opening bells

The first “Play ball!” of the 2012 season will ring out today at 3 p.m. at Jackson’s Smith-Wills Stadium. Belhaven, nationally ranked in NAIA, welcomes Blue Mountain, in its second year of fielding a team, for the first game of the college campaign. The major schools begin practice today, looking eagerly (we suppose) ahead to the NCAA Division I standard opening day of Feb. 17. Ole Miss, ranked in two major preseason polls, opens at TCU. Mississippi State hosts Washington State; Southern Miss welcomes Nicholls State; and Jackson State will host Florida A&M.; Division III Mississippi College is on the road for its opener on Feb. 3 at Huntingdon (in Alabama), and D-III Millsaps starts against Belhaven at home on Feb. 7. Division II Delta State launches on Feb. 10 at Montevallo (in Alabama).