Tag Archives: college baseball

28 Mar

rebel yells

Ole Miss fans love history and they love Archie, and the current Rebels team has triggered chatter about both. The Rebels are 6-0 in the SEC for the first time since 1969, which, as the folks on the SEC Now show dutifully pointed out today, is back when Archie Manning was their shortstop. Manning was not the star of the ’69 team, which was the last of coach Tom Swayze’s four league champions, and neither was future big leaguer Steve Dillard, also an infielder on that club. The team’s two All-SEC picks were Whitey Adams and Ed McLarty. John Shaw, who held UM’s career stolen base record for many years, was on that team, along with pitching stalwarts Fred Selser and Ken Kauerz. The ’69 Rebels won the SEC title by beating Florida in a playoff series, won a regional (called a district championship in those days) and went to the College World Series, where they were ousted in their third game by Texas. It’s much, much too soon to suggest the current Rebels are bound for such glory, but they do have the ingredients of a great club. Led by SEC Triple Crown contender Tim Elko, the big first baseman who is batting .341 with nine homers and 34 RBIs, UM (20-4) is batting .282 as a team and scoring 7.5 runs a game. Pro prospects Gunnar Hoglund (3-0, 2.63 ERA) and Doug Nikhazy (2-1, 3.10) have lived up to their billing. Yes, the SEC schedule is a gauntlet: There are nationally ranked teams lurking practically every weekend. But the Rebels have woken up some inspiring echoes.

26 Mar

expect a rock fight

Nineteen games into its season, Southern Miss still isn’t hitting. Pitching, on the front and back end of games, has carried the Golden Eagles to a 13-6 record and will be leaned on again this weekend in Hattiesburg in their C-USA opening series against Louisiana Tech. “We’ll hang our hat on our guys and what they’ve been able to accomplish to this point,” USM coach Scott Berry said in a video conference with media this week. Batting .208 as a team, USM faces a tough Tech pitching staff (3.27 ERA) led by No. 1 starter Jonathan Fincher (3-0, 1.50). The nationally ranked Bulldogs (14-5), coached by Mississippi native and former USM assistant Lane Burroughs, roll out three .300 hitters and are at .287 as a club. USM counters with a pitching staff that ranks among the nation’s best in ERA (2.91) and walks per nine innings (2.16), which Berry cites as a key stat. The starting pool of Hunter Stanley, Walker Powell, Ben Ethridge and Drew Boyd has been consistently effective, and closer Garrett Ramsey has been lights out. Taking over Stanley’s role from 2020, former Northwest Rankin High and Hinds Community College star Ramsey is seven-for-seven in save opps, has yet to allow a run in 7 2/3 innings and features a 14-1 strikeout-to-walk ratio. Runs may be at a premium at Taylor Park this weekend.

25 Mar

survey says …

If sports polls are a show of respect, then Mississippi baseball is getting plenty of it. Mississippi State is ranked No. 2 and Ole Miss No. 4 in Baseball America’s NCAA Division I poll, and both schools are in the top 10 in just about every other D-I ranking. Jackson State, off to a 6-0 start in SWAC play, is ranked No. 1 in the Black College Nines HBCU Top 10. Pearl River Community College is No. 2 in the NJCAA’s Division II poll, and three other state jucos are also ranked, including East Central (which is No. 16 despite leading the MACCC standings with a 13-3 record). William Carey is No. 14 in the current NAIA poll and shouldn’t lose much ground after going 1-2 at No. 6 Faulkner last weekend, dropping the rubber game 6-5 in 10 innings. Belhaven, 13-5 and 8-1 in the American Southwest Conference, got votes in this week’s d3baseball.com Top 25 poll. (Note: There are 389 D-III baseball schools vying for attention.) And then there’s the high school ranks, where Madison Central has risen to No. 4 in the MaxPreps Top 25. The Jaguars, led by Stanford signee Braden Montgomery and State signee Hunter Hines, are 14-0 and have won by such scores as 20-2, 21-5, 16-0, 15-1, 15-3 and 13-1.

19 Mar

not to be overlooked

The SEC openers for Mississippi State (vs. LSU) and Ole Miss (vs. Auburn) are the main course options this weekend, but there is a delectable side dish on the college menu. William Carey, off to a 15-2 start and ranked 14th in the NAIA coaches’ poll, opens conference play with a stern test. The Crusaders visit No. 6 Faulkner (10-1) in the Southern States Athletic Conference opener for both schools. Bobby Halford, in his 36th year as Carey coach, should get a good read on the strength of his 2021 team, which has played just one road game to date. Jay Johnston, at .417, leads five Crusaders regulars batting .300 or better. Chris Williams is at .333 with three home runs and 19 RBIs. Sloan Dieter has been a two-way factor with a team-high four homers and a 3-1, 1.99 ERA on his pitching ledger. Faulkner, idle since Feb. 27, is always a formidable foe. Under 12th-year coach Patrick McCarthy, a onetime Mississippi College grad assistant, the Eagles have been to the NAIA World Series eight of the last nine years, winning it all in 2013.

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.