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Bryce Chance announces return to Mississippi State for final season

3rupauk8_400x400by: Robbie Faulk06/08/25RobbieFaulkOn3
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Bryce Chance (Photo by Mississippi State Athletics)

Another big piece to Mississippi State’s baseball puzzle in 2026 is in place after an announcement on Sunday.

Senior centerfielder Bryce Chance announced his plans to return to State for one final season. It will be the Madison native’s fifth season in Maroon and White as he turns down an opportunity to try and play professional baseball next season.

“Bulldog family, the past four years have been a blast. Here’s to one more. See you at the Dude in 2026,” Chance’s X post read.

It’s a critical return from both a production and leadership standpoint. Chance has been a strong plate and fielding presence for the last three seasons with 155 games and 140 starts under his belt to this point. He’s batted .312 during that time with 164 hits, 109 runs, 29 doubles, 12 home runs, two triples and 101 RBI. His 72 career strikeouts have come in 525 at bats as he’s also been difficult to strikeout over the course of the last three years.

The former Madison Ridgeland Academy standout redshirted his first year on campus in 2022 and came back to get significant playing time the next season. As a freshman, Chance batted .330 with 27 starts and he had 33 hits. His playing time increased as a sophomore as he played in 61 games with 57 starts and had 62 hits, 11 doubles, six home runs and 36 RBI. He struck out just 18 times as he was one of the toughest players in the conference to whiff.

This season, Chance locked down the centerfield spot and started in 56 of 58 games. He had a career year with a .332 average, 69 hits, 14 doubles, 43 RBI and a .466 SLG%. He also had four home runs and a triple on the season.

Chance had a phenomenal run late in the year as he had a 19-game hitting streak extend into the Tallahassee Regional. During that stretch, Chance had 34 hits and managed multiple hits in 10 games.

The lifelong Bulldog joins teammates Ace Reese, Ryan McPherson, Charlie Foster and Dane Burns who have already announced their return for another year. Along with those announcements, O’Connor has had five players out of the transfer portal commit with four of those being former Virginia players.

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