Mississippi State is reportedly zeroing in on its new head baseball coach with Virginia’s Brian O’Connor as the top target.

According to D1Baseball.com, O’Connor stands as the first option to take over the Bulldogs’ program, with a deal reportedly in the works.

The Cavaliers’ coach since 2004, O’Connor has guided Virginia to 18 of the program’s 21 NCAA tournament appearances. The Cavaliers missed the postseason this year, their first time falling short since 2019.

In his career, O’Connor has amassed an 885-370-2 career record.

Mississippi State fired coach Chris Lemonis in late April after seven years, noting that the program “has not consistently met the standard of success that our university, fans and student-athletes expect and deserve.”

The Bulldogs (34-21) have managed to advance to the 64-team NCAA Tournament under interim head coach Justin Parker and will face Northeastern on Friday as a No. 3 seed in the Tallahassee Regional hosted by Florida State.

The Bulldogs went 232-135 under Lemonis, reaching the College World Series twice in his first three years, with his second year cut short due to the COVID-19) pandemic. Mississippi State never advanced further than the regional round over his final three full seasons.

–Field Level Media