ouch

Ole Miss loses. Southern Miss wins. Talk about your cruel twists of fate. Ole Miss, nationally ranked all year, gets a regional at home and a super regional at home yet comes up short — again! — of reaching the College World Series for the first time since 1972. And then, to add insult to this injury, USM is packing for Omaha. The Golden Eagles didn’t even expect to get into the NCAA Tournament, but they went to Atlanta and won the regional and went to Gainesville, Fla., and won the super regional. They are truly living a dream. This season will forever belong to Corky Palmer, who’ll retire as coach whenever it finally does end. But USM fans should also tip a cap to Hill Denson. Denson, now the coach at Belhaven, is largely responsible for turning the USM program into a viable Division I entity. Starting way back in the early ’80s, he upgraded the schedule, the talent, the budget and the facilities. And he hired Palmer from Meridian Community College. Certainly one of them called the other soon after tonight’s dramatic win.