a tiger’s tale

Raise your hand if you had heard of Alexander Juday before this season. Anyone? Well, he should be a little more well-known today. The sophomore right-hander from Indiana tossed a pressure-packed complete game to lead Jackson State to a 6-2 win over Prairie View and give the Tigers their first SWAC championship in 13 years. Juday went 2-0 with a 1.06 ERA over 17 innings in the league tournament at Fort Worth, Texas, and earned MVP honors. After starting this season as a set-up reliever, Juday is now a front-line starter with a 7-4 record and six complete games. That’s making a name for yourself. What’s more, coach Omar Johnson’s Tigers (34-20) now own a much-coveted automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. P.S. Millsaps (38-12) will play Southern Maine in its NCAA Division III College World Series opener. The game is set for Friday at Appleton, Wisc. … Of the five finalists for the Ferriss Trophy, which will be awarded on Monday, Mississippi State’s Hunter Renfroe would appear most deserving of the annual honor. The junior outfielder, a potential first-round pick in the MLB draft, batted .362 with 15 homers, 51 RBIs, a .691 slugging percentage, 48 runs and nine stolen bases. All that for a 40-12 team that enters this week’s SEC Tournament as the 5-seed. The other candidates, all worthy nominees, to be sure, are Ole Miss catcher Stuart Turner, Rebels pitcher Bobby Wahl, Southern Miss hurler Andrew Pierce and Delta State pitcher Josh Branstetter.