Monthly Archives: May 2025

03 May

home cookin’

In his major league debut Friday night, Gunnar Hoglund wore the colors of the visiting team, but he sure looked right at home on the mound at loanDepot Park in Miami. In a sense, he was. A native of Dunedin, Fla., the former Ole Miss standout had a cheering section of family and friends behind the A’s dugout, and he treated them to a brilliant performance. Hoglund shut out the Marlins for five innings before yielding a solo homer in the sixth. He finished six innings, allowing six hits and no walks with seven strikeouts in a 6-1 victory. “All those people that came and watched me tonight, they’ve all played a part in me getting to this point now. … Without them, I wouldn’t be here,” Hoglund told mlb.com. Hoglund, 25, was the 19th overall pick out of Ole Miss by Toronto in 2021 after going 10-5 with a 3.68 ERA in three college seasons. He was traded to Oakland the next spring. The 6-foot-4, 220-pound right-hander was 1-2, 2.43, in six starts in his first full season in Triple-A when he got the call to the big leagues. … Former Mississippi College star Blaine Crim also made his MLB debut on Friday, and it didn’t go as well. Batting eighth and playing first base for Texas, Crim went 0-for-3 with two strikeouts as the slumping Rangers lost to visiting Seattle 13-1. He struck out in his first at-bat against Bryan Woo. A .296 career hitter in six minor league seasons, Crim is the first former MC player to appear in a big league game since Harry Craft in 1942. P.S. Ole Miss product Doug Nikhazy, knocked around in his big league debut last Saturday, got knocked around again in his first Triple-A start since returning to the minors. The left-hander yielded eight hits (three homers), three walks and five runs in four innings, taking the loss Friday for Columbus against St. Paul. His Triple-A ERA rose to 4.84. Debuting for Cleveland on April 26, Nikhazy gave up six runs in three innings against Boston.

02 May

racking up wins

William Carey University moved to 2-0 in pool play in the SSAC Tournament with an 8-4 win Thursday over in-state rival Blue Mountain Christian at Jackson, Tenn. The victory was especially significant for Carey coach Bobby Halford, who moved past Ron Polk on the career wins list with No. 1,374, according to a school release. “It’s great for our program and our university. I’ve been very blessed to be able to do this all of these years and I owe my family a big thank you for all of their support,” Halford, in his 40th season, said in the release. Halford ranks in the top 20 for all-time wins at any college level. In Thursday’s victory, Bridley Thomas drove in three runs and Bobby Magee threw seven solid innings for his seventh W as the Crusaders, ranked 10th in NAIA, improved to 37-11. (The current record includes two forfeits from Faulkner.) Carey plays Middle Georgia State today. BMC, 0-2 in the tournament, fell to 27-24. P.S. Belhaven also got a big win Thursday, crushing Piedmont (Ga.) 9-1 to move to 2-0 in the CCS Tournament at Maryville, Tenn. Nick Thornton drove in four runs with three doubles and Sylvester Colton and Lane Alack combined on a five-hitter. The Blazers are 30-11 and riding a seven-game win streak. They’ll play a semifinal game today. … Rust (22-28) bowed out of the HBCUAC Tournament with a pair of losses at North Little Rock, Ark. … The GSC Tournament starts today with Delta State, the top seed, facing Montevallo (Ala.) and 4-seed Mississippi College meeting West Alabama at Oxford, Ala.

02 May

debut alert, take 2

To a list that includes MLB old-timers Harry Craft and Hal Lee, add Blaine Crim. The former Mississippi College star reportedly will be called up by the Texas Rangers, who sent veteran first baseman Jake Burger to the minors on Thursday. The list of former MC players who have played in the majors is fairly short, including Craft (1937-42), Lee (1930-36), George Gill (1937-39) and Jim Joe Edwards (1922-28). Crim, 27, was hitting .313 (.565 slug) with seven homers and 25 RBIs at Triple-A Round Rock. He is a .296 career hitter with 110 minor league homers since 2019. He won a Puerto Rican Winter League batting title with a .406 average in 2022. The Rangers drafted Crim in the 19th round after he won Gulf South Conference player of the year honors in his fourth year at MC. A 5-foot-10, 200-pound first baseman/DH, he has never been on the Rangers’ 40-man roster. Interestingly, Texas opted not to recall ex-Mississippi State standout Justin Foscue, who can also play first base. Foscue made his MLB debut last year and is currently hitting .304 at Round Rock. Of note: Four former MSU players have manned first base for the Rangers over the years: Rafael Palmeiro, Will Clark, Mitch Moreland and Nathaniel Lowe.

01 May

debut alert

Gunnar Hoglund, a 2021 first-round pick out of Ole Miss, is getting the call to the big leagues by the A’s, according to various reports. The 25-year-old right-hander could be in line to start Friday’s game at Miami. Hoglund threw five scoreless innings for Triple-A Las Vegas on Sunday; he is 1-2 with a 2.43 ERA over six starts in the Pacific Coast League. Between Double-A and Triple-A in 2024, Hoglund posted a 9-7 record, 3.44 ERA. Drafted 19th overall by Toronto four years ago, and coming off Tommy John surgery, Hoglund was traded in the spring of 2022 to Oakland in the Matt Chapman deal. … When he plays, Hoglund will be the third Mississippi product to make his MLB debut in 2025, following Jake Mangum and Doug Nikhazy, and the 20th overall to get in an MLB game this season.

01 May

names to know

JoJo Parker (No. 14), J.B. Middleton (31), Landon Harmon (47), Talon Haley (84), Pico Kohn (102) and Mason Morris (116): All are ranked among MLB Pipeline’s new Top 150 MLB draft prospects for 2025. Parker (Purvis), Harmon (East Union) and Haley (Lewisburg) are high school players; Middleton pitches at Southern Miss, Kohn at Mississippi State and Morris at Ole Miss.
Brent Rooker: The ex-Mississippi State All-American hit his eighth homer to spark a six-run ninth as the A’s, 16-15 with six wins in eight games, beat Texas 7-1 in the major leagues on Wednesday.
Colt Keith: The former Biloxi High star, battling a sophomore slump in MLB, hit his first homer of the season and scored twice for Detroit in a 7-4 victory at Houston; Keith, a .260 hitter in 2024, is batting .181.
Brandon Johnson: The Ole Miss alum, a fourth-year pro, notched his fourth save for Double-A Northwest Arkansas (Kansas City chain) and now has a 1.42 ERA over 10 appearances.
Konnor Griffin: The ex-Jackson Prep standout, Pittsburgh’s No. 2 prospect, belted his fifth homer for Low-Class A Bradenton and is batting .265 over 20 games as a pro rookie.
Ti’Quan Forbes: The Columbia High product, the state’s Mr. Baseball in 2014, has signed with the independent Mississippi Mud Monsters; Forbes, 28, an infielder, was a second-round draft pick by Texas 11 years ago and reached the Triple-A level in affiliated ball.
Austin Canale: The Belhaven freshman shortstop drove in five runs on a four-hit day as 2-seed Belhaven beat Huntingdon 16-1 on Wednesday in the first round of the CCS Tournament at Maryville, Tenn.
Eli Collins: The senior outfielder went 2-for-4 with three RBIs and two runs to lead William Carey to a 15-5 win against Tennessee Southern in the first day of pool play in the SSAC Tournament.
Mason Nichols: The Ole Miss senior pitcher has been named the 2024-25 SEC Male H. Boyd McWhorter Scholar-Athlete of the Year by the conference office. Nichols, a Jackson Prep grad, is a biological sciences major and is 3-1 with a 5.40 ERA this season.