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Mississippi State

Mississippi State baseball transfer portal tracker for 2025

3rupauk8_400x400by:Robbie Faulk•about 23 hours•

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BOC
Brian O'Connor (Photo by Mississippi State Athletics)

 There’s a new era of Mississippi State baseball in Starkville and Brian O’Connor is leading the charge.

The coach was hired to lead the State program shortly after MSU’s season came to an end on Sunday night. After getting off the plane that night, he went straight to work on preparing for the 2026 season.

Part of that prep is speaking with the current roster of State players as they make decisions on the future. The other is recruiting transfer portal players to join them.

Over the course of the next couple of months, we will be tracking the Bulldogs’ portal progress both with the exits and the entrants joining the maroon and white. We’ll also keep a running timeline of what’s happening along the way.

Transfers In:

LHP Fr. Tomas Valincius – Virginia

OF Fr. James Nunnellee – Virginia

UTL Fr. Chone James – Virginia

OF Sr. Vytas Valincius – Illinois

Transfers Out:

OF Fr. Landis Davila

RHP Jr. Gavin Black

SS So. Dylan Cupp

OF So. Nolan Stevens

OF So. Michael O’Brien

LHP So. Luke Dotson

LHP Jr. Robert Fortenberry

RHP Jr. Kevin Mannell

C Jr. Jackson Owen

C So. Steven Spalitta

C Jr. Ross Highfill

May 28 – MSU had its first two official portal entrants come through this day as the Diamond Dawgs began prep work for the Tallahassee Regional. Freshman OF Landis Davila and junior RHP Gavin Black both announced their entries after pitching in limited action this year.

Black became a solid piece for the State bullpen in 2024 and pitched against O’Connor’s Cavaliers in the Regional last season, but his health kept him from playing most of the year. He pitched in one game in the first couple of weeks of the season.

June 2 – The first relatively big name for those outside of the State fanbase was SS Dylan Cupp. One of the nation’s top middle infield defenders coming out of high school, Cupp spent each of the last two seasons starting for nearly half the season but he didn’t work out in Starkville.

June 4 – The Diamond Dawgs had a couple more young outfielders hit the portal as Nolan Stevens and Michael O’Brien each decided to move on to a new destination. Stevens was a regular starter for the first half of the schedule while O’Brien was mostly a late-game replacement in centerfield.

June 5 – Four reserve players have hit the portal in LHP Robert Fortenberry, RHP Kevin Mannell and C Jackson Owen and Steven Spalitta.

June 6 – Regular starter Ross Highfill entered the transfer portal. Highfill was unseated at catcher by Joe Powell after having 11 passed balls and throwing out just one of 24 base stealers. He ultimately landed in right field.

The first commitments of the transfer portal cycle are in for the Diamond Dawgs as the Thursday visitors are making the call. Virginia freshmen LHP Tomas Valincius, OF James Nunnellee and OF/INF Chone James all committed to State and Tomas’ older brother Vytas also committed out of Illinois.

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