The Mississippi State-Florida State Pensacola Exhibition, Part 2: Rosters Needed To ID Teams

By Doug Kyle and Monty Taylor

It may be one of the oldest sports clichés, but “You can’t tell the players without a scorecard” may turn out to be appropos when the Florida State Seminoles host the Mississippi State Bulldogs for a college baseball exhibition in Pensacola, FL, the afternoon of October 18.

That’s especially true for the visitors, who return 15 players from last year’s team and welcome 18 transfers to go along with 8 incoming freshmen. Although FSU fought off MSU in their home regional final in June (just hours before the hiring of new Head Coach Brian O’ Connor was announced), don’t think it’s just going to be the same third matchup in five months.

For O' Connor, it was one of the first items on his to-do list in Starkville. He noted in his Fall Ball press conference that the exhibition had already been scheduled, but it was confirmed soon after with him. "(FSU Head Coach Link Jarrett) called me right after I got the job...We're excited about that opportunity, just like we are about the game here at home against Louisiana Tech (Nov. 1). In college baseball, you get two of these opportunities to play somebody else in a different uniform. It doesn't surprise me with our fanbase that the game sold out that quickly (of reserved seats in 80 minutes). It'll be a great environment, a great atmosphere for our players to compete in, to ultimately get them prepared for the spring season."

With the arrival of O’Connor from Virginia, along with a complete new staff except for the retention of pitching coach Justin Parker (who served as interim head coach after the late April dismissal of Chris Lemonis), so too followed a group who played for “Oak” in Charlottesville.

Headlining that group were names like outfielders Aiden Teel and James Nunnallee, pitchers Tomas Valincius (vuh-link-us) and William Kirk, and catcher/infielder Chone James. Outfielder Vytas Valincius, brother of Tomas, also transferred from Illinois.

Others included pitchers Maddox Webb (Citadel), Jackson Logar (James Madison), Tyler Pitzer, and Brendan Sweeney (both from South Carolina). They were joined throughout the summer by infielder Ryder Woodson (NC State), outfielder Blake Bevis (Ball State), catchers Kevin Milewski (Seton Hall) and Andrew Raymond (George Mason), and shortstop Drew Wyers (Bryant).

The Bulldogs also picked up three junior college transfers, two-way player Chris Billingsley, and pitchers Patrick Spencer, Jr., and Peyton Fowler. Overall, the transfer class was rated #3 nationally by 64 Analytics, after holding down the #1 spot for much of the portal period.

What may have been just as important to the Bulldogs was who they kept among the 15 returnees. The Ace of the team, literally and figuratively, is third baseman Ace Reese, named the Southeastern Conference Newcomer of the Year in 2025, and the subject of an intense frenzy of transfer rumors over the summer, despite not even being in the portal. He's sitting out fall practice, recovering from toe surgery on Sept. 10 to correct a nagging injury he played through for most of the 2025 season and summer ball. Reese is expected to return to full readiness by December, O' Connor noted recently.

Other key stalwarts back for another season are Pitcher/Designated Hitter Noah Sullivan, infielders-turned-outfielders Gehrig Frei and Reed Stallman, outfielder Bryce Chance, infielder Gatlin Sanders, catcher Jackson Owen and a bevy of up-and-coming pitchers that includes Ben Davis, Charlie Foster, Ryan McPherson, Dane Burns, Duke Stone, J.T. Schnoor, and 2025 redshirts Jack Gleason and Braden Booth.

Interestingly enough, the returning players had both better batting and earned run averages than last year's team, .330 (.304) and 3.73 (4.44)

Leading the top recruits to reach campus are 100+ MPH pitcher Jack Bauer (#1 on the Prep Baseball Report Top Freshmen for 2026) and outfielder Jacob Parker (#9), whose shortstop twin brother JoJo signed with Toronto as the #8 pick in the MLB draft. Jacob was also drafted, in the 19^th round by Arizona, but he chose to attend school. Bauer, who has hit 103 on the gun, was not drafted despite being rated high on projection lists. Two other Bulldogs, pitchers Parker Rhodes (#36) and Maddox Miller (#44) also landed in the Top 100 to give MSU four in the prestigious rankings, topped in the SEC only by Tennessee and LSU.

They are joined by multi-position player Peter Mershon (brother of 2024 All-SEC shortstop David Mershon), catchers Tanner Beliveau and Charlie Wortham, and infielder Nick Frontino. Mershon was ranked #28 by Perfect Game of its Top 500 Players to Reach Campus in 2026, with all eight MSU freshmen making the list.

Over the summer Reese and McPherson played on Team USA’s trip to Japan, Pitzer was named the Outstanding Cape Cod League Pitcher, and Nunnallee hit .375 to earn Valley League All-Star selection.

The host Seminoles’ roster has seen some turnover too, to the point where the team names and uniforms may be the most familiar part fans easily recognize.

The Seminoles lost 11 players to the draft, including Dick Howser Award Winner Alex Lodise and ace Jamie Arnold. There are 18 players returning for Link Jarrett’s fourth season at the helm, including star freshmen (now sophomores) sluggers Myles Bailey and Hunter Carns. First baseman Bailey hit .327 with 19 home runs in 56 games last year, while catcher Carns had 14 extra base hits in 40 games. Over the summer Carns slashed .327/.456/.577 in the Cape Cod League with 13 walks in 17 games, earning All Star honors for Wareham.

Two more key returners include junior infielder Cal Fisher, who could slide into the vacant shortstop position, and dynamic outfielder Chase Williams.  Fisher hit .303 with 19 extra base hits while playing third base while Williams hit .342 in 32 games while going 18-for-20 on the basepaths. Other returners who played at least 20 games last spring include catcher Nathan Cmeyla (23g) and outfielders BJ Gibson (21g) and Brody DeLamielleure (37g).

Rising sophomores Noah Sheffield (son of MLB All Star Gary Sheffield) and Jace Estes return on the infield, alongside senior Carter McCulley, while former JUCO standout Blayden Plain returns from missing the entire spring due to injury and is capable of playing first base or the corner outfield. 

On the mound, only former Ole Miss hurler Wes Mendes returns after a breakout sophomore campaign in Tallahassee. Sophomore southpaw Payton Manca is poised for a breakout season, while the bullpen returns high-leverage righthanders in John Abraham, Chris Knier, and Ben Barrett. Despite the lack of returners on the pitching side, this staff appears to be considerably deeper than last season’s group.  

Like Mississippi State, the Florida State transfer class was ranked in the Top 10 nationally by 64 Analytics and finished #9. Link Jarrett and his staff brought in seven transfers and three JUCO arms to bolster the staff. FAU left-hander Trey Beard is the crown jewel of the class, after he went 7-1 with a 3.14 ERA and 118 strikeouts for the Owls in the spring. FSU also went out and got a pair of dominant right-handers from the West Coast in Brodie Purcell (USC) and Cole Stokes (Oregon). 

Former Duke Blue Devil Gabe Nard is committed to Florida State but won’t be joining the team until the spring, as he completes his degree this semester in Durham. Two other high upside arms that will face old teammates in this scrimmage include former UVA right-hander Bryson Moore (3.44 ERA in 18.1 IP) and Mississippi State transfer Cade O’Leary (0.00 ERA in 2.0 IP). O’Leary was the highest rated Bulldog freshman to make it to campus last season, according to Perfect Game.

A trio of big-name transfers will bolster the lineup, including outfielder Brayden Dowd (USC) and infielders Eli Putnam (Davidson) and Gabe Fraser (Arkansas). Dowd hit .324 with 15 doubles and 10 home runs for the Trojans last season, while Putnam lit up the A-10 with 18 doubles and 19 home runs. Fraser was a highly rated recruit who played sparingly for Arkansas but has breakout potential as a sophomore.

The Seminoles have several impact freshmen on the roster this fall, headlined by outfielder John Stuetzer (#13 on the Prep Baseball Report Top Freshmen for 2026) and third baseman Kelvyn Paulino Jr. (#56). Both players should have opportunities to crack the lineup and have campaigns similar to what Bailey and Carns did this past spring. Other key freshmen include outfielder Charlie Buckles and two-way player Manny Lantigua. 

While there are 23 newcomers on this FSU squad, Link Jarrett has once again reloaded the talent on both sides of the ball. This may be a very different squad from last season, but in many ways it’s a deeper squad that should provide Mississippi State a perfect fall test. And the Bulldogs will do their best to reciprocate for the Seminoles and the packed house in attendance at Blue Wahoos Park.

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