STARKVILLE — Mississippi State baseball is back in primetime today.
After a difficult Top-10 road matchup at Arkansas last week, the No. 6 Bulldogs return home for the first SEC series at Dudy Noble Field in 2026, welcoming Vanderbilt.
MSU is 17-4 so far in the first season under head coach Brian O’Connor, with all four defeats coming against Top-10 opponents. The Bulldogs won’t face ranked opposition this weekend, but they won’t be overlooking the visitors from Nashville.
Scouting Vandy
The Commodores (13-9, 2-1 SEC) took down a struggling LSU team that has since dropped out of the Top 25 altogether, and despite some struggles in nonconference play, the Commodores – like any SEC program – pose a challenge.
Vandy’s hitters have led the way, smashing 52 home runs as a squad with Braden Holcomb providing 11 himself, along with a team-best 33 RBI. Brodie Johnston has proven a reliable hitter as well, leading the team with 33 hits, a .393 average at the plate and a .475 on-base percentage.
Vanderbilt’s pitching hasn’t been as strong as in previous years, but the Bulldogs will need to get on top of pitchers better than they did at Arkansas.
The key for MSU will be stability on defense. The Tigers let the Commodores get away with games of 13, 11 and nine runs scored last weekend. Vandy’s batters have posted 10 or more runs in 11 games this season, and could be capable of hanging with a prolific MSU side if the Bulldogs can’t tune up their defense.
MSU bullpen
The Bulldogs will likely stick with Ryan McPherson and Tomas Valincius as the Game 1 and 2 guys, respectively, after strong starts to the year for both aces. McPherson is 3-0 with a 2.48 ERA that took a bit of a hit after allowing three earned runs against Arkansas last weekend, but his ability to battle through adversity was on display again as he kept his team in the game through six innings in the series opener.
Valincius picked up his fourth win of the season and currently boasts a 1.30 ERA. He earned co-SEC Pitcher of the Week honors after posting 7.0 scoreless innings with just two hits and two walks while striking out seven Razorbacks.
The concern for the Bulldogs will be whether or not the bullpen can deliver when called upon, especially as the series goes on. Game 3 starter Duke Stone hasn’t been able to go quite the same distance as McPherson and Valincius despite some good outings, and an inexperienced group of relievers struggled to handle a tight contest last weekend, collapsing in a five-run eighth inning to lose the series two games to one in Fayetteville.
“In the eighth inning at Arkansas, when they scored four runs, there were a couple of things that happened that put pressure on us with the stolen base. We didn’t handle it well,” O’Connor said of the end to the Arkansas series.
“Our right-handed pitchers were too long to the plate, which allowed them to put action in play. Jimmy Nunnallee didn’t handle that ball in right field, but when you attack a ball in the outfield and go like a bat out of hell and try to throw a guy out, you’re going to mishandle a ball every now and then. That’s what happened. You look at the negatives and you have to, to be able to teach for growth to happen. If there weren’t some negative things to happen, we’d be 21-0. Who’s 21-0?”
Game 1 of the series is set to begin at 7 p.m. today and will air on SEC Network.
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Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 40 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.
