By Parrish Alford
Savvy poker players hold their ace, but Brian O’Connor plays his every game.
Ace Reese, Mississippi State’s junior third baseman, took the SEC by storm last year, ranking third in the league in slugging percentage (.718) and fifth in in on-base plus slugging (OPS) at 1.140.
O’Connor, the Mississippi State coach, has collected an embarrassment of riches in his first season with the Bulldogs.
Reese, however, isn’t about to get lost in the shuffle. Instead, his numbers remain consistent, and he’s a big part of the Bulldogs’ 11-1 start.
State won twice over the weekend, defeating Arizona State and Virginia Tech before suffering their first loss against No. 1 UCLA 8-7 in 10 innings. All three games were played at Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas.
Reese, after cooling off a bit in Texas, will try to get back on track Tuesday as State faces No. 10 Southern Miss at 6 p.m. at likely sold out Pete Taylor Park in Hattiesburg (televised by ESPN plus). It’s a clash between what have proven to be the state’s best teams early on.
As the week arrives Reese is hitting .408. He was 2-for-14 for the weekend.
On the season, 12 of his 20 hits have gone for extra-bases. He leads the Bulldogs with 18 RBIs, leads in doubles with eight, in home runs with four and in total bases with 40.
The Canton, Texes native began his career at the University of Houston but was SEC Newcomer of the Year as a Bulldogs sophomore last year when he hit .352 and led the team in multi-hit and multi-RBI performances.
He posted those number largely while playing at less than full strength.
Reese had surgery in September to remove a bone fragment from his left big toe. The injury was discovered after the University of Texas series in mid-March of last year.
He spent the fall in a walking boot and was only declared full-go by doctors in December, about a month before the start of practice.
“It was a big sigh of relief to come back,” Reese said. “I feel 100% out there on the field. It’s been a while since I’ve played like that. It was a big weight off my shoulders. Getting to play with these boys is fun.”
There were smiles all around for the Bulldogs when Reese delivered a three-run home run in the second inning of State’s 15-8 win over Virginia Tech Saturday. It was the first of two hits for Reese and put the Bulldogs ahead 4-0.
State never looked back, leading as much as 10-2 in the seventh. The Bulldogs had 15 hits in the game.
Fourteen position players got in the game against the Hokies, a strategy that may not end soon.
“I don’t know when it will start to narrow down,” O’Connor said. “We’re not really worried about it. We have different options based on who’s on the mound and what we have offensively. We’ll continue to play it that way until somebody shows us we have to do something differently.”
UCLA didn’t necessarily show that as the Bulldogs – who rank second in the SEC with a .350 team batting average – had 14 hits in defeat.
Reese sees the competition for playing time as a benefit for State.
O’Connor – who went 917-388-2 in 22 years at Virginia — did a good job of mixing incoming transfers with previous Mississippi State playmakers, Reese said.
“There’s a lot of competition, and we feed off of it,” O’Connor said. “We push each other every day. There’s not many holes in the lineup, if any. It’s pretty special. Whatever guys are in the lineup, we’re going to hit. It’s one of the better, if not the best hitting lineup I’ve seen in a while.”
Southern Miss will be the Bulldogs’ lone mid-week game before Lipscomb visits Dudy Noble Field this weekend for the last non-conference series.
SEC play begins March 13 with the Bulldogs at No. 6 Arkansas.
“It was cool having a bunch of new guys come in and (still) keeping a bunch of the old guys,” Reese said. “That kind of taught us the way and how the coaches work, and we’ve taught them how Mississippi State went and how we do things. Having that gel was nice. We just get after it every day.”
