catching up

While the state’s Big 3 Division I schools were losing conference series over the weekend, Jackson State and Alcorn State battled it out in an overshadowed — but significant — Southwestern Athletic Conference series. After dropping the Saturday opener at Rat McGowan Stadium in Lorman, JSU bounced back to sweep a Sunday doubleheader, scoring 27 runs on the day. Stephen Curtis had five hits and three RBIs in the twinbill for the Tigers, now 12-12, 9-3 SWAC. Alcorn is 5-22, 5-4. … Playing at Smith-Wills Stadium (on the artificial surface) because of inclement weather, Millsaps pounded Centre 13-0 on Sunday and moved to 14-7, 6-3 in Southern Athletic Association play. Daniel Ross allowed just two hits over seven innings for the W. … Keith Case, coach at Copiah-Lincoln Community College for 21 years, has announced his retirement at season’s end. His current club is 15-10 and 5-3 (tied for second) in the MACJC South. … On the MLB front: Former Jackson Generals stars Freddy Garcia and Ramon Castro have been released by San Diego and the Los Angeles Dodgers, respectively, and Nettleon’s Bill Hall was cut by the L.A. Angels. … Former General Lance Berkman, playing first base for Texas on Sunday, went 2-for-2 with a homer and raised his spring average to .275. … Edward Salcedo, expected to be the Mississippi Braves’ third baseman this season, hit two home runs for Atlanta on Saturday. … Southern Miss product Brian Dozier, hoping to nail down the second base job with Minnesota, had a 3-for-4 Sunday and is batting .278. … Ole Miss alum Seth Smith is up to .341 with Oakland. … Mississippi Gulf Coast CC product Tony Sipp now has a 2.70 ERA for Arizona, his new team. … Meridian CC alum Cliff Lee has a 5.94 ERA and Mississippi State star Jonathan Papelbon an 11.37 for Philadelphia.