Mississippi State is heading into the Athens Super Regional with one of the nation’s most productive hitters in Ace Reese, and the backstory behind his first name is as unusual as his rise. His parents named him Ace because they thought he would grow into a star pitcher. Instead, he became a power-hitting third baseman who is now carrying the Bulldogs toward Omaha.
That is why Reese is drawing attention now. He is batting.328 with 22 home runs, 72 RBIs and 69 runs this season, and he leads Mississippi State in all three categories. He has already become one of the program’s biggest bats, and MLB scouts are tracking him as a possible first-round type talent in the 2026 MLB Draft.
The numbers explain the buzz better than any scouting report. Reese, a two-time All-SEC first-team selection and the 2025 SEC Newcomer of the Year, joined Rafael Palmeiro and Will Clark as the only players in Mississippi State history with consecutive 20-home-run seasons. Across two seasons in Starkville, he is batting.337 with 43 home runs, 136 RBIs and 125 runs, and his.707 career slugging percentage is on pace to rank third in program history.
His path to Mississippi State was not linear. Reese played at Houston as a freshman in 2024 before transferring, then spent last summer with the USA Baseball Collegiate National Team. He is from Canton, Texas, and went to Canton High School, a background that makes his arrival as one of the SEC’s most feared hitters even more striking.
What gives the name its bite is the irony inside it. Aaron Reese said last season that he and his family prayed about what to name their son and felt led in that direction. He also said, when asked about the origin of the name, that he did not know at the time. The hope was that Ace would be on the mound. The reality is that he became the kind of third baseman opposing pitchers plan around.
Mississippi State opens the Athens Super Regional against Georgia on June 6 at 10 a.m. CT on, with the winner advancing to the College World Series. The Bulldogs have not been back since their 2021 national championship, and Reese’s bat gives them a chance to change that quickly.
For Mississippi State, that makes the name on the back of the jersey more than a curiosity. It now belongs to a player whose future is being measured not by the pitching dream that inspired it, but by whether he can finish the job and keep the Bulldogs moving toward Omaha.
