Mississippi State baseball transfer portal tracker for 2025

 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 So. Tomas Valincius – Virginia

OF So. James Nunnallee – Virginia

UTL So. Chone James – Virginia

OF Sr. Vytas Valincius – Illinois

OF Jr.. Aidan Teel – Virginia

INF So. Ryder Woodson – North Carolina State

RHP Jr. Maddox Webb – The Citadel

RHP Jr. Jackson Logar – James Madison

OF/1B Sr. Blake Bevis – Ball State

RHP Jr. Tyler Pitzer – South Carolina

C Jr. Kevin Milewski – Seton Hall

LHP RFr. William Kirk – Virginia

RHP Sr. Brendan Sweeney – South Carolina

RHP Sr. Davion Hickson – Rice

SS Sr. Drew Wyers – Bryant

C So. Andrew Raymond – George Mason

Transfers Out:

OF Fr. Landis Davila > Rice

RHP Jr. Gavin Black

SS So. Dylan Cupp > Dallas Baptist

OF So. Nolan Stevens > Oklahoma

OF So. Michael O’Brien > Little Rock

LHP So. Luke Dotson > Texas

LHP Jr. Robert Fortenberry > Kansas State

RHP Jr. Kevin Mannell > Nebraska

C So. Steven Spalitta > Louisiana

C Jr. Ross Highfill > Purdue

SS Fr. Lukas Buckner > Coastal Carolina

LHP So. Bradley Loftin

RHP Fr. Cade O’Leary > Florida State

RHP Jacob Pruitt >Missouri

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.

June 7 – State stayed hot on Saturday as the Bulldogs landed All-ACC CF Aidan Teel out of the portal. He’s the fourth Virginia player to announce his intentions of going to MSU. The Bulldogs also lost a player on the roster as freshman SS Lukas Buckner is hitting the portal.

June 9 – After an injury-riddled past three seasons, talented lefty Bradley Loftin is hitting the transfer portal.

June 11 – The Bulldogs landed a surprise commitment from North Carolina State INF Ryder Woodson. As a freshman, Woodson batted .361 with three home runs and 15 RBI in 23 appearances. He had an especially strong finish with five hits and all three of those home runs in two games of the Auburn Regional.

June 13 – State grabbed a First-Team All-SoCon selection in the form of RHP Maddox Webb. The rising junior had 24 appearances this season and had a 3.31 ERA in his 23 relief appearances with five saves.

Relief pitcher Robert Fortenberry is transferring to Kansas State after pitching sparingly for the Bulldogs this year.

June 14 – Former State shortstop Lukas Buckner lands with Coastal Carolina as the Chanticleers go through the Winner’s Bracket in Omaha.

State landed its second portal pitcher in the last two days as Justin Parker picked up James Madison RHP Jackson Logar. He was a weekend starter for the Dukes this year.

June 16 – Former LHP Luke Dotson has found a home at Texas for next season. Dotson was a hot commodity in the portal with Tennessee also a major player of his services.

June 17 – State catcher Jackson Owen has decided to withdraw from the transfer portal giving the Diamond Dawgs a current catcher on the roster. Meanwhile, freshman RHP Cade O’Leary has entered the portal after pitching sparingly in 2025.

June 18 – State went out and got a masher out of the portal on Wednesday as the Diamond Dawgs landed draft-eligible 1B and OF Blake Bevis. He’s a rising senior who had 40 home runs in three years with the Cardinals.

June 21 – It was a big Saturday for the Diamond Dawgs in the transfer portal as State landed South Carolina RHP Tyler Pitzer and Seton Hall All-Big East catcher Kevin Milewski.

June 24 – Former State catcher Ross Highfill has decided to transfer to Purdue for his senior season. Freshman RHP Duke Stone is also entering the portal.

State got an addition to the roster on Tuesday as well with former Virginia lefty William Kirk committing to the Diamond Dawgs. Kirk was one of the top left handers in the country coming out of high school last year but made it to school before tearing his ACL and missing his freshman season.

June 25 – Former freshman pitcher Cade O’Leary has found a new home in Florida State.

June 26 – Parker got good news on Thursday as the coach landed South Carolina closer Brendan Sweeney and also pulled his freshman RHP Duke Stone back out of the portal. Sweeney is coming off a season where he had an ERA over 8.00 for the Gamecocks, but he also threw 3.0 perfect innings of relief against State and had six saves.

June 30 – One of the best pitchers in the transfer portal made the call for the Diamond Dawgs on Monday as Rice Ace Davion Hickson committed. As we reported recently, Hickson took an official visit to Starkville over the weekend.

July 1 – Tuesday was a fairly newsy day for the Bulldogs in regard to the transfer portal. While never officially in the portal, rumors have been swirling that State’s top hitter Ace Reese was contemplating entering. He has decided to stay in Starkville and turn down that opportunity. Also, former Bulldog OF Landis Davila is planning to transfer to Rice.

July 2 – Bulldog righty Jacob Pruitt is entering the transfer portal and applied for his release the final day of the portal being open. Pruitt had high expectations coming out of Indiana State last year but didn’t pan out as he had a 7.23 ERA in nine appearances walking 15 batters in 18.2 innings.

State continued its work in the portal during the afternoon as O’Connor landed a potential shortstop in the form of America East Player of the Year Drew Wyers from Bryant. Wyers batted .407 and hit 11 home runs for the Bulldogs this past season on his way to being named a semifinalist for the SS of the year award.

July 10 – State added its second catcher of the transfer class with George Mason’s Andrew Raymond. He joins Kevin Milewski and returner Jackson Owen at the catcher spot.

July 11 – Former State hurler Jacob Pruitt has landed inside the SEC at Missouri.