Mississippi State
Lipscomb
No. 4 Bulldogs Return Home Against Lipscomb
March 04, 2026 | Baseball
STARKVILLE – Fourth-ranked Mississippi State returns to the diamond a day early for its three-game series against Lipscomb.
In anticipation of inclement weather, the Diamond Dawgs will open the series on Thursday at 6 p.m. with the remaining two games still in flux as to when they will be played over the following three days. All three games will be streamed on SEC Network+.
MSU is coming off back-to-back one-run losses to top 10 opponents. The 11-2 Bulldogs fell 8-7 in 10 innings to top-ranked UCLA in Arlington, Texas on Sunday and lost 7-6 at No. 10 Southern Miss on Tuesday.
State faces the Bison in the friendly confines of Dudy Noble Field where the Diamond Dawgs are a perfect 9-0 this season including three run-rule victories.
Sophomore Ryan McPherson is slated to start Thursday's opener for Mississippi State. The right-hander is 2-0 this season with a 2.12 ERA, 20 strikeouts and only four walks across 17 innings of work.
The Bulldogs are set to start southpaw Tomas Valincius (3-0, 1.08 ERA, 20 K, 4 BB) and righty Duke Stone (2-0, 3.95 ERA, 18 K, 2 BB) during the final two games of the series but the scheduling of said games will determine which sophomore will get the ball when.
Lipscomb has a similar pitching plan. The Bison tabbed senior lefty Alexander Llinas (0-1, 6.17 ERA, 12 K, 6 BB) to start on Thursday and will send either graduate right-hander Collin Bosley-Smith (0-0, 9.00 ERA, 6 K, 3 BB) or freshman southpaw Jackson Lee (1-0, 1.38 ERA, 16 K, 4 BB) to the bump for the corresponding two contests.
MSU enters the series hitting .343 as a team with 18 home runs and scoring 9.9 runs per game. The Diamond Dawgs also rank third nationally with 39 doubles and are 21 of 28 in the stolen base department. They also maintain a .982 fielding percentage.
Reed Stallman has been on a roll at the plate of late, hitting .692 with 11 RBIs and a 2.108 OPS over his last five games. The graduate first baseman leads State's regulars hitting .452 while All-American third baseman Ace Reese tops the team eight doubles, four homers and 18 RBIs. Graduate outfielder Bryce Chance has been the Bulldogs' biggest threat on the base paths with five steals in six chances.
Mississippi State's pitching staff sports a 3.86 ERA as a staff with 149 strikeouts and 42 walks across 112 innings. Opponents are hitting just .216 against them and are only giving up one home run per game.
McPherson and Valincius are tied atop the Diamond Dawgs' leaderboard for strikeouts. Maddox Webb, Dane Burns, Tyler Pitzer and Jackson Logar all have flawless ERAs with Webb, Pitzer, Brendan Sweeney and Ben Davis each recording a save this spring.
Lipscomb heads to Starkville at 6-5 after splitting a four-game series with Toledo at home. The Bison won the final two games 9-7 and 13-5 on Sunday and Monday.
Jeff Forehand's team is hitting .316 with four homers and averages 7.1 runs a game. Lipscomb likes to run and has stolen 24 bases in 32 attempts and has a .979 fielding percentage.
Designated hitter Blake Carter is the top bat for the Bison, batting .480 while first baseman Damion Kenealy Jr. has driven in 11 runs. Carter, Kenealy, right fielder Aaron Stelogeannis and catcher Alejandro Ludeiro are responsible for Lipscomb's long balls while third baseman Cam Pruitt is a perfect 5-for-5 on base thefts.
Bison hurlers have compiled a 5.73 ERA as a staff while striking out 95 and walking 53 in 99 innings. Opponents are hitting .266 against them with 10 homers.
Lee leads the team in strikeouts while Dane LeMaster, Caleb Pica and Kaleb Kantola have perfect ERAs. Kantola, Adam Jamison and Brock Puckett have one save apiece.
MSU leads the all-time series against Lipscomb 9-0. The Bulldogs outscored the Bison 24-9 during a three-game sweep at Dudy Noble Field in 2023.
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