STARKVILLE — Most of the onlookers at Dudy Noble Field on Tuesday could see that Ace Reese would need a lot of help as he rounded second base in search of a cycle. His drive off the outfield wall was enough to get a runner home for the 13th and final run of the night in Mississippi State’s midweek win over Troy, but Reese was on the verge of a personal milestone. He was 5-5 at the plate on the night with a pair of singles, a double and a home run already in the books, but he wanted third base whether it was realistic or not.
Reese didn’t get the help he needed. The throw to third was clean and on schedule, the catch was made, and the tag was already waiting for him as he went to slide.
Reese was called out.
It wasn’t a play to make or break the team’s chances on the night. Had he stayed at second he might have gotten home to add another run and started another string of runs for the Bulldogs. In a tighter game, the decision would have been more in focus, and Reese’s coach made that point with a smile on his face.
“Stay at second base,” head coach Brian O’Connor said when asked what went through his mind watching the effort by his third baseman. “He loves to play, he’s aggressive, he made a mistake. He’s in scoring position, you can’t get thrown out there unless you could for sure get there.”
The head coach admired the effort of his player, and though he was serious in evaluating it as a learning moment for Reese, the affection was evident for both the player and the moment itself.
“I told him when he came to the dugout, he hit the ball too darn hard that the ball came right to the guy,” O’Connor said.
Reese has been swinging the bat and fielding the ball like no time has passed since last season. He has a hit in each of MSU’s four games so far, 10 total, with seven RBI, five extra base hits and a pair of home runs. He’s been the team’s most prolific hitter after a preseason on the sidelines recovering from foot surgery, and it’s clear how much fun he’s having after spending a semester trying to get back to this point.
“Big sigh of relief, really, to come back. I feel 100% out there on the field,” Reese said after a four-hit outing in the Saturday doubleheader against Hofstra. “It’s been a while since I’ve just played like that, so it was a big weight off my shoulders, and getting to play with these boys is fun.”
The Bulldog third baseman had no shortage of preseason recognition after an All-American/All-SEC 2025 campaign. He was a preseason All-American selection by four national outlets, a preseason All-SEC First Team selection and was named to the Baseball America Preseason Player of the Year Watch List.
The statistics and the accolades all show that Reese is one of the best players in the country, and the draft analysts ranking him among the Top 20 prospects see that he has the skillset to continue playing beyond Dudy Noble Field in the near future. What his coach sees, beyond the numbers, is a player who loves every minute of it.
“Ace Reese loves to play the game of baseball,” O’Connor said on Tuesday. “There are great players out there that truly don’t love to play the game. This guy loves to play the game of baseball. He has fun with it, he doesn’t put pressure on himself, he’s loose, loves being at the ballpark. The great ones, that’s what they do.”
It’s been a theme for O’Connor and his team to run toward the expectations and embrace the pressure, and Reese has lived that out for MSU so far.
“He doesn’t look at coming into the dugout, coming to the ballpark as another day,” he continued. “He’s a baseball player, and certainly he had a huge night tonight. He’s had many of those, he’ll have many more, but a special player. He’s obviously pretty locked in right now and it’s no secret he’ll have to carry a big load for this team, and he showed that tonight.”
You can help your community
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 34 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.
You can help your community
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 34 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.
