Up-and-coming returnee outfielder Michael O'Brien (left) and transfer portal nugget infielder Ace Reese (right) are two key players for Mississippi State as Head Coach Chris Lemonis tries to turn "50-50" into 100.
By Doug Kyle and Colton Watson
Going into the 2024 college baseball season, Mississippi State Head Coach Chris Lemonis was looking to find “a few good men” to help him turn things around after a couple of tough seasons followed a National Championship run in 2021. He did, getting career-best years from returnees like Dakota Jordan, Connor Hujsak, and David Mershon, all of whom were drafted and signed pro contracts.
Maybe the key, though, was the arrival of new Pitching Coach Justin Parker and the job he did in developing pitchers Jurrangelo Cijntje, Nate Dohm, Tyler Davis, Tyson Hardin, Brooks Auger, Colby Holcombe, Khal Stephen, and Cam Schuelke. The first six returned from 2023, but Stephen and Schuelke took a chance on Parker and Mississippi State via the transfer portal and were rewarded by enhancing their pro stock after a year in Maroon and White.
All told, Mississippi State led the Southeastern Conference with all 11 aforementioned players going pro. Counting high school signees Dante Nori and Conrad Cason, along with portal transfer Travis Smith, who also signed contracts, Lemonis faced the challenge of finding replacements for essentially 14 players.
But he seems to have done that and more. Despite the loss of Nori and Cason, Lemonis managed to enroll eight freshman players from Perfect Game’s Top 500 To Campus list (#88 Cade O’Leary, #95 Henry Allen, #109 Braden Booth, #149 Ryan McPherson, #154 Charlie Foster, #201 Conner Barth, #345 Landis Davila, and #494 Lukas Buckner), plus pitcher Kevin Mannell (#3 of the Top 10 Juco to 4-Year School list), along with notable portal transfers Ace Reese, Gehrig Frei, Jacob Pruitt, Chase Hungate, Sawyer Reeves, Reed Stallman, Duke Stone, Robert Fortenberry, Gatlin Sanders, Reed Stallman, and Wes Pritchard, just to name a few.
The former Houston Cougar Reese, who lit up the scoreboard this fall, was praised by multiple publications as one of the most exciting transfer position players in the sport.
Despite the talent ingress, many baseball pundits, and even some State fans, wrote off Lemonis and Company’s off-season crop as a borderline failure—lacking 1-2 more difference makers on the bump and needing perhaps another bat to complete what should be a plus-hitting lineup next season.
But when the grill smoke cleared, the Bulldogs still reined in a highly-ranked class per Perfect Game and 64 Analytics, both from a high school and transfer standpoint. The Bulldogs rank fifth nationally in MLB draft picks the past five seasons, and well, recruits tend to notice things like that.
And while they’d never turn away high-profile talent, Lemonis and Parker were also successful last year with what might be called a Maroon Collar approach. Among the 11 MLB Draft Picks, their developed hurlers Cijntje, Stephen, and Dohm went in the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd rounds, respectively, a strong statement for the MSU staff’s knack at turning solid players into special ones.
Hardin, Davis, and Schuelke were nowhere near draft boards before the 2024 season started, and their emergence has not gone unnoticed by other pitchers seeking the tutelage and results of Parker’s track record.
There are also several key players returning from sidelining or hampering injuries, such as pitchers Pico Kohn and Stone Simmons, catcher Ross Highfill, 97-mph starting pitcher Karson Ligon, potential closer Mikhai Grant, and infielder Dylan Cupp.
Superstar first baseman Hunter Hines, who stuck to his guns during negotiations with pro clubs this summer and had every opportunity to be taken in the first 10 rounds, is seeking a fourth season of 15+ home runs and might challenge the school career record. Other returning players with evident improvements over the course of the fall include potential starting centerfielder Michael O’Brien and infielder Nate Chester. Veteran names like Bryce Chance, Aaron Downs, Joe Powell, and Evan Siary shouldn’t be overlooked after productive seasons a year ago.
In early fall remarks, Lemonis described his 2025 team makeup as a 50-50 mix of returnees and newcomers. He worked to focus their activities on playing with and getting to know each other. He scheduled an exhibition at UAB, as much a project to get them acclimated with the feel of a road trip and providing a team-building and bonding exercise as for the competition, with designated roommates and even assigned seats on the team bus over and back. A second exhibition, at Dudy Noble Field against Arkansas State, finished up the competition portion of fall activities.
The results of these scrimmages were mixed; pitching was spectacular, but an often-experimental lineup full of players with varying experience left a little meat on the bone at the plate. A 2-2 draw and 4-2 win at UAB was followed by an 18-1 blowout and 1-3 setback at home against ASU. At media opportunities, Lemonis emphasized getting innings and at-bats for every contending player to maximize opportunity and evaluation. Notable exceptions included Ligon and Kohn not appearing on the mound against ASU.
Another Lemonis habit—recruiting two-way players who can pitch, hit, and play a position—is evident in the current roster makeup. Nolan Stevens, who did both in 2024 but focused on hitting during an outstanding summer, is joined by returnee Luke Dotson and newcomer Noah Sullivan, permitting Lemonis some flexibility in the new version of the college game that is likely to see increased roster restrictions coming down the pike.
Another talking point for Lemonis that he seemed excited to discuss was this team’s potential for depth. He hinted that several position battles and lineup decisions may not be settled before the season starts, and that he’d likely have the ability to make decisions based on things like pitching matchups and which way the wind is carrying without losing a step at the plate.
Although they, and their fanbase, would have liked to finish last year a bit higher and further west, the Bulldogs had a solid 2024—finishing 5th in the SEC and in the hosting discussion up to the very last minute before falling on the road to an eventual Omaha club in Virginia.
Even though the SEC is expected to be even tougher (maybe the toughest ever) in 2025, Lemonis and his team have every reasonable expectation for a similar high finish again. They’ve made a few tweaks to the schedule, eschewing some neutral site games for home-and-away that helps the RPI.
If State can avoid the brutal non-conference home losses from last season that proved the difference between hosting or not, there’ll be meat on the grills and “Bulldog water” in the coolers of the Left Field Lounge come that first weekend in June.
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