Mississippi State
Austin Peay
No. 4 MSU Closes Homestand Against Austin Peay
February 23, 2026 | Baseball
STARKVILLE – No. 4 Mississippi State will try to close out its nine-game homestand to start the season undefeated as its hosts Austin Peay on Tuesday at 4 p.m on SEC Network+.
The Diamond Dawgs are 8-0 and off to their best start since opening the 2015 campaign by reeling off 13 consecutive wins. MSU began this year with back-to-back weekend sweeps against Hofstra and Delaware as well as midweek wins over Troy and Alcorn State.
The Bulldogs are set to send redshirt freshman left-hander William Kirk to the mound for his first-career start. Kirk has made two appearances out of the bullpen during the young season and sports a 1-0 record and a 6.75 earned run average with no walks and four strikeouts across four innings.
The Governors will call on a southpaw of their own in Chance Cox. The redshirt senior's only outing of the year was a start at UNLV where he surrendered five runs on three hits and two walks while striking out six across 4 1/3 innings.
State heads into its final February contest at Dudy Noble Field hitting .341 as a team with eight homers and averaging 9.6 runs per game. Brian O'Connor's bunch also leads the Southeastern Conference and ranks third in the country with 26 doubles. The Diamond Dawgs have also been successful on 15 of their 19 steal attempts and maintain a .986 fielding percentage.
All-American Ace Reese leads Mississippi State batting .500 with nine of his 15 hits in 2026 going for extra bases. The junior third baseman has hit seven doubles, two homers and driven in 11 runs while boasting an OPS of 1.504. Senior first baseman Blake Bevis has also belted two round trippers while graduate outfielder Bryce Chance is a perfect 5-for-5 on base thefts.
The Bulldogs' pitching staff ranks in the top 10 nationally in shutouts (two, 2nd) and strikeout-to-walk-ratio (4.59, 7th). MSU's hurlers have compiled a 2.61 ERA with 101 strikeouts and 22 walks across 69 innings while holding opponents to a .204 average and only two homers.
Duke Stone has struck out 16 to lead the Diamond Dawgs in that category while eight pitchers currently have a flawless ERA. Tyler Pitzer, Maddox Webb, Brendan Sweeney and Ben Davis all have one save apiece.
Austin Peay comes to town after claiming a series win against Eastern Michigan at home over the weekend. The Governors won 8-7 in 11 innings on Saturday and followed up with a 6-1 on Sunday to improve 4-3 on the year.
Roland Fanning's roster is batting .238 with two long balls and scoring seven runs a game. Austin Peay has stolen 14 bases in 17 tries and has a .956 fielding percentage.
Redshirt junior center fielder Paris Pridgen has been the Governors' best bat hitting .409 as well as their top base thief with seven steals in eight attempts. Redshirt junior third baseman Ray Velazquez and redshirt sophomore first baseman Cole Johnson have accounted for both of Austin Peay's homers.
The Governors sport a 5.77 ERA as a staff with 72 strikeouts and 40 walks in 64 frames. Their opposition has batted .248 against them with nine homers.
Kade Shatwell tops Austin Peay with 13 strikeouts and is one of three arms the Governors have with a perfect ERA along with fellow seniors Brody Lanham and Jackson Hohensee. Senior Gavin Alveti is responsible for Austin Peay's only save.
Mississippi State owns a slide 5-4 edge in the series against the Governors after Austin Peay won a pair of midweek games in Starkville in 2024.
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