Virginia transfer pitcher Tomas Valincius commits to Mississippi State

Virginia transfer pitcher Tomas Valincius is taking his talents to Mississippi State. He’s committed to join the Bulldogs via the NCAA Transfer Portal, On3 has learned. He was ranked No. 5 in On3’s latest Top 10 baseball players available in the portal.

2025 was Tomas Valincius’ freshman season, and he flashed elite potential as part of Virginia’s rotation. He was 5-1 across 13 appearances (12 starts) with a 4/59 ERA and a 1.253 WHIP. 

Valincius is viewed as a pitcher with a great amount of upside, and he showed that with 70 strikeouts compared to just 17 walks across 64.2 innings pitched as a freshman.

The On3 Transfer Portal Instagram account and Twitter account are excellent resources to stay up to date with the latest moves.

The former Cavaliers star is joining Mississippi State at an exciting time. The Bulldogs started their offseason with a major move, hiring Virginia’s Brian O’Connor as their next head baseball coach, who previously completed his 21st season in Charlottesville as Valincius’ skipper.

O’Connor’s name came up in connection with the Texas A&M opening last year, but he reportedly never spoke with the Aggies and ultimately remained at UVA. During his time with the Cavaliers, he led the program to a College World Series title in 2015 and made seven total trips to Omaha. Now, he’ll head to Mississippi State, where he’ll replace Chris Lemonis.

All told, O’Connor had an 885-370-2 overall record at Virginia, including a 362-234-1 mark in ACC play. He was the conference’s Coach of the Year five times and helped the Cavaliers to two ACC titles.

UVA was O’Connor’s first head coaching opportunity after he served as an assistant at Notre Dame from 1995-2003. That came after he was the pitching coach at his alma mater, Creighton, from 1993-95 after a brief stint in the Philadelphia Phillies’ minor league system.

O’Connor will now serve as the full-time replacement for Chris Lemonis, who was fired after a 7-14 start to SEC play. Mississippi State athletics director Zac Selmon announced the decision following a losing weekend at Auburn, and he informed the Bulldogs in a team meeting.

— On3’s Jonathan Wagner and Nick Schultz contributed to this article.