How Duke Stone start set Mississippi State pitching up perfectly for rest of regional
· Yahoo Sports
STARKVILLE — Duke Stone was at Florida State for last season's Mississippi State baseball regional in Tallahassee, except the freshman didn't make MSU's postseason roster.
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That meant he couldn't even wear the maroon and white jersey as MSU was eliminated from the 2025 NCAA Tournament in the regional final.
Then, Stone, who only pitched 4⅔ innings that season, considered transferring from Mississippi State after Brian O'Connor was hired as the new coach. He stayed at MSU but didn't begin 2026 in the starting rotation.
Almost one year after Mississippi State's 2025 season ended, Stone pitched one of the best games of his career, especially considering the circumstances.
He has the No. 14 national seed Bulldogs' pitching staff set up well for the rest of the Starkville Regional. MSU (41-17) defeated No. 4 Lipscomb 10-1 at Dudy Noble Field on May 29.
"I know he's given up some big home runs and things like that, but today is the day that it all comes together for him," O'Connor said. "I'm like a proud father when you see a young man do what he did."
Stone pitched six shutout innings against the Bisons (29-25), tying his career long, while also striking out 10 batters, tied for the second most of his career.
He allowed just three hits with zero walks, improving his record to 7-3 and ERA to 5.23.
"It was just the main thing for me to go in today and land off-speed (pitches) in the zone," Stone said. "It's what I worked on all week, and I was able to go out there and do it today."
The only other time Stone pitched six innings this season was April 18 at South Carolina.
Stone had allowed at least four runs in his last three starts, but his spectacular game has Mississippi State's pitching in a good situation for the next game in the regional that ace Tomas Valincius will start. Mississippi State will play the winner of No. 2 Cincinnati versus No. 3 Louisiana on May 30 (8 p.m.).
Only two relief pitchers were needed for the Bulldogs. Tyler Pitzer shut out Lipscomb in the seventh and eighth innings. Then, Jack Gleason closed the ninth inning.
MSU was one strike away from its first NCAA Tournament shutout since the 2021 national championship game until Lipscomb hit a two-out RBI single in the ninth inning.
"I feel like we have an incredibly fresh bullpen, not having to use Ben Davis, (Maddox) Webb and any of our lefties," O'Connor said. "We feel good, and that's because of Duke Stone."
How Brian O'Connor reacted to coaching first regional at Mississippi State
O'Connor is coaching in his 19th NCAA Tournament, but his first as the Mississippi State coach. He was Virginia's coach for 22 seasons, and he made nine super regionals, seven College World Series and won the national championship in 2015.
So, after the national anthem, O'Connor said he took an extra second to look around the crowd at Dudy Noble Field, MSU's stadium that's hosting its first regional since 2021. The attendance for the Lipscomb game that started at 1 p.m. was 10,470 and is expected to be much larger on May 30 for the next game.
"I got to tell you that last night I got one of the better night's sleeps in my time here as the coach," O'Connor said. "That's because of the confidence that I have in these young men and how they went about their business since their first day on campus starting in the fall."
Sam Sklar is the Mississippi State beat reporter for The Clarion Ledger. Email him at [email protected] and follow him on X @sklarsam_.
This article originally appeared on Mississippi Clarion Ledger: Duke Stone start sets Mississippi State pitching up well for regional