SEATTLE — The Seattle Mariners broke a nearly decade-long streak with their first selection of the 2026 MLB Draft on Saturday.

The Mariners took Mississippi State third baseman Ace Reese with the 24th overall pick in the draft, making him the first college positional player the team selected in the first round since Evan White in the 2017 draft.

Seattle vice president of amateur scouting Scott Hunter described the 6-foot-4, 220-pound slugger as one of the three best bats available, per the team's analytics, and mentioned his competitive drive and experience from playing in the Southeastern Conference (SEC) as a credit to him as a prospect.

The Mariners have honed in on SEC players in the first round in the last three drafts. They selected switch-pitcher Jurrangelo Cijntje (traded to the St. Louis Cardinals this offseason) in the first round in the 2024 draft and left-handed pitcher Kade Anderson with the third overall pick in 2025.

"I think if you want to go play at the next level, past college, I think the best thing to do is go to the SEC," Reese said in a zoom media call after being selected Saturday. "That's where all the best players are and that's what I did and I succeeded at it. So I'm ready to go get after it with y'all."

In 62 games with the Bulldogs this college baseball season, Reese slashed .336/.432/.721 with a 1.152 OPS and hit 23 doubles and 24 home runs with 74 RBIs.

In addition to his bat, Reese might end up having a positional versatility that could help Seattle when he's ready for the big leagues.

Reese played right field and first base in college and is still learning the ins and outs of third base, which is still a relatively new position to the slugger. He was delayed in his acclimation to the hot corner after suffering an injury.

Reese, a Plano, Texas, native started his career with Houston in the Big 12 before transferring and playing out the last two years with Mississippi State.

Reese's Texas roots run deep. On top of beginning his college career in his home state, the former Bulldog also grew up as a fan of two of the Mariners' American League West rivals. He was initially a fan of the Texas Rangers but switched his allegiance to the Houston Astros upon the former moving to Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas.

Reese also modeled his game off a perennial thorn in Seattle's side, Texas infielder Corey Seager.

Now with the Mariners, Reese will have an opportunity to instead follow in a line of Corey Seager's older brother and one of the best third basemen in Seattle history, Kyle Seager.

"It's you in the box at the end of the day," Reese said. "That's kind of what I learned. It's nice to take those nuggets from coaches that you learn. But at the end of the day, it's you in the box and you're the one that has to go do it. So having three different coaching staffs my three years in college, it was a good learning curve for me to go through struggles and find what works for me."

Seattle will pick through Round 5 of the MLB Draft on Saturday and conclude with picks from rounds 6-20 on day two of the draft Sunday.

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