Brian O'Connor adds JUCO SS Peyton Firgens to the 2026 signing class

Peyton Firgens’ journey is set to take him into the SEC next season.

After starting his career with Texas A&M-Corpus Christi the last two seasons and transferring to junior college for his sophomore season, the 2026 SS has now committed to play for Brian O’Conor and the Bulldogs. Firgens announced his commitment on social media on Thursday.

Firgens came up to Starkville from Texas just a few weeks ago a day after the Bulldogs’ Diamond Dawg Classic Alumni Game. While he wished he had been able to see the sights that Friday night, the trip made a major impact.

“I fell in love with the place. The coaching staff, I feel like I connected with them really well,” Firgens said. “I didn’t know a whole lot about the program. They’re a big school and really good with a beautiful stadium, but I didn’t know much about the coaching staff. Walking out of the dugout on the field at the stadium, my jaw dropped. Nothing compares to how it feels in person.”

Firgens has had an interesting road just two years into his college career. Last season, Firgens got his first action at Corpus Christi as a freshman.

He had a .310 batting average last season with nine hits in 13 games and eight starts. He didn’t have any extra base hits but scored a couple of runs with five strikeouts and four walks. But with the struggles of the team, Firgens wanted a new start and he found it at Mclennan.

“A big thing for me is that I really hate losing and last year at Corpus, we didn’t have the best year and it showed in our record. I wanted to go somewhere where I’m surrounded by winners and make a name for myself,” Firgens said. “Coming in you’re always a little nervous with a new school and new people. But after a week or two weeks, you get used to the guys really fast. We’re very lucky here with our resources. It’s been great bonding and hanging out with the guys.”

Back during the early fall, Mclennan played a scrimmage against the North Texas High School All-Stars and State assistant Matt Kirby happened to be in attendance scouting. FIrgens was one of the players that stood out to him and also was making some noise for others watching.

Prep baseball scouted Firgens this summer and fall since his transfer to Mclennan and he impressed. At 6’2, 190 pounds, he has a projectable frame and is starting to show off the potential with the bat as he had exit velocities over 100 mph.

Firgens went from almost entirely unrecruited out of Plano High School to a rising prospect.

“This is all new to me and is a bit of a whirlwind,” Firgens said. “I don’t think I was that good in high school. I had a lot to learn and had to get bigger and fill out my frame a little more. I really learned a lot as a freshman it helped me mature on and off the field.”

Firgens adds more depth to a strong first class for O’Connor. He’s also the fourth projected middle infielder of the group joining Noah Danza, Zach Geertsma and Rocco Maniscalco.

Despite the coach inheriting a commitment list already mostly full, he made some changes in the 2026 class and then added 11 new faces. Among that list would be four former Virginia commitments and three top 100 players late in the process in SS Maniscalco, C Will Brick and RHP Denton Lord. The class is currently rated No. 6 nationally by Perfect Game.

Now, Firgens gets a chance to join the mix and he’ll do so as a part of a talented roster. For a player that just wants to win, he appears to be coming to the right place.

“It’s been crazy, for sure. Three schools in three years, when I was first thinking of it I didn’t know how I was going to feel about it,” Firgens said of his journey. “But being here in Mclennan and meeting all the people that I have and knowing where I’m going to end up next year, I’m really looking forward to it.”