Mississippi
Inside Brian O’Connor’s first month as Mississippi State baseball coach: Ace Reese and more
Brian O’Connor introduced as new Mississippi State baseball coach
Watch Brian O’Connor’s first news conference as the Mississippi State baseball coach.
STARKVILLE — Brian O’Connor describes the first month on the job as the new Mississippi State baseball coach as “great” but also a “storm of a bunch of things at once.”
O’Connor, 54, was hired on June 1 after 22 seasons at Virginia. It came an hour after the Bulldogs’ season ended in the Tallahassee Regional.
The transfer portal opened the next day. His formal introduction was June 5 at Dudy Noble Field. One day later, the House Settlement was approved, allowing schools to directly pay athletes via revenue sharing beginning July 1.
All of that has impacted what MSU has done in the last month. O’Connor and his staff have been working the phones, travelling across the country and hosting visitors in order to retool the roster not just for next season, but future ones too.
They also worked to retain key players from the 2025 team, like Ace Reese. He did all of this while attempting to get acclimated to a new life in Starkville.
O’Connor spoke with The Clarion Ledger on July 3 in a nearly 20-minute interview to discuss his first month as the Bulldogs coach. He discussed keeping Reese at Mississippi State, remaining needs in the transfer portal and how he’s becoming familiar with Starkville — including double-digit visits to the same well-known breakfast restaurant.
“I’ve just kind of taken the attitude of, ‘Hey, bring it on, what’s next and what’s most important now,’ ” he said.
What Brian O’Connor said of Ace Reese transfer rumors
Rumors circulated before the transfer portal closed on July 1 that Reese, the SEC Newcomer of the Year, could be entering the portal. The third baseman has one more year until he’s eligible for the MLB draft, making him possibly one of the top returning players in the country.
Even though Reese announced on June 6 that he’d be returning to Mississippi State, it still put fans on edge until the portal finally closed. Reese batted .371 this season with 21 home runs and 66 RBIs while leading the SEC in the regular season in total bases (161) and slugging percentage (.767).
“Nobody knows where those come from,” said O’Connor of the rumors. “Are they put forth by other people outside of Mississippi State? Nobody knows. Sometimes rumors are put out there to create doubt.
“But, I’ll tell you the month of June, it wasn’t just Ace Reese. It was other players too that you’re spending time (with) them getting to know me and what my beliefs are as a man and as a leader of the program, but also to what we believe in from a development standpoint. You’re constantly having conversations.”
O’Connor said he’s flown up to Massachusetts to visit the Cape Cod League where current players and transfers are playing this summer, plus there are high school recruits in the area. He also went to Cary, North Carolina where the US National Team is located. Mississippi State has Reese, Ryan McPherson and Tomas Valincius — a Virginia pitching transfer — all on the collegiate team.
“I never want to speak for a player, but Ace Reese shared with me that he 100% believes that Mississippi State is the right place for him to continue his career,” O’Connor said.
What Brian O’Connor says are remaining needs in transfer portal
Mississippi State has acquired 15 players from the transfer portal as of July 3. Meanwhile, 14 MSU players have transferred out. Many of those players coming to MSU are following O’Connor from Virginia. Some of the transfers might not make it to MSU, though, if they are picked in the MLB draft and sign professional contracts. The draft starts July 13.
O’Connor said that the Bulldogs are still looking at adding a catcher, an infielder and an “athletic bat” in the outfield.
“That doesn’t mean we’re for sure going to acquire them,” he said. “We’re entertaining it because you have to be thoughtful about all the different scenarios with regards to the draft because you still have a roster limitation. Everybody in college baseball is kind of in the same realm right now.”
Brian O’Connor’s adjustment to Starkville
Even with the busy month of recruiting and travelling, O’Connor also had to work through the regular onboarding process for employees. And just like any other new employee at a company, onboarding is not always completely smooth.
His computer, for example, wasn’t able to print documents when he first started. Anything he wanted printed had to be emailed to another staff member with a working computer.
“Just little hiccups that you go through,” O’Connor said. “Now, I have a new computer, and as of yesterday, I was so excited. This morning, I was actually able to print some of these documents that I need for recruiting and stuff.”
Hosting recruits, he said, has also allowed him time to see Starkville a bit more than he did in the first week.
“I never would have thought that I could’ve already had 10 breakfasts at the Starkville Cafe,” O’Connor said. “I think I’ve had three or four at Bluto’s (Greek Tavern). … Many evenings at 10 or 11 o’clock at night, I do take a 30-40 minute walk through campus, just to kind of let go a little bit. That’s been a really enjoyable time for me.”
O’Connor has three kids with his wife, Cindy. One of their daughters, Ellie, works as the assistant to the AD at Florida for Scott Stricklin. Stricklin was the Mississippi State athletic director from 2010-16. Their son, Dillon, will be a senior in high school next year and is committed to play baseball at James Madison.
The plan is for Cindy and Dillon to live in Virginia for one more year until Dillon finishes high school.
“I haven’t looked at houses or where we’re going to live or anything like that,” O’Connor said. “That’s down the road. I need to take care of first and foremost what needs to be done.”
Sam Sklar is the Mississippi State beat reporter for the Clarion Ledger. Email him at ssklar@gannett.com and follow him on X @sklarsam_.
Mississippi College baseball has won the series against West Florida for the first time ever
The Choctaws have been playing UWF since 2015
MC won the first two games and put on a bit of a comeback in game 3
Next: GSC at Delta St., then Conference Tournament
GEORGE COUNTY, Miss. (WLOX) — A George County High School senior is dead after an SUV hit him while bicycling on Highway 26 Friday night.
Mississippi Highway Patrol (MHP) officials said at 8:15 p.m. the MHP responded to a fatal crash on Highway 26 in George County.
Those officials said a Ford SUV traveling west on Highway 26 collided with 18-year-old Tyree Bradley of McLain, Mississippi, who was bicycling.
Bradley was fatally injured and died at the scene, MHP officials said.
The crash remains under investigation by the MHP.
See a spelling or grammar error in this story? Report it to our team HERE.
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Some losses feel like they drag on longer than the box score suggests, and Mississippi State’s 3-1 opener at Texas A&M fits that category.
It wasn’t a blowout. It wasn’t a game where the Bulldogs looked outmatched.
It was just one of those nights where the early mistakes stuck around and the offense never quite found the swing that could shake them loose.
The frustrating part is how quickly the hole formed. Two solo homers and a wild pitch in the first two innings put Mississippi State behind 3-0, and that was basically the ballgame.
Against a top tier SEC team on the road, spotting three runs that early is a tough ask. The Bulldogs didn’t fold, but they also didn’t cash in when the door cracked open.
“I liked our fight. I think we’re really just working through some things offensively, and trying to stay together,” Mississippi State coach Samantha Ricketts said. “This team still believes, and we’re going to battle and fight every chance we get, and I think I saw a lot of that. I’m encouraged for what that means for us moving forward, but, you know, they’re a good hitting team, and we’ve got to be able to shut them down early. I don’t think Peja [Goold] had her best stuff, but she continued to battle out there and find ways to get outs.”
They had chances. Two runners stranded in the fifth. Two more in the sixth. Another in the seventh. Des Rivera finally got the Bulldogs on the board with an RBI single, but the big hit that usually shows up for this lineup never arrived.
It wasn’t a lack of traffic. It was a lack of finish.
If there was a bright spot, it came from the bullpen. Delainey Everett gave Mississippi State exactly what it needed after the rocky start.
“That was just a huge relief appearance by Delaney to keep us in it,” Ricketts said. “It’s really good to have her back and healthy these last few weeks because these are the moments where we really need her and rely on her. We know that she’s going to be a big part of the remainder of the season going forward as well.”
Three hitless innings, one baserunner, and a reminder that she’s quietly putting together a strong stretch.
There were individual positives too. Nadia Barbary keeps climbing the doubles list. Kiarra Sells keeps finding ways on base.
But the bigger picture is simple. Mississippi State is now 6-10 in the SEC, and the margin for error is shrinking. Nights like this one are the difference between climbing back into the race and staying stuck in the middle.
They get another shot this morning with the schedule bumped up for weather. The formula isn’t complicated.
Clean up the early innings, keep getting quality relief, and find one or two timely swings. The Bulldogs didn’t get them Friday. They’ll need them today.
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