Tag Archives: college baseball

18 Mar

scoring machine

In its last five games, Jackson State has hung up these numbers: 16, 7, 10, 30 and 15. These aren’t football scores, mind you. While Deion Sanders and his gridiron gang have been drawing the lion’s share of attention lately, Omar Johnson’s baseball team has ripped off eight straight wins thanks mainly to a prolific attack. The Tigers beat Grambling 15-8 in a non-conference road game on Wednesday. They scored 47 runs in a three-game blitz of Alcorn State at Lorman over last weekend. JSU, which doesn’t play again until next week, is 11-5 and 6-0 in the SWAC. The pitching – see the 6.45 staff ERA – might need to shape up, but the offense looks to be in fine form. The Tigers don’t hit many homers, but they get on base (.403 OBP), steal bases (49 in 54 attempts) and score (8.5 runs per game). There are many contributors. Chandler Dillard, from Madison, is batting .409 with a .481 OBP, 20 RBIs, 14 runs and eight steals. Jatavious Melton (Natchez) has a .433 OBP, 14 runs and a team-best 10 steals. Chenar Brown is batting .321 with 15 RBIs, and Wesley Reyes (.338 OBP) leads the team with 15 runs. C.J. Newsome (Columbia) is getting on at a .392 clip. Staff ace Nik Galatas has benefited from the potent offense; he is 3-2 despite a 5.74 ERA. Anthony Becerra, another starter, is 2-1, 3.18. Bullpen stalwart Steven Davila has two wins and two saves with a 6.89 ERA. While pitching is typically the key to any championship run, JSU might just have enough offense to carry it in the SWAC.

04 Mar

observations

Intrastate competition was on the college menu Wednesday night, with Mississippi State topping Southern Miss 4-1 in Pearl and Ole Miss whipping Jackson State 12-1 in Oxford. It would be folly to draw too many conclusions based solely on these games, but some observations are in order: 1) USM needs to start putting the bat on the ball. 2) The hype about State’s pitching depth appears justified. 3) Ole Miss’ “slump” appears to be over. 4) JSU should be focused on its SWAC opener this weekend. … USM (4-4) managed three hits and struck out 20 times against State. The Golden Eagles are batting .179 as a team with 83 strikeouts in 240 at-bats. That really needs to change. … State (6-2 and a consensus top 10 team) got a great start from Houston Harding, who fanned nine in five innings, and brilliant relief work from three others, including Preston Johnson, a Hinds Community College transfer who punched out six in two innings in his D-I debut. Bulldogs pitchers have a 3.00 ERA and 111 K’s over 72 innings. … After scoring just 10 runs in losing a three-game set to Central Florida, Ole Miss (7-2 and a consensus top 10) scored 28 in back-to-back wins against Memphis and JSU. The Rebels put up seven in the first inning vs. JSU’s rattled starter Brandon Valentin. Tim Elko, who hit three homers in 14 games in 2020, homered for the second straight day. … JSU, 0-8 all-time vs. UM, may be outmanned against SEC competition but should still be a force in the SWAC. The Tigers (3-5) visit Alabama State this weekend. Keep an eye on Chandler Dillard, a former Germantown High star and Copiah-Lincoln CC transfer who is batting .333 with nine RBIs. He hit .426 in 2020.

23 Feb

random numbers

3 – Wins by Ole Miss against top 10 teams in the State Farm College Baseball Showdown, earning the Rebels their first No. 1 ranking by Baseball America and D1baseball.
11 – Combined RBIs by Mississippi State’s Luke Hancock and Rowdey Jordan in a 2-1 finish at the State Farm event in Texas.
45 – Strikeouts by Southern Miss pitchers in going 2-1 against Northwestern State; Hunter Stanley and Ben Ethridge combined for 25 K’s.
7 – Home runs by Pearl River Community College’s Tate Parker, leading NJCAA Division II. Northwest CC’s Peyton Mills is second with six.
11 – Hits by Kirkland Trahan, who has two homers, six RBIs and seven runs, for 2-4 Delta State.
8 – Hits by Ken Scott, who has a homer and four RBIs, for 0-6 Mississippi College.
11 – Runs by Nick Lucido, who is 11-for-22, for 4-2 Belhaven.
8 – RBIs by Mason Little, who is 9-for-21, for 2-4 Millsaps.
2 – Wins in two starts by Connor Adams, who has a 2.70 ERA, for 4-2 William Carey.
0 – Combined runs by Jackson State (0-3) and Mississippi Valley State (0-2); Alcorn State hasn’t gotten on the field yet.

20 Feb

just pitch, baby

NCAA Division I schools in Mississippi have not yet started playing ball, but we already have a theme for 2021. Pitching. The state’s Big 3 are loaded with quality arms, and Jackson State has a couple to crow about, as well. Ole Miss’ Gunnar Hoglund and Doug Nikhazy and Mississippi State’s Christian MacLeod, Eric Cerantola and Will Bednar are showing up on various lists of top MLB draft prospects for this summer. Hoglund, Nikhazy and MacLeod are on the 55-player Golden Spikes Award watch list. Hoglund has been selected to — at last count — four preseason All-America teams. Nikhazy, MacLeod and Southern Miss ace Walker Powell were pegged as second-team All-Americans by Collegiate Baseball, and Powell is the preseason pitcher of the year in C-USA. JSU features Nik Galatas, chosen as the SWAC’s preseason pitcher of the year, and Steven Davila, a top closer in the league. The considerable depth of the Ole Miss and State staffs will be tested right out of the chute this weekend in the State Farm College Baseball Showdown in Arlington, Texas, where they’ll face three nationally ranked Texas schools. USM opens at home Sunday with a doubleheader against Northwestern State; JSU is at Mercer in Georgia for a twinbill today. Defense wins championships in football. In basketball, shooting. In baseball, it’s pitching. Mississippi’s D-I schools are armed for the task.

08 Feb

tagging up

It would be an understatement to say Pearl River Community College has come out swinging. The 4-0 Wildcats, ranked seventh in the NJCAA preseason poll, hit 11 homers in a doubleheader sweep of Mississippi Gulf Coast on Sunday and have 16 bombs on the season. Von Seibert hit four homers on Sunday, three in Game 1, when the Wildcats set an apparent school record with eight. “It’s just what we do around here,” Seibert said in a release. … East Mississippi, which went 1-13 in 2020’s abbreviated campaign, is also 4-0, including a sweep of Northwest, ranked fourth by the NJCAA. Meridian moved to 4-0 with a sweep of Copiah-Lincoln on Sunday. … Delta State, starting Year 2 under coach Rodney Batts, dropped two of three games at Shorter over the weekend despite the efforts of Jones juco transfer Kirkland Trahan, who went 6-for-12 with two homers and five RBIs. … Mississippi College was outscored 18-2 in a Sunday doubleheader loss to Valdosta, nationally ranked in NCAA Division II. Game 3 of the Gulf South series is today in Clinton. … William Carey University won its opener on Sunday thanks to a walk-off double by Jake Lycette, a freshman from Brandon, then completed a sweep against Clarke (Iowa) behind the pitching of Carlo Graffeo and Connor Adams. Game 3 is today. … Blue Mountain College, stung by the tragic death of pitcher Chris Maurin in a Jan. 28 accident, is slated to open its season Tuesday at home against Tougaloo. The Toppers have had five games either postponed or cancelled. … Belhaven University is now slated to open with a three-game series against Piedmont College starting Thursday at Jackson’s Smith-Wills Stadium. … Millsaps opens with back-to-back twinbills at Hendrix on Saturday and Sunday. P.S. Trivia time: Who was the one and only manager of the Jackson DiamondKats, the ill-fated independent club that played at Smith-Wills Stadium in 2000? Answer: Steve Dillard, the former Ole Miss star and big leaguer who turns 70 today. Dillard, an infielder, hit .243 over parts of eight years in the majors and managed in the affiliated minors in addition to his year with the D-Kats.

16 Jan

lift the lid

Ready for some live baseball? Head for Blue Mountain on Jan. 30. The much-anticipated 2021 college season will commence in the Magnolia State two weeks from today, when Blue Mountain College hosts Rust College in a twinbill at the BMC SportsPlex. The Toppers are slated to play their first 19 games at home. BMC went 10-15 before play was abruptly halted in 2020, the NAIA program’s 11th season. … NCAA Division II members Mississippi College and Delta State are scheduled to open Feb. 6, as is NAIA Tougaloo. NAIA William Carey opens Feb. 12. Belhaven University’s schedule lists an invitational tournament, co-hosted with fellow NCAA Division III member Millsaps College, for Smith-Wills Stadium between Feb. 12-21. The NCAA Division I start date is Feb. 19, though the Big 3’s schedules have not been posted. Jackson State’s schedule lists the Tigers’ first game as Feb. 23 at Mississippi State.

12 Jun

more draft doodles

For baseball fans who love this sort of thing – and most do – Baltimore’s selection of Ole Miss’ Anthony Servideo in the MLB draft on Thursday completed a cool historical connection. Servideo’s grandfather was Curt Blefary, who broke into the majors with the Orioles in 1965 and won American League rookie of the year honors. Blefary, who played eight years in the majors, died in 2001, when Servideo was 2. Servideo, a shortstop, was the O’s third-round pick, 74th overall. … All told, seven in-state players were picked in the five rounds of the draft, three from Mississippi State, two from Ole Miss and two high schoolers. Also, former Ocean Springs High star Garrett Crochet was the 11th overall pick out of Tennessee. … Justin Foscue, drafted 14th overall by Texas on Wednesday, is the 13th Mississippi State player to be picked in the first round since the MLB draft started in 1965. State is now tied for 11th place with two others on the list of schools with the most first-round picks. Stanford tops the chart with 24; the SEC leader is Vanderbilt with 18. … The top prep pick from the state was not a surprise: slugger Blaze Jordan from DeSoto Central. It was a surprise to the team that drafted him, Boston, that Jordan lasted late into the third round. Red Sox amateur scouting director Paul Toboni told mlb.com: “Quite frankly, we didn’t think he’d make it that far in the draft. He’s a unique talent. A ton of power upside with a good feel to hit.” The slot value of the 89th pick, per mlb.com, is $667,000. The Red Sox could offer more to entice the 17-year-old State signee to turn pro. … The slot value of the 52nd overall pick, where State’s J.T. Ginn was taken by the New York Mets on Thursday, is $1.4 million. Ginn, currently rehabbing from elbow surgery, turned down $2M-plus two years ago as the 30th pick by the Los Angeles Dodgers. The right-hander has three years of eligibility left at State. The Mets reportedly are confident – and hopeful — he’ll sign. A Mets scouting executive said of Ginn, “He’s got all the qualities of being a top-of-the-rotation guy.” … Detroit’s selection of Biloxi High’s Colt Keith in the fifth round marked the continuation of a trend: All six of the rebuilding Tigers’ picks were hitters, including the No. 1 overall pick, Spencer Torkelson out of Arizona State, and three are third basemen. Keith, an ASU signee, oddly enough, was drafted as a third sacker, though he also played shortstop and pitched. He was Mississippi’s Gatorade player of the year in 2019. “We got a high-ceiling third baseman that we’re excited to get, a left-handed hitter,” Detroit scouting director Scott Pleis told mlb.com.

30 May

something new

The new Southeast Collegiate Baseball League is scheduled to begin play on June 8 with multiple teams based in Jackson, Hattiesburg and Baton Rouge, La. The wood-bat college summer league is a joint venture between former big leaguer Chris Snopek’s P360 Performance Sports and Baton Rouge-based Traction Sports Performance, of which ex-big leaguer and LSU alum Ryan Theriot is Director of Business Development. The league will give playing opportunities to graduated high school seniors and college-level players with eligibility remaining, according to a press release. The 2020 prep and college seasons were halted in March by the COVID-19 pandemic. Among the players listed on the SECL rosters are Hayden Dunhurst and Trey LeFleur from Ole Miss, Southern Miss’ Hunter LeBlanc, D.J. Stevens of Jackson State, Delta State’s Jake Barlow and Bryson Ware, a former Germantown High standout headed for Auburn. “The phone was already ringing about forming a college league,” Snopek, a former Ole Miss star, said in the release. “We thought we could put a few teams together, but the response has been incredible, so we realized this was bigger than we expected.” P360 owns baseball training centers in Jackson, Flowood and Hattiesburg. Former USM pitcher and onetime big leaguer Scott Copeland will be involved with the SECL’s Hattiesburg teams. Traction Sports has a facility in Hattiesburg as well as Baton Rouge. The SECL commissioner is Cory Hough. For more information, visit p360performancesports.com or tractionsports.com.

22 May

plowing ahead

The New Albany-based Cotton States League has expanded from six to eight teams for 2020 and is scheduled to begin its season on June 5. The wood-bat college summer league celebrated its 10th anniversary in 2019, with the Tippah County Tribe winning the championship. Returning for the Tribe are pitcher Braden Quesinberry, a Harding (Ark.) University alum who went 6-1 with a 1.41 ERA; J.T. McGee (Northern Kentucky), a .350 hitter with two homers and 13 RBIs; and Brandon Hale (Southeastern Louisiana), a .327 hitter. New to the Tribe roster is catcher Matthew Priest, a redshirt freshman at Mississippi College in 2020. More than 120 players from roughly 30 different schools participated last year, per the league’s website. Most of the players have a Mississippi connection. Many of the state’s junior colleges are represented, as are a number of four-year schools from various divisions. Mississippi State commit Blayze Berry is on the HillCountry Generals’ roster. The XPlorers’ roster lists Kyle Crigger from Louisiana Tech, Chris Swanberg from Memphis and Austin King from Alabama State. Another Memphis player, Ian Bibiloni, is with the North Delta Dealers along with Mississippi College’s Markarius “Woogie” Lee. Delta State’s Trace White is on the Tallahatchie Rascals team. Belhaven’s Nathan Herron (one of the CSBL’s top hitters in 2019) and Jared Heun are with the Golden Triangle Jets, as is UAB’s Hunter Hill. Blue Mountain’s Easton Williams is with the Tupelo Thunder, and Millsaps’ Sam Suggs is on the Mudcats’ roster. P.S. The Cape Cod League, widely considered the best of the college summer loops, cancelled its season, as did the New England Collegiate Baseball League and the Valley League. The popular Coastal Plain League delayed its start to July 1, and the Prospect League and Alaska League also have announced a tentative July 1 start. The Texas Collegiate League plans to open on July 3. The National Baseball Congress World Series, the big late summer amateur event in Wichita, hasn’t made a decision on hosting the event.

02 May

lost

Sometime in distant future — maybe in a galaxy far, far away — fans will look back at the 2020 college season and wonder what the heck happened here. It might be tagged with an asterisk, as in *season cancelled. It was all so sudden. Promising starts were stopped in their tracks. Dreams were dashed. The COVID-19 crisis did what only one opposing team had done to the Ole Miss Rebels in 2020. It beat them. UM was 16-1 when the season was halted. Tyler Keenan looked like an SEC Triple Crown threat, batting .403 with seven homers and 33 RBIs. Gunnar Hoglund was an emerging ace at 3-0, 1.16 ERA. Mississippi State, with a couple of potential first-round draft picks (Justin Foscue, Jordan Westburg) in the lineup, was 12-4. As with Ole Miss, we’re left to wonder how the Bulldogs’ season would have played out. A rebuilding Southern Miss club, with new stars stepping up, was also 12-4. Jackson State was 9-7, featured three .400 hitters, including Jaylyn Williams at .434, and was sure to be a force in the SWAC. Mississippi Valley State was 0-14 – and will have to live with that indignity for all time. Chad Ragland was crushing it for Delta State, batting .449 for a team that was off to a 13-10 start under new coach Rodney Batts. Chauncey Callier was having a huge season for 11-9 Mississippi College, hitting .357 with six homers. Justin Milam had swatted five homers with 19 RBIs for Belhaven, 8-8 in Kyle Palmer’s first year as coach. Fritz Walker III had four homers and 18 RBIs for 7-11 Millsaps. Five Mississippi jucos were ranked in the top 15 of the NJCAA Division II poll on the eve of conference play. Things were just heating up when the plug was pulled. Done in mid-March. Seems so unfair. All we are left with are some numbers and woulda, coulda debates.