STARKVILLE — In his five years so far as a college baseball player, Stone Simmons has seen it all.
The Houston product played his true freshman season in 2020 at Furman, only to see the Paladins cut their baseball program after the 2020 season was cut short due to COVID-19. A year later, he was a key piece in Mississippi State’s bullpen and helped the Bulldogs win the first national championship in program history.
But Simmons made just three appearances in 2022 before an elbow injury ended his season. The rehab process cost him the entire 2023 season as well, and he was poised to return last year until another UCL tear sidelined him for all of 2024.
Simmons — who knows better than anyone on the Bulldogs what it takes to win a title but who has also seen some lean years in Starkville while trying to work back into form — will finally make his long-awaited return to the pitcher’s mound this weekend. He will start for No. 18 MSU on Sunday against Manhattan, his first appearance since early March 2022.
“I feel great,” Simmons said. “To keep it short, I’m just ready to go. Really excited to get back on the mound. I’m excited for our team. We have a really good group. No emotions except for excitement.”
Simmons will follow left-hander Pico Kohn and righty Karson Ligon in MSU’s opening weekend rotation. Kohn emerged as a starter toward the end of last year and had an excellent outing in the NCAA regionals against Virginia, while Ligon battled injuries throughout 2024 but was a solid starter the year before at Miami.
The last remaining member of the Bulldogs’ 2021 national championship squad, Simmons is coming off an outstanding summer with the Danville (Illinois) Dans of the Prospect League. He pitched 14 innings across four starts without allowing an earned run, striking out 24 batters and walking just three.
“My love for baseball kept me going. I love the sport. I love Mississippi State, specifically,” Simmons said. “When you add the fact that we’ve kind of gotten beaten down the past three years, two years of rough losing seasons and then last year just tasting (the postseason) and not really getting it all the way, it lights a fire in you. I’m pumped to get back out there.”
Position player group taking shape
The Bulldogs had 11 players selected in the 2024 MLB Draft, the most of any school, so the only returning starting position players are first baseman Hunter Hines and left fielder Bryce Chance. MSU reloaded in the transfer portal, adding a ready-made starter at third base in Ace Reese from Houston. Noah Sullivan, a two-way star last year at South Carolina Upstate, will be hard to keep out of the lineup as well.
Sullivan was the Big South Freshman of the Year in 2022, and last season he batted .324 with a .613 slugging percentage, 17 home runs and 56 RBI while walking more than he struck out. His pitching numbers weren’t quite as impressive, but he could be in line to start at designated hitter.
“Whatever it takes,” Sullivan said. “(I’m comfortable) wherever I’m needed. Whether that’s in the middle of the order, up top, bottom, it doesn’t matter. And then from the pitching side, whatever they decide is the best fit for us and is going to help us win the most games.”
Holdovers from last year who were reserves or missed time with injuries will help fill out the rest of the batting order. Catcher Ross Highfill is back from an injury that cost him most of 2024, though Joe Powell and Jackson Owen are batting for playing time behind the plate as well. Sophomores Michael O’Brien and Nolan Stevens will join Chance in the outfield, with another sophomore, Dylan Cupp, returning from a knee injury to start at shortstop.
Ethan Pulliam, also a punter on the football team, will battle with The Citadel transfer Sawyer Reeves at second base, though Pulliam is also comfortable playing the outfield.
“I need to have multiple guys who can do multiple things,” head coach Chris Lemonis said. “We sat here this time last year worried about (Hines) defensively, and he showed he can really play. Dylan Cupp is one of the better defenders in the country, so I feel really good. And then we get Ross Highfill back behind the plate with Joe Powell and Jackson Owen, so if you build your team through the middle, you have a really good opportunity there to be good defensively.”
Parker will need to work more bullpen magic
Pitching coach Justin Parker arrived from South Carolina after MSU had the worst team ERA in the Southeastern Conference in 2023, and he helped the Bulldogs improve to fourth last season. That was thanks in part to a revamped bullpen that saw dramatic improvements from pitchers like Tyson Hardin and Tyler Davis, who became MSU’s go-to arms in high-leverage situations.
Hardin and Davis were both drafted over the summer, as were Cam Schuelke and Brooks Auger, so Parker will need to find new late-inning options for this year. Returners like Gavin Black, Evan Siary and Bradley Loftin are possibilities, as is freshman Dane Burns. Lemonis also mentioned redshirt freshman Mikhai Grant and former junior college product Nate Williams.
“We have a whole group of them. Some of those guys in that bullpen really have a chance to do some special things,” Lemonis said. “I could probably list about seven or eight of them who are really making some jumps. (Parker) has done a great job with those guys.”
The Bulldogs will challenge themselves in non-conference play against strong mid-majors like Troy, Southern Miss and Missouri State, and will play No. 21 Arizona and No. 17 Oklahoma State at the Astros Foundation College Classic in Houston. Those matchups will prepare MSU for 10 weekend series in the best conference in college baseball, which became even stronger with the additions of Texas and Oklahoma.
Lemonis’ team avoids Texas A&M, Tennessee and Arkansas, but still has to play No. 3 LSU on the road as well as ranked Florida and Texas teams at home. The primary goal is to earn a top-16 national seed and host a regional, which is the easiest path to the Bulldogs’ first trip to the Men’s College World Series in four years.
“We’re an older team,” Lemonis said. “I feel like we’ll pitch at a pretty high level, knock on wood, and we can do some pretty special things in the lineup. We play in the toughest league in the country against the best teams in the country. It’s a lot about your talent level, but it’s also about your culture of your team and the toughness that you play with.”
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