Ole Miss Archives - Page 2 of 127 - All Mississippi Baseball

15 Mar

hit the reset

Hunter Renfroe, Tim Anderson and Dakota Hudson have several things in common. They attended Mississippi colleges, were picked in the first round of the MLB draft, enjoyed success in The Show — and now find themselves in spring training camps trying to re-establish their place in the game. Mississippi State product and Crystal Springs native Renfroe has 177 home runs in the big leagues but has bounced from team to team the last several years. In 2023, he was waived by the Los Angeles Angels, claimed and later released by Cincinnati in mid-September. He is in Kansas City’s camp on a one-year, $6.5 million contract, likely to be the lowly Royals’ right fielder. Anderson, a first-round pick by the Chicago White Sox out of East Central Community College in 2013 (same year Renfroe was drafted), was found wanting by the ChiSox after seven years as their regular shortstop and was cut loose after the season. Anderson had a poor year in 2023, with the bat and the glove, and has a flair for generating controversy. Miami recently signed Anderson, and he is expected to be the Marlins’ shortstop. He said in a recent MLB Network interview that he is “super-motivated, super-inspired and super-coachable” as well as “super-thankful and super-blessed” to have the opportunity. Hudson, another ex-MSU star, had a 38-20 career record and 3.84 ERA since 2018 with St. Louis. But he has had some recent injury issues, went 6-3, 4.98, in a bumpy 2023 and was non-tendered after the season. He signed with Colorado, where he’ll likely make the starting rotation for a club that sorely needs pitching. Spring training stats aren’t necessarily telling, but for what it’s worth, none of these three transplanted veterans has had a good camp. Renfroe is batting .118 with no homers in 17 at-bats. Anderson is hitting .182 in 22 ABs. Hudson is 1-1, 6.75, over 5 1/3 innings in three outings. P.S. Former Ole Miss pitcher Jacob Waguespack has made Tampa Bay’s team as a non-roster invitee and apparently will pitch in the rotation. He spent the last two years in Japan after posting a 5-5, 5.08, ledger in 2019-20 with Toronto.

14 Mar

clearing the bases

Anthony Alford hit his first home run of the spring Wednesday for Cincinnati in the Cactus League. The two-run shot by the former Petal High star, in Reds camp as a non-roster invitee, came at the expense of former Mississippi State standout Ethan Small, who yielded five runs (two homers) in two innings in San Francisco’s 19-11 loss. Small, trying to earn a spot in the Giants’ bullpen, has a 9.53 ERA this spring. … Southern Miss alum Matt Wallner hit his first homer of the spring for Minnesota in the Grapefruit League. Wallner, USM’s all-time homer leader, belted 14 in 76 games for the Twins last year. … Aaron Downs, a junior out of Heritage Academy, delivered an 11th-inning walk-off single for MSU in a 2-1 win over New Orleans at MGM Park in Biloxi. It was the first RBI of the season for Downs. The Bulldogs (13-5) play defending national champion LSU in Starkville this weekend to open SEC play. … Ole Miss (13-5 with seven straight wins) launches SEC play Friday against nationally ranked South Carolina in Oxford. … Smith-Wills Stadium in Jackson will host a pair of SWAC series over three days this weekend with Mississippi Valley State playing Bethune-Cookman and winless Alcorn State meeting Grambling State in three-game sets. … In the first regular season NAIA coaches poll released on Wednesday, William Carey — preseason No. 4 — fell out of the Top 25. The Crusaders, who made the NAIA World Series in 2023, are 13-9 and 4-5 in the SSAC. Blue Mountain Christian (18-5, 5-4 SSAC) did not get any votes in the new poll. … East Central Community College, ranked No. 1 in NJCAA Division II, beat No. 15 Meridian 7-5 and 4-3 to improve to 27-0 and 4-0 MACCC. … Jackson Prep, 18-2 and ranked No. 2 in the state by Prep Baseball Report, beat ninth-ranked Sumrall 7-2 to finish a 3-1 run through the Battle at the Beach. Patriots star — and LSU commit — Konnor Griffin threw six one-hit innings with 12 strikeouts and got two knocks in the Sumrall win. Lewisburg, ranked No. 1 by Prep Baseball Report, plays in the four-team Southeastern High School Baseball Classic at Trustmark Park this weekend. … MaxPreps’ latest state rankings have Hartfield Academy No. 1, followed by Lewisburg. Prep is fifth in that poll.

11 Mar

and that happened …

With Myles White and Robert Tate delivering RBI hits in the 10th inning and freshman Shemar Harris notching a clean save, Jackson State beat host Memphis 6-4 in Sunday’s finale of the Grind City Classic. The JSU bullpen didn’t allow a hit or run over the final 4 1/3. JSU (12-4) won two of three in the four-team event. … Blue Mountain Christian (16-5) swept an SSAC series at Mobile, winning Sunday’s finale 18-2 as Arderrius Townsend — remember that name — belted two homers and drove in six runs. He has 12 homers for the year and is batting .479. … Dakota Jordan homered in all three games — he has eight for the season — as Mississippi State (12-4 with nine straight wins) swept past Evansville in Starkville. Hunter Hines, who hit 38 homers for the Bulldogs in 2022-23 and 13 in the Cape Cod League last summer, got homer No. 1 of ’24 in Saturday’s game. … Ole Miss (12-5) scored 29 runs in a home sweep of Morehead State plus got a sterling pitching effort from Grayson Saunier (3-1, 2.55 ERA), who tossed five shutout innings on Sunday before the bullpen nearly coughed up the W. … East Central Community College blew past Coahoma in a twinbill on Sunday to reach 25-0. Twenty-five and oh. … Southern Miss (10-6) won two of three and scored 31 runs in its series at Louisiana Tech but allowed 18 runs in the loss on Sunday, when the Golden Eagles trotted out 12 pitchers. Twelve. … Millsaps College, playing at home, lost two of three to SAA foe Rhodes, and ace Wil Wood allowed 13 hits and 10 runs in four innings in one of the defeats. … Delta State allowed 30 runs in losing two of three GSC games at Alabama-Huntsville. The Statesmen are 13-10 despite a 6.47 ERA. … Mississippi College used two sac flies and an RBI HBP to score a walk-off win against West Florida — the No. 8 team in NCAA Division II — but the Choctaws lost the other two games of the GSC series. … Belhaven University also got a walk-off win on a clutch knock by Josh Neutze but fell in the other two weekend contests against Hanover at Trustmark Park.

08 Mar

spring flings

Making a major league club as a non-roster invitee to spring training is a tall order. Jake Mangum, the former Jackson Prep and Mississippi State star, is making a strong case in Tampa Bay’s camp. Now with his third organization in three years, Mangum is 6-for-12 with a homer, two RBIs and three steals in Grapefruit League play. The switch-hitting outfielder had a couple of hits in Thursday’s game against Philadelphia. Mangum, now 28 years old, hit .357 over four years at State and has hit .289 over four minor league campaigns. He is also an outstanding defensive player. But he hasn’t gotten the big league call. Yet. … Things have not gone as well this spring for several veteran Mississippi-connected pitchers in camp as NRIs with new clubs. Zac Houston, an MSU alum, has a 12.27 ERA in four games for Tampa Bay. The 29-year-old right-hander has been in pro ball since 2016 without an MLB look. Jonathan Holder, 30, another ex-Bulldogs star, is trying get back to The Show with Texas. He has an 11.57 in five Cactus League games. And 35-year-old Drew Pomeranz, the former Ole Miss standout who last pitched in the majors in 2021, has put up a 9.82 in four appearances with the Los Angeles Angels. … Ex-Southern Miss standout Chuckie Robinson, in the Chicago White Sox’s camp, is 1-for-9 in six games as a catcher. Petal High product Anthony Alford is 0-for-3 for Cincinnati as he attempts to get back in the big leagues after two years in Korea.

07 Mar

breakout breakdown

Highly rated prospects Justin Foscue, Jacob Gonzalez, Will Warren and Kemp Alderman are among the 19 Mississippians on the preliminary rosters for next week’s Spring Breakout series, a new event that will feature a ton of the top talent in the minor leagues. Each of MLB’s 30 teams will play a game — two teams will play two — beginning on March 14 in Arizona and Florida. Atlanta’s team will feature a bunch of former and future Mississippi Braves, as well as ex-Smithville High star Jared Johnson, a right-hander who pitched in A-ball in 2023. The Braves will play on March 16 against Boston, which lists DeSoto Central High product Blaze Jordan and ex-Southern Miss standout Dalton Rogers. Milwaukee’s team includes 2023 Biloxi Shuckers star Jackson Chourio — the No. 2 overall prospect in the minors — and Cooper Pratt, Mississippi’s prep player of the year in 2023 at Magnolia Heights. The Brewers play on March 17 against Kansas City; ex-MSU standout Eric Cerantola is on the Royals’ roster. Former MSU star Foscue is Texas’ No. 5 prospect, and he may make the Rangers’ opening day roster. Gonzalez, a first-round pick out of Ole Miss last summer and the Chicago White Sox’s No. 5 prospect, is joined on the ChiSox roster by former Rebels teammate Tim Elko. Jackson Prep product Will Warren, the New York Yankees’ eighth-ranked prospect, pitched in Triple-A in 2023 and is close to his MLB breakthrough. Alderman won the Ferriss Trophy last year at Ole Miss and is rated No. 8 on Miami’s chart. Among the other notable Mississippi products on the rosters are South Panola High alum Emaarion Boyd, Philadelphia’s No. 17 who swiped 56 bases in A-ball last season, and Colton Ledbetter (Tampa Bay’s No. 16), a second-round pick out of State in 2023 who batted .274 over two levels last season.

05 Mar

have a day

There are compelling matchups everywhere you look today in the Magnolia State. (Here’s hoping the weather cooperates.) At Pearl’s Trustmark Park, Southern Miss and Mississippi State renew their neutral-site rivalry. At Twenty Field in Jackson, Millsaps hosts Belhaven in the opener of the Maloney Trophy Series. At Braddy Field in Jackson, Jackson State hosts Rust in a doubleheader. And at Swayze Field in Oxford, Ole Miss will play Memphis, which is coached by a Mississippi native and suits up several others. (For the record: On Wednesday, at Sanders Field in Jackson, Tougaloo will host Blue Mountain Christian.) Both USM and State have 8-4 records, and they have split their last 10 meetings. There will be a huge and vocal crowd at the TeePee for that clash, a smaller but no less fired-up gathering at Twenty Field, where NCAA Division III rivals Millsaps (10-4) and BU (7-6) meet for the first of three games. (A Wil Wood-Brett Sanchez pitching matchup might be too much to hope for.) Jackson State (9-3) beat NAIA member Rust 18-1 and 12-1 in 2023. Perhaps the Bearcats (3-15) can put up more of a fight this time. In Oxford, Ole Miss takes an 8-5 record into its game with familiar foe Memphis (7-6), which is now coached by Picayune native Matt Riser. The Tigers’ director of pitching development is Oxford native Chase Kessinger, Keith’s son, Don’s grandson, Grae’s cousin. P.S. Former Madison Central High star Braden Montgomery, now at Texas A&M, aspires to be “the best baseball player ever,” he said in a Monday interview on MLB Network’s Hot Stove. The switch-hitting outfielder, on the Golden Spikes Award watch list, is batting .410 with five homers and 21 RBIs for the Aggies, 11-0 heading into a showdown tonight at archrival Texas. “The most important part is we’re winning,” Montgomery said.

04 Mar

numbers to crunch

Cleaning up after the busy weekend in college baseball:
4 — Runs allowed by Mississippi State pitchers in a sweep of Mount St. Mary’s. The Bulldogs (8-4) have a staff ERA of 3.82; Nate Dohm (2-0) has a 1.02 and Jurrangelo Cijntje (2-0) a 1.15.
19 — RBIs this season by Ole Miss’ Jackson Ross. The Florida Atlantic transfer is batting .390 with five homers and 17 runs for the 8-5 Rebels, who took two of three from Iowa.
77 — Walks drawn by Southern Miss batters this season. The Golden Eagles, 8-4 after taking the series from Indiana State, have a team on-base percentage of .393 while batting just .239.
.639 — Batting average for Jackson State’s Joseph Eichelberger, who has also driven in 21 runs and scored 15 in 11 games for the Tigers, 9-3 after a sweep of winless Alcorn State (0-9).
3 — Straight wins for Mississippi Valley State (4-3), which swept new coach C.J. Bilbrey’s former school, Harris-Stowe State, by a count of 47-9.
14 — Runs scored by Delta State after having its seven-game win streak snapped in a shutout by Montevallo. The Statesmen (12-6) were powered by Matthew Nichols, who went 3-for-4 with four RBIs and three runs in the 14-10 win in Game 2 of a Saturday twinbill.
30 — Home runs by Mississippi College batters. Wesley Sides and Caleb Reese have seven bombs each for the 9-6 Choctaws, who have dropped three straight.
.517 — On-base percentage of William Carey’s R.J. Stinson. Stinson, a .375 hitter, has 24 hits, 17 walks and just four strikeouts in 64 at-bats for the 10-8 Crusaders.
64 — Run differential for Blue Mountain Christian. The Toppers (12-5) have outscored their opponents 158-94; Hayden Redding leads the team with 24 runs.
7 — One-run games played by Millsaps (10-4). The Majors are 5-2 in those games, including a 1-0 loss at Huntingdon (Ala.) on Sunday.
22 — RBIs by Belhaven’s Owen Abney. Jackson Prep alum Abney, batting .275 with three homers, has driven in 37 percent of the runs scored by the Blazers (7-6).

26 Feb

sunday punch

While it is much too early in the NCAA Division I season for defining moments, Mississippi’s Big 3 did deliver affirming wins on Sunday. Mississippi State, Ole Miss and Southern Miss each won the rubber game in a home series against an unheralded opponent. At Hattiesburg, USM (6-2) rallied to beat Missouri State 5-4. Four Golden Eagles pitchers allowed just one earned run and struck out 17 batters. Davis Gillespie and Seth Smith produced clutch hits, freshman Smith’s RBI double giving the Eagles the lead in the sixth inning at Taylor Park. At Oxford, where Rebel Nation has grown restless, Ole Miss (4-4) lowered the boom on High Point with a 25-2 victory. The Rebels smacked five homers, three doubles and a triple among 16 hits. Duke transfer Andrew Fischer, who had been scuffling, went 3-for-4 with a homer, four RBIs and four runs. Four UM pitchers yielded six hits, three walks and fanned 11 at Swayze Field. At Starkville, where things also seem a bit unsettled, State (4-4) whipped Georgia Southern 10-2. David Mershon put up a 4-for-5 with two RBIs, and Bryce Chance and Connor Hujsak drove in three runs each. Jurrangelo Cijntje delivered a much-needed strong start (five innings, one run) at Dudy Noble Field. What’s next? USM plays Nicholls State on Tuesday at MGM Park in Biloxi. Ole Miss hosts Arkansas-Little Rock on Tuesday. And that same day, State welcomes Jackson State (6-2), which is coming off a 7-3 loss to Mississippi Valley State. It was the first win for new Valley coach C.J. Bilbrey, who had seen his club crushed by the Tigers in the first two games of the non-league series. Jesus Campa, a transfer from El Paso Community College, worked eight solid innings for Valley.

24 Feb

spring flings

Who needs spring training? Ex-Ole Miss star Tim Elko, now a Chicago White Sox minor leaguer, homered in his first at-bat in the team’s Cactus League opener on Friday. Power is Elko’s thing. He blasted 28 homers across three levels of the minors in 2023 and has 33 in his two-year pro career. The first baseman/DH hit 46 in his four years at Ole Miss and helped the Rebels win the national championship in 2022. He reached Double-A last season and should get to Triple-A at some point in 2024. The season is several weeks away, but Elko looked ready on Day 1. Also making an appearance for the ChiSox was Southern Miss alum Chuckie Robinson, who went 0-for-1. The veteran catcher, who has some big league time, signed with Chicago as a minor league free agent this off-season. … Elsewhere in spring openers: Former Hattiesburg High standout Joe Gray Jr., now a Kansas City minor leaguer, went 1-for-1 with a walk and an RBI for the Royals against Texas, which trotted out three Magnolia State products: Mississippi State alum Nathaniel Lowe, the World Series-champion Rangers’ regular first baseman, was 0-for-2; Mississippi College alum Blaine Crim, a minor leaguer, went 0-for-2; and ex-MSU standout Justin Foscue, now on the Rangers’ 40-man roster, was hitless in two at-bats. … Ex-Pascagoula High star Willie Joe Garry Jr., a Minnesota minor leaguer, was 0-for-1 with two walks and two runs for the Twins, while USM product Matt Wallner, a starting outfielder for the Twins, put up an 0-for-2. … MSU alum Konnor Pilkington allowed a run in his one inning of work for Arizona. … And former DeSoto Central standout Blaze Jordan, who reached Double-A in 2023, played some third base and went 0-for-1 for Boston.

22 Feb

here and there

Delta State, pegged for a sixth-place finish in the Gulf South Conference this season, opens league play this weekend with a 6-5 record. The Statesmen will take on Union University for a three-game set (Friday-Saturday). DSU was the preseason favorite in the league poll in 2023 and finished eighth before reaching the championship round in the league tournament. Go figure. DSU is batting .323 as a team with a staff ERA of 6.00. The Statesmen are led by Brett Burrell, batting .444 with 11 RBIs, and Brendan McCauley, .391 with a homer and seven RBIs. … Mississippi College (8-3, 2-1 GSC) plays on the road for the first time this weekend, visiting league foe Auburn-Montgomery. … Blue Mountain Christian (11-3) has 19 home runs, seven by Arderrius Townsend, a former Northwest Mississippi Community College star. … Belhaven University is 3-3 heading into its first home games, a three-game set this weekend against St. Thomas at Trustmark Park in Pearl. … Mississippi Valley State will play its first games under new coach C.J. Bilbrey when the Delta Devils meet Jackson State (4-1) in a non-conference series, games at Braddy Field on Friday and Sunday and one in Itta Bena on Saturday. Joseph Eichelberger is batting a crazy .714 for JSU. … Southern Miss’ Nick Monistere was 0-for-10 heading into Wednesday’s game at New Orleans, then put up a 3-for-4 with a homer, five RBIs, four runs and two walks in the 4-1 Golden Eagles’ 15-10 victory. … Mississippi State is 13th and Ole Miss 14th in the Nashville Tennessean‘s latest SEC power rankings — and that was before both lost midweek games. MSU is 2-2, UM 2-3. The Rebels are batting .181 and have a 5.23 ERA. P.S. Pencil former East Central CC standout Tim Anderson in as Miami’s starting shortstop. The former All-Star and batting champ reportedly has signed a one-year, $5 million contract with the Marlins on the heels of a disappointing 2023 season (.245, one homer) with the Chicago White Sox. Jon Berti was in line for the Miami shortstop job.