campus notes
Circle the dates of March 6, April 22-24 and, most notably, May 13-15. Those are the dates when new Auburn coach Butch Thompson will send his Tigers out against Southern Miss, Ole Miss and Mississippi State in 2016. Aberdeen native and ex-Itawamba Community College star Thompson, a popular and well-respected assistant coach at State the previous seven seasons, has taken the reins on the Plains, where he was an assistant from 2006-08. Auburn will play USM in a tournament in Pensacola, Fla., in March, visit Oxford to play Ole Miss in April and host State in May in the next-to-last SEC weekend. … Ole Miss’ Will Golsan went on a tear in the Cal Ripken Baseball League playoffs back in the summer, batting .438 with six runs in five games en route to winning the championship. The sophomore out of New Hope High has had his moments during the Rebels’ fall ball scrimmages, as well, registering a four-hit game last weekend. UM has two more scrimmages slated for this weekend. … Southern Miss will begin its 5-game Fall World Series on Tuesday at Taylor Park. The last game is set for Nov. 3, which will conclude fall ball for the Golden Eagles. Senior pitchers Luke Lowery and Cody Livingston will manage the two squads in the World Series. … Jacob Barfield, a sophomore transfer from Wharton County (Texas) Junior College, put an exclamation point on Mississippi State’s Bulldog World Series with a three-run, last-inning home run for the Grays on Wednesday night. Cole Gordon homered for the Maroon team, which won the 5-game series. … Delta State concluded fall ball last weekend with the final two games of its Green and White Series. Compiling three-hit games were Luke Stanley, Erick Santiago and Josh Peden, while Westin Stringer, Itawamba CC transfer Brady Chambley and Dalton Moats, a former Coastal Carolina standout, delivered stout pitching performances.