good news and …
Good day for Mississippi State and Pearl River Community College. While rumors percolate about who’ll be coaching them in 2026, the ’25 MSU team upended Northeastern 11-2 Friday in the opener of the Tallahassee Regional. Joe Powell and Noah Sullivan hit home runs and Ben Davis and Ryan McPherson combined on a five-hitter as the Bulldogs set up a winners bracket meeting today with Florida State, the top seed in the regional. Pearl River got a brilliant two-hitter from K.K. Clark — an MSU transfer — and beat East Central CC 10-0 in five innings to advance to the championship game of the NJCAA Division II World Series. Second-seeded PRCC, which won the title in 2022, faces No. 1 Pasco-Hernando State (Fla.) today in Enid, Okla., for the crown. ECCC ends its season at 46-16. … Bad day for Ole Miss and Southern Miss. Pitching let both of the regional hosts down. The Rebels were shocked by Murray State 9-6 in Oxford, while the Golden Eagles got pummeled 11-4 by Columbia in Hattiesburg. Ole Miss gets 3-seed Western Kentucky today. Former Hinds CC star Thomas Marsala is on the Hilltoppers’ roster. USM plays an elimination game against 2-seed Alabama, upset by Miami on Friday. There are several familiar names on the Crimson Tide roster: Bryce Fowler, who played at USM two years ago before transferring to Pearl River CC; Will Hodo, a former Wayne Academy star; Beau Bryans, a Madison Central and Jones College alum; and Jack Ketchum, a freshman out of Heritage Academy. P.S. Jake Mangum, out since April 24, returned to Tampa Bay’s roster on Friday. The rookie out of MSU, batting .338 when he was hurt, went 0-for-3 in a 2-1 loss to Houston. (Fun fact: Yainer Diaz, who hit the walk-off homer for the Astros, is the older brother of the Mississippi Mud Monsters’ Victor Diaz. Both are catchers.) … Rick Collier, who won more than 700 games in 23 years at Itawamba Community College, has retired. A three-time coach of the year in the state, his teams were a regular in the NJCAA national rankings and made the postseason 18 times. Under Delta State alum Collier, the program had more than 20 players drafted by MLB clubs, among them Tim Dillard and Desmond Jennings. … Happy trails, also, to Bill Blackwell, who has retired as executive director of the Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame and Museum, where he had served since 2016. Blackwell, who played baseball at Southern Illinois, was a longtime general manager of the Double-A Jackson Mets and Generals at Smith-Wills Stadium. … Today is opening day for the Cotton States League, the New Albany-based college summer loop that’s been around since 2009. The league will field four teams, stocked mostly with small college and juco players.