The excitement around Mississippi State baseball is palpable. Coach Brian O’Connor and his staff are preparing the Bulldogs for the first season of a new era. To say there is a ton of confidence in Starkville would be to understate the obvious. The Diamond Dawgs reeled in the #3 transfer portal class according to 64Analytics.com and the #11 recruiting class according to Perfect Game. As a result, an influx of talent paired with a strong nucleus of returners have fans pondering the possibilities. 

On Wednesday, Mississippi State released the full nonconference slate for the 2026 campaign. Many wonder about the quality of those upcoming opponents. Here is an in-depth look of those who will man the other dugout outside of Southeastern Conference competition.

Hofstra – Mississippi State will welcome the Pride to Dudy Noble Field for the very first time. The two programs have never met on the baseball diamond before, but will open the 2026 season with a three-game weekend series. Hofstra went 18-36 last season. The Pride faced a pair of SEC foes during the 2025 season, Tennessee and Kentucky. They went 0-6 in those contests. Leading hitter, Dylan Palmer (.400) signed with the Pittsburgh Pirates after being selected in the 11th round of the 2025 MLB draft. The 2026 roster will feature eight graduate players or seniors, most of them pitchers. Starters Chris Bedford and Jackson Bauer return on the weekend. Both logged over 70 innings of work in 2025.

Troy – The Bulldogs are 5-1 in the series with the Trojans. That loss came last year in Starkville. Troy was a pre-season Top-25 team in 2025 and they played like it most of the year. In the end, the Trojans finished up with a 39-21 record, but outside of the NCAA tournament field.

Alcorn State – The Braves return to the Mississippi State schedule after a one-year hiatus. The Diamond Dawgs are 18-0 in the series that dates back to 1993. The last meeting went the way of the Bulldogs 11-0 in seven innings. In 2025, Alcorn State posted a 6-43 record. 

Delaware – The Diamond Dawgs are 1-0 all-time against the Blue Hens. State earned a 4-3 win over Delaware back in 2001. Last season, the Blue Hens posted a 28-25 mark. Delaware finished seventh in the Coast Athletic Association standings. This year, the Blue Hens are members of Conference USA. Leading slugger Aaron Graeber is gone. He signed a free agent deal with the Los Angles Angels back in the summer. Delaware hit .269 as a team last year. The only returner who hit better than .300 is catcher LT Cockrill. RHP Ryan McLaughlin and LHP Ethan Schaub combined to make twenty starts last year. Both return for the weekend rotation this year.

Austin Peay – Who could forget the two midweek losses State had to the Governors back in 2024? A pair of bullpen meltdowns led to a tough week in Starkville. The Govs have won a combined eighty games in the last two seasons. Austin Peay went 45-14 in 2025 capturing their second straight Atlantic Sun regular season title. State is 5-4 all-time against the Govs.

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Globe Life – State will take on Arizona State in game one of the event. The Sun Devils went 36-24 and saw their season end at the UCLA regional. The Bulldogs have faced ASU four times, splitting those games 2-2. Game two on the weekend will feature the first ever meeting between State and Virginia Tech. The Hokies were 31-25 in 2025 and missed the NCAA tournament. The weekend finale will see UCLA in the opposing dugout for the first time since 2016. The Diamond Dawgs are just 1-7 in school history against the baseball Bruins. UCLA hosted a regional last year and advanced on to Omaha.

Southern Miss – The Bulldogs and Golden Eagles will play a home-and-home arrangement again this year rather than play at Trustmark in Pearl. The two teams split the pair of games last year with both clubs winning on their home field. State is 87-45 all time against USM. The Golden Eagles finished last season with a 47-16 record, but were eliminated at home in an NCAA Regional by Miami.

Lipscomb – The Bisons are back on the Bulldog baseball schedule for the first time since the 2023 season. State is 9-0 all-time against Lipscomb with eight of those wins coming at Dudy Noble Field. Last year, the Bisons went 25-30 and were eliminated from the Atlantic Sun tournament in two games. Two of the Bisons’ top three hitters, Damion Kenealy Jr. (.316, 8 HR, 37 RBI) and Aaron Stelogeannis (.306, 5 HR, 21 RBI) return along with RHP Cole O’Brien (4-3, 3.14 ERA) who is expected to be the Friday night starter. The Bison landed just a pair of players from the portal, so there will not be a ton of new faces in 2026.

Tulane – The Green Wave and Bulldogs have not played a head-to-head match-up since the 2022 season. That is the series where the Diamond Dawgs lost Landon Sims and Stone Simmons along with the series in New Orleans. State holds a 79-32-2 record against Tulane. The Green Wave went 33-25 last year and missed the NCAA tournament.

Jackson State – The Tigers are back on the slate for the fifth time in six seasons. Last year, the Bulldogs blasted JSU 16-3 in seven innings. State is 57-8 in the series that dates back to 1976. The Tigers went 30-21 in 2025 and saw their season come to an end in the SWAC tournament.

Grambling – This brand of Tigers will appear at Dudy Noble Field for the six time in school history this coming season. State is 5-0 and has won those games by a combined score of 53-4 though the Bulldogs narrowly escaped a huge upset back in 2022 in a 2-1 decision. The Tigers went 26-28 last year, but made a run to the SWAC tourney semi-finals.

UAB – The Blazers are scheduled to play the Diamond Dawgs for the eighth straight year. Of course, that 2020 pairing did not get played due to the cancelation of the college baseball season and the 2024 game was canceled due to weather. State is 39-10 in the series including last year’s 8-3 win in Birmingham. The Blazers completed their 2025 season with the regular season finale and missed out on any post season opportunities.

Samford – The Bulldogs will make the trip to Samford for a midweek contest for just the ninth time ever. State is 41-11 all-time against those Birmingham area Bulldogs. State won at home last year by the score of 6-1. Samford went 30-27 last season, but were eliminated from NCAA tournament consideration in the SoCon Tourney.

Memphis – The Bulldogs and Tigers have played home-and-home pairings in each of the last two seasons, but there will be just one meeting in 2026. Memphis will make the trip to Starkville for the 53rd meeting at Dudy Noble Field. State is 60-27 against the Tigers and have won six straight in the series. Memphis ended the 2025 campaign with a 22-33 mark.

Nicholls – The Colonels will be the final midweek opponent of the season for State. State is 12-1 all-time against Nicholls State. The lone loss came in 2018 as the Diamond Dawgs spent much of the nonconference portion of the schedule on the road as Polk-Dement Stadium was being rebuilt. The two teams faced off last year in Biloxi with State winning 2-1. The Colonels finished 9th in the Southland Conference with a 17-32 overall record and a 10-20 mark in league play.