choctaws on spot

The season is so young and, yet, there is an important series this weekend in Clinton. Mississippi College, off to a sluggish start, faces Hardin-Simmons in a three-game set (twinbill today, single game Saturday) at Frierson Field. The Choctaws are 2-5. They’re hitting .235 with no home runs. The staff ERA is 4.78. They’ve made 16 errors, eight by third baseman Spencer Brunson, one of the team’s best players. “Weird” is how Brian Owens describes it. “We’ve been totally different in games than in practices.” There are a lot of new faces on this club, with very few remaining from the one that won a school-record 39 games in 2010. MC was nationally ranked in NCAA Division III in preseason in 2011 but started slow and wound up 24-18. Owens thinks this team can improve on that win total. He has a lot of experienced pitchers on hand, which could be key. “One or two games can get it turned around,” Owens said. Maybe it’ll happen this weekend.