When the NCAA Tournament rolls into Pete Taylor Park, the story usually starts with Southern Miss. But the 2026 Hattiesburg Regional has a deeper Magnolia State thread running through it.
Southern Miss enters as the No. 9 national seed and regional host, joined by Little Rock, Jacksonville State and Virginia. The Golden Eagles open Friday against No. 4 seed Little Rock, while No. 2 Virginia faces No. 3 Jacksonville State in the night game. Southern Miss comes in at 44-15 after sweeping the Sun Belt regular-season and tournament titles, while Jacksonville State arrives at 46-13, Virginia at 36-21 and Little Rock at 36-26 after winning the OVC Tournament.
For Southern Miss, the regional is another reminder of how strong baseball has become in Hattiesburg. Christian Ostrander has kept the program rolling after Scott Berry, extending one of college baseball’s most consistent runs.
The most obvious Mississippi connection among the visiting teams is Little Rock head coach Chris Curry. Before becoming one of the more respected mid-major coaches in college baseball, Curry arrived at Meridian Community College in the late 1990s and quickly became one of the top junior college players in the country. Playing under future Southern Miss legend Scott Berry, Curry helped lead Meridian CC to back-to-back Region 23 and Miss-Lou Conference championships along with a trip to the 1998 JUCO World Series. Baseball America eventually rated him the No. 1 junior college prospect in America in 1998, and he served as the starting catcher for the Team USA Junior College All-Star Team against Japan.
Curry later returned to Meridian as head coach from 2011-12, where he went 69-44 and won Miss-Lou Conference Coach of the Year honors.
The Mississippi baseball tree surrounding Curry runs deep. He played for Ron Polk at Mississippi State after developing under Scott Berry at Meridian. Berry later became the head coach at Southern Miss, while Meridian itself also became closely tied to former Southern Miss coach Corky Palmer, who coached the Eagles at MCC before building Southern Miss into a College World Series program. In many ways, Little Rock arriving in Hattiesburg feels like multiple branches of Mississippi baseball history colliding in one regional.
Historically, Southern Miss and Little Rock have met only three times, with the Golden Eagles holding a 2-1 all-time edge. All three games came in Hattiesburg in March 2020, the weekend before Covid shut everything. With Southern Miss winning the first two before Little Rock took the finale.
Here are the 2026 stats for every Little Rock player with Mississippi ties or Mississippi college connections entering the Hattiesburg Regional:
2 OF Michael O’Brien — River Ridge, LA/Mississippi State transfer
The former Bulldog outfielder has provided depth and speed for the Trojans this season. O’Brien is batting .264 in 52 appearances with 19 hits, 4 doubles, 14 runs scored, 6 RBI and 9 stolen bases. He also owns a .979 fielding percentage in the outfield.
8 2B Cooper Chaplain Jr (Rs) — Madison (St. Joseph’s) / Meridian Community College
Chaplain has been Little Rock’s starting second baseman and one of the Trojans’ key infielders this season. In 62 games, he is hitting .289 with 62 hits, 10 doubles, 3 home runs, 43 RBI and 51 runs scored while stealing 5 bases. Defensively, he owns a .983 fielding percentage with 22 double plays turned at second base.
21 RHP Waylon Sebren Sr (Rs) — Puckett / Meridian Community College & Memphis
Sebren has appeared in one game this season for Little Rock. The right-hander posted a 99.00 ERA in his lone outing, allowing two earned runs without recording an out.
38 RHP Gage Haley Jr. — Olive Branch (Lewisburg) / Mississippi State
The former Mississippi State pitcher has become one of Little Rock’s top bullpen arms. Haley is 5-5 with a 4.47 ERA across 24 appearances and two starts. He has recorded 48 strikeouts in 48.1 innings while earning five saves during the 2026 season. In 2024 at Mississippi State, he appeared in one game as a freshman, struck out two and walked two in two innings on the season
Jacksonville State enters the Hattiesburg Regional as one of the hottest teams in the country after winning Conference USA and bringing a 46-13 record into Pete Taylor Park. The Gamecocks are led by head coach Steve Bieser, a longtime respected name in Southern baseball circles who previously coached at Southeast Missouri and Missouri before arriving in Jacksonville. Under Bieser, Jacksonville State has built one of the deepest rosters in the regional, and that roster includes several players with strong Mississippi ties through hometowns and Mississippi junior college baseball
2 OF Sam Richardson Fr (Rs) — Olive Branch (Lewisburg)/Texas
Richardson is from Olive Branch and played at Lewisburg High School, where he also teammates with fellow Little Rock pitcher Gage Haley . He redshirted at Texas in 2025 before landing at Jacksonville State, and in 2026 he has hit .227 with a .950 OPS, 15 hits, two doubles, eight home runs, 22 RBI and 13 runs scored in 29 games.
7 2B/RHP Brady Thomas Sr. — Flowood (Northwest Rankin) / Jones College
Thomas is from Brandon and came to Jacksonville State by way of Jones College. He has been one of the Gamecocks’ best bats in 2026, hitting .316 with a 1.102 OPS, 48 hits, 10 doubles, four triples, 10 home runs, 38 RBI, 42 runs scored and seven stolen bases. On the mound, he is 2-0 with a 7.53 ERA in eight appearances and two starts, striking out 18 over 14.1 innings.
9 UTL Colton Hegwood Sr (Rs) –Brandon / Jones College
Hegwood is from Brandon and also came through Jones College, giving Jacksonville State another direct Mississippi JUCO tie. He is listed on the 2026 roster, but he does not appear in Jacksonville State’s 2026 cumulative batting, pitching or fielding stats, meaning he has not recorded official game statistics entering the regional.
22 LHP Beau Bryans Sr. — Madison (Madison Central)/Alabama
Bryans is from Madison and previously played at Alabama. He has been one of Jacksonville State’s main arms, going 7-1 with a 3.63 ERA across 14 starts, striking out 73 batters in 62 innings.
24 RHP Jud Files Jr. —Mooreville / Itawamba CC
Files gives the Gamecocks another Mississippi junior college connection. The former Itawamba CC pitcher is 2-0 with a 1.10 ERA in 13 relief appearances, allowing just two earned runs over 16.1 innings.
35 RHP Jackson Evers Jr. —Madison, Miss. (MRA) / Northwest Florida State
Evers is another Madison product on the Jax State roster. In 2026, he is 1-0 with a 4.67 ERA in 14 appearances, striking out 19 over 17.1 innings.
Virginia arrives in Hattiesburg as the No. 2 seed in the regional after going 36-21 in the Cavaliers’ first season under head coach Chris Pollard. The Cavaliers reached the NCAA Tournament despite major offseason change after longtime coach Brian O’Connor left Charlottesville for Mississippi State, creating an unusual Mississippi connection between the two ACC and SEC programs. Virginia enters the regional with one direct Magnolia State tie on its roster: freshman outfielder Griffin Enis from Corinth.
2 OF Griffin Enis Fr. — Corinth
Enis gives Virginia its lone Mississippi hometown connection in the 2026 Hattiesburg Regional. The freshman outfielder came to Charlottesville after a standout prep career at Corinth High School., where he developed into one of the top young prospects in the state. Enis has appeared in limited action as a freshman reserve outfielder for the Cavaliers during the 2026 season. Official cumulative statistics list him primarily in a developmental depth role entering the NCAA Tournament.
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