and Alcorn State on Wednesday. Both games are slated for 4 p.m. starts and will be streamed on SEC Network+.
It will be the fourth and fifth games for MSU over a span of six days as part of a nine-game homestand at Dudy Noble Field to begin the year. The Bulldogs opened the season with a three-game sweep of Hofstra this past weekend.
Sophomore right-hander Duke Stone (1-0, 9.00 ERA) is set to make his first-career start in Tuesday's outing against Troy. Stone picked up the win against the Pride on Friday after firing two innings of relief with four strikeouts and two walks.
The Trojans will counter with junior righty Blake Dean (0-0, 9.00 ERA), who worked an inning of relief at Mercer on Friday with two strikeouts and a pair of walks.
Mississippi State heads into the midweek batting .236 as a team with one home run and averaging 6.3 runs per game. Brian O'Connor's Diamond Dawgs have swiped five bases in six chances on the young season and sport a .991 fielding percentage.
First team All-American third baseman Ace Reese tops MSU hitting .417 with four of his five hits on opening weekend going for extra bases (three doubles, one homer). Reese is tied with first baseman Reed Stallman for the team lead with four RBIs while fellow graduates Bryce Chance and Gehrig Frei are both a perfect 2-for-2 on stolen base attempts.
The Bulldogs' pitching staff posted a collective 3.67 ERA this past weekend with 36 strikeouts and eight walks through 27 frames. Hofstra hit just .232 against them.
Sophomore southpaw Tomas Valincius tops Mississippi State with six strikeouts and is one of five pitchers with flawless ERAs to open the campaign along with William Kirk, Jack Gleason, Maddox Webb and Dane Burns. Webb, Brendan Sweeney and Ben Davis all recorded a save during the Hofstra series.
Troy comes to town following a 1-2 start to the year after dropping a series at Mercer. The Trojans lost the first two games 4-3 and 17-5 before taking Saturday's finale 19-3.
Skylar Meade's squad is hitting .305 with four homers and producing nine runs per game. Troy was successful on three of its five base thefts and maintains a .963 fielding percentage.
Senior two-way threat Drew Nelson has been the Trojans top bat, hitting .545 to start 2026. Aaron Piasecki, Jimmy Janicki, Steven Meier and Nico Azpilcueta all launched long balls on opening weekend with Piasecki, Janicki and Meier also adding a stolen base.
Troy's pitching staff has an inflated ERA of 9.70 with 28 strikeouts and 15 walks through 21 1/3 innings. Mercer batted .344 against them and blasted five homers.
Hayden Smith, Dylan Alonso, Cooper Ellingworth and former Bulldog Brock Tapper all have perfect ERAs so far this year. Benjamin Stubbs and Tommy Egan are tied for the team lead in strikeouts with six apiece.
Mississippi State is 5-1 all-time against the Trojans after falling 6-5 in Starkville last season.
Alcorn State also enters Wednesday's affair at 1-2 after playing in the MLB HBCU Power Series at Trustmark Park in Pearl over the weekend. The Braves lost to Grambling 11-1 and Prairie View A&M 15-10 but bounced back with an 8-7 victory over Jackson State in 10-innings on Sunday.
ASU is hitting .230 as a team with no homers but are also averaging 6.3 runs an outing. The Braves have swiped seven bases in eight tries and have a fielding percentage of .913 after committing 11 errors during their first three contests.
Senior Rayfield Adams III tops Alcorn State with a .429 batting average while sophomore Kanious Davis has been the biggest base thief after going 2-for-2 on his steal attempts.
Braves hurlers have an 8.54 ERA with more walks (26) than strikeouts (23) so far this season through 26 1/3 innings. Opposing teams have hit .282 against them but have only surrendered one long ball.
Junior lefty Caden Wade is scheduled to start on the mound for Alcorn State in his season debut. Wade had a 12.10 ERA over 10 appearances (no starts) in 2025 with three strikeouts and three walks over 9 2/3 innings and did not factor into a decision. Mississippi State has not announced its starting pitcher for Wednesday.
The Diamond Dawgs are a perfect 18-0 against ASU all-time with all games played in Starkville. MSU run-ruled the Braves 11-0 in seven innings the last time the two teams met on the diamond in 2024.
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