2026 NCAA Tournament Preview: Starkville Regional

The 2026 NCAA Tournament begins on Friday, May 29. Here is World Baseball Network’s preview of the Starkville regional.

Starkville Regional – Dudy Noble Field at Polk-Dement Stadium, Starkville, Miss.

No. 1 – Mississippi State Bulldogs (40-17, 16-14 SEC) – No. 14 National Seed 

The Bulldogs strung together a pretty good season despite making a quarterfinal exit from the SEC tournament at the hands of eventual champion Georgia. This marks the third season in a row the Diamond Dawgs have made the NCAA Tournament field, though they haven’t made it to Omaha since 2021, when they won the national championship.

They’ve already faced Lipscomb three times this season, sweeping a non-conference weekend series that ended with a 26-0 Diamond Dawgs win in seven innings on March 3-5.

Ace Reese (20 HR, 69 RBIs) drives the offense, with Jacob Parker (13 HR, 51 RBIs), Noah Sullivan (12 HR, 45 RBIs), and Reed Stallman (12 HR, 46 RBIs) also comprising big threats in the Bulldogs’ lineup.

On the mound, Tomas Valincius is an ace, posting a 2.93 ERA in 86 innings across 15 starts with 120 strikeouts against just 17 walks. Ben Davis (3.35 ERA, 43 IP, 50K, 12BB) and Ryan McPherson (2.70 ERA, 36 2/3 IP, 43K, 10BB) are both lockdown relievers for State.

This is the best Bulldogs team since 2021, and one that could earn the program’s 13th trip to Omaha.

No. 2 – Cincinnati Bearcats (37-20, 17-13 Big 12)

The Bearcats made an early exit from the Big 12 tournament, losing to Arizona State on Thursday, but they do have winning records against all four quadrants (how teams are divided for strength of schedule purposes to compute RPI rankings). Early in the season, they beat Auburn, ranked No. 3 at the time and now a regional host, and they also took a win against regional host Kansas and two of three from West Virginia.

Quinton Coats has terrorized opposing pitchers this year, hitting 28 homers and driving in 78 runs, which is tied for fifth in the nation with Georgia’s Daniel Jackson, and Jack Natili (16 HR, 59 RBIs) is also a big threat.

Starter Nathan Taylor (15 GS, 84 IP, 112K, 23BB) leads the team on the mound and will likely be the starter against Mississippi State. If the Bearcats can beat the Bulldogs, they could be able to pull off the upset and advance.

No. 3 – Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns (39-23, 16-14 Sun Belt)

Louisiana fell in the Sun Belt tournament final to Southern Mississippi, which was selected to host a regional. The Cajuns did beat Southern Miss twice this year, and took four of five games from fellow at-large bid recipient Coastal Carolina over the course of the season and Sun Belt tourney.

This is a team that doesn’t hit for average, with only two regulars in the lineup, Lee Amedee (.311) and Colt Brown (.309), batting over .300 for the season, and they don’t have a ton of power, with just 47 homers as a team this year. A .376 on-base percentage is another offensive worry, though the Cajuns did have a +56 run differential.

Workhorse Andrew Herrmann threw 103 2/3 innings over 17 starts, posting a 4.43 ERA and a 1.130 WHIP with 108 strikeouts and 33 walks, and junior Cody Brasch has a 2.04 ERA in 70 2/3 innings with a 0.930 WHIP. Expect those two to start at least once at the regional.

No. 4 – Lipscomb Bisons (29-24, 17-7 Atlantic Sun)

Lipscomb is 0-4 against NCAA Tournament teams, having been swept by Mississippi State in a non-conference series as noted above and having been trounced by Tennessee in a midweek game 14-4 on April 21. This is the fourth NCAA Tournament appearance for the Bisons, all of them coming by winning the conference tournament.

2026 Starkville Regional Schedule

Fri. May 29 – No. 1 Mississippi St. (40-17) vs. No. 4 Lipscomb (29-24), 2 p.m., ESPN+
Fri. May 29 – No. 2 Cincinnati (37-20) vs. No. 3 Louisiana (39-23), 7 p.m., ESPN+

WBN NCAA: /news/category/ncaa

PHOTO: Mississippi State pitcher Tomas Valincius (4) during an NCAA baseball game on Saturday, Feb. 14, 2026, in Starkville, Miss. (AP Photo/Vasha Hunt)