Mississippi State
Texas
State Set For Top 10 Showdown At Texas
April 30, 2026 | Baseball
AUSTIN, Texas - No. 10 Mississippi State has spent the last two weeks getting back on track and strengthening a postseason resume that already stacks up among the nation's best.
Now comes the biggest test of that surge.
MSU travels to UFCU Disch-Falk Field this weekend for a top-10 Southeastern Conference series against No. 4 Texas, a matchup that carries weight nationally and inside a crowded SEC race. The Diamond Dawgs enter the series 35-10 overall and 13-8 in league play, riding a nine-game winning streak after sweeping South Carolina and LSU, beating Memphis in midweek action and knocking off No. 17 Ole Miss 7-3 in the Governor's Cup. Texas enters 33-9 overall and 13-7 in the SEC.
The series begins at 6:30 p.m. Friday and continues at 2:30 p.m. Saturday, with both games streamed on SEC Network+. Sunday's finale is scheduled for 1 p.m. on ESPN.
State's latest stretch has been one of the more impressive runs in the country. After being swept by Georgia and Tennessee in back-to-back weekends, the Bulldogs responded by sweeping at South Carolina for the first time in program history, sweeping LSU for the first time since 1985 and adding another rivalry win over Ole Miss at Trustmark Park. MSU has been part of six consecutive SEC sweeps — four in its favor and two against it — making this trip to Austin another defining weekend for Brian O'Connor's first club in Starkville.
The Diamond Dawgs are two games behind Georgia in the SEC standings and just a half-game behind Texas entering the weekend. Texas, in its second season under Jim Schlossnagle, is one of the league's most complete teams and owns a top-three RPI, but State brings plenty of momentum and enough offensive depth to match the Longhorns swing for swing.
Mississippi State enters hitting .314 with a .537 slugging percentage, 107 doubles and 76 home runs. Texas counters with a .299 average, .515 slugging percentage, 79 doubles and 70 homers. The Longhorns have shown more speed, going 79-for-89 on stolen-base attempts, while the Bulldogs have relied more on extra-base damage and run production throughout a lineup that has remained dangerous from top to bottom.
Ace Reese continues to anchor the middle of the order for State. The first team All-American is hitting .318 with 55 hits, 15 home runs and 54 RBIs and leads the SEC with 18 doubles. Reese homered in all three games of MSU's sweep of LSU and has 33 extra-base hits, giving the Bulldogs one of the league's most feared run producers going into one of the season's biggest series.
Noah Sullivan has been just as steady, batting .345 with 51 hits, eight homers and 36 RBIs. Bryce Chance, the lone Bulldog who played at Mississippi State before 2025, brings a .354 average and elite contact skills into the weekend, having struck out only 12 times in 179 plate appearances.
Freshman Jacob Parker has quickly become one of State's most important bats. Parker is hitting .333 with eight homers and 34 RBIs and has been even better in league play, batting .352 against SEC competition. His game-tying grand slam against LSU was one of the signature swings of Mississippi State's season and helped fuel the Bulldogs' late-April climb.
Kevin Milewski also gives MSU another power threat. Eight of his 17 hits have left the yard, and he was named Governor's Cup MVP after going 3-for-4 with a double and two RBIs against Ole Miss. Milewski also delivered the walk-off two-run homer in the 11th inning against LSU on April 24, one of several clutch swings during State's winning streak.
The pitching matchup Friday features two of the SEC's best left-handers. MSU will start Tomas Valincius, who is 7-1 with a 2.13 ERA, 87 strikeouts and only 14 walks in 63 1/3 innings. Texas will counter with left-hander Dylan Volantis, who is 6-0 with a 2.06 ERA, 80 strikeouts and 17 walks.
Valincius has been State's tone-setter for most of the season. He threw seven shutout innings at No. 5 Arkansas, struck out a career-high 14 over seven innings against Vanderbilt and has already proven he can handle hostile environments. Friday offers another chance for the sophomore to set the tone against a Texas team that has one of the nation's better offenses and plenty of patience at the plate.
Saturday's matchup sends Duke Stone to the mound for MSU against Texas right-hander Ruger Riojas. Stone is 6-1 with a 4.64 ERA and 73 strikeouts in 52 1/3 innings. Riojas is 5-2 with a 3.88 ERA, 89 strikeouts and only 12 walks, giving the Longhorns another high-strikeout arm capable of controlling a game.
Stone has flashed high-end swing-and-miss ability, including a career-best 12 strikeouts over six shutout innings at South Carolina. The Bulldogs will need that version of the sophomore against a Texas club that has walked 258 times and owns a .417 on-base percentage.
Charlie Foster is listed as State's Sunday starter and will face Texas left-hander Luke Harrison. Foster is 0-2 with a 5.67 ERA and 36 strikeouts, while Harrison is 4-2 with a 3.93 ERA and 61 strikeouts.
Foster's numbers do not fully reflect his recent progress; he tossed a career-high seven innings with eight strikeouts at South Carolina and has given the Bulldogs another left-handed option in weekend play.
The overall pitching numbers are tight. Mississippi State owns a 3.61 ERA, 515 strikeouts and a .225 opponent batting average. Texas has a 3.69 ERA, 474 strikeouts and a .218 opponent average. Both teams have 11 saves, and both have defended at a high level, with MSU fielding .979 and Texas .978.
For the Bulldogs, the weekend also brings a chance to reverse recent history in the series. Texas leads the all-time series 9-7 and has won three straight meetings after sweeping State in Starkville last season. MSU's last win over Texas came in Omaha in 2021, a 4-3 victory during the Bulldogs' national championship run.
This series will not decide the SEC race by itself, but it could shape the final two weeks of the regular season. Mississippi State still has Auburn at home and Texas A&M on the road after this weekend. Texas remains firmly in the conference title picture and is trying to protect home field in one of the league's most important late-season series.
State, however, has already shown it can win away from Dudy Noble Field. The Bulldogs are 8-3 in road games and 4-1 at neutral sites, including SEC road sweeps at Ole Miss and South Carolina.
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