Tag Archives: college baseball

05 Mar

present arms

Presented with an opportunity to strut his considerable stuff on a grand stage, Mississippi State’s Dakota Hudson answered the call on Friday night. Facing nationally ranked UCLA in the Dodger Stadium College Baseball Classic, the junior right-hander yielded five hits and two runs with six strikeouts over seven innings. He took the loss, however, as State fell to the Bruins 2-1 when a ninth-inning rally came up short. Hudson entered the game at 1-0 with a 1.64 ERA and 17 strikeouts in 11 innings over two starts. Coming off a standout summer in the Cape Cod League, the 6-foot-5 Tennessee native is generally considered the top draft prospect in Mississippi this year. There are bigger games ahead for Hudson this season, but this one may stay near the top. The State team (7-3) should come away from this weekend in California – its first games away from Starkville — knowing a little more about its strengths and weaknesses. The Bulldogs, ranked as high as 17th in the polls, play Southern Cal today and Oklahoma on Sunday. … Also taking their show on the road this weekend are Southern Miss and Ole Miss, and pitchers took center stage for them on Friday, too. In the Cox Diamond Invitational at Pensacola, Fla., USM’s Cord Cockrell blanked Michigan State over seven innings in a 2-0 win. Cockrell (2-0) yielded four hits, no walks and fanned eight. In the Chanticleer Classic in Conway, S.C., UM ace Brady Bramlett moved to 3-0 by beating Ball State 7-3. In six innings of work, Bramlett allowed four hits, one walk and two runs with five K’s.

04 Mar

numbers to crunch

2,326 – Announced attendance for Wednesday’s South Alabama-Southern Miss game at MGM Park in Biloxi. The Golden Eagles (7-2) were a hospitable host, losing to the Jaguars 4-2, their second straight loss to USA.
.563 – Jack Kruger’s batting average in nine games for Mississippi State. The California juco transfer also leads the 7-2 Bulldogs with 12 runs, 13 RBIs, two homers and a 1.000 slugging percentage.
5 – Hits by Errol Robinson, Ole Miss’ preseason All-America shortstop who is hitting just .217 over seven games. The Rebels, ranked in several polls, are 7-1 despite slow starts by veterans Robinson, Colby Bortles and Will Golsan.
7 – Steals in seven attempts by Jackson State’s Bryce Brown, whose speed nicely complements the power of Jesus Santana (four bombs) in the 5-3 Tigers’ lineup.
0 – Home runs in 10 games by Alcorn State’s Collin Carroll, picked by some as the SWAC’s preseason player of the year. The ex-Southwest Mississippi Community College star from Ridgeland hit 12 homers in 2015.
10.70 – Mississippi Valley State’s staff ERA. The 2-7 Delta Devils (both wins came against Tougaloo) are hitting .233 and have made 30 errors.
11 – Consecutive wins by Delta State against Union, the 9-5 Statesmen’s opponent in this weekend’s Gulf South Conference road series.
9 – Pitchers used, one in each inning, by Millsaps in a 5-2 win against Adrian at Twenty Field on Wednesday. The nine combined for a seven-hitter with eight strikeouts for the 4-6 Majors.
.621 – Timothy Rowe’s batting average for Itawamba Community College. That leads the state and ranks fifth in NJCAA Division II. Jones County JC’s Mason Irby and Pearl River’s Zachary Clark are tied for the state and national lead with six homers each. Irby’s 24 RBIs tops the state and ranks fourth in the country. Jones’ Clint Sasser has an MACJC-best 20 steals, tied for most in the nation.

02 Mar

small talk

Mississippi College, which stopped a five-game losing streak with a win at Spring Hill on Tuesday, makes its first Gulf South Conference road trip this weekend, facing Shorter at Rome, Ga. It could be a telling series for the Choctaws, 7-7 overall and 1-5 GSC under new coach Jeremy Haworth. He said before the season that the pitching staff might be in for some growing pains, and that has held true. MC has a 5.73 ERA, though sophomore Jake Fraze (3-1, 3.77) and senior Tyler Scholl (0.77 in nine relief outings) have been stoppers. The defense, which Haworth was banking on for slick play, has endured some rough patches. The Choctaws have committed 27 errors with a cost of 20 unearned runs. Can’t afford that. The hitters have held up their end, with a .314 average. Logan Ferrell is off to hot start in his senior campaign, batting a team-best .418 with 19 runs. Hunter Bolin is hitting .393, Toler Robinson .348, Blaine Crim .333 and Caleb Upton .255 with 11 RBIs. MC lost 14 of its final 15 games last year under a lame-duck coach and limped to a 12-34 finish, 4-28 in the GSC in its return to the NCAA Division II conference. With a new coach in charge, the Choctaws figure to be more energized for the stretch run this spring. P.S. Delta State (9-5 and 8-4 at home) is 4-2 in the GSC and faces its first conference road series at Union this weekend. Will Robertson tops the Statesmen with a .491 average; Tre Hobbs is 4-0, 1.71. … Most of the other small colleges will open conference play this weekend. William Carey (11-5 with five straight wins) is at Martin Methodist in Southern States Athletic Conference play. The Crusaders have been led by Tyler Odom (.451) and J.D. Little (3-1, 2.08). … Blue Mountain (12-4) opens SSAC play at Mobile. … Belhaven, yet to play a home game at Smith-Wills Stadium, has won five of six after the 25-0 loss in its opener and hosts Sul Ross State in an American Southwest Conference series on Friday and Saturday. Adam Kowalczyk is hitting .385, and Tanner Cable is 2-0, 2.57. … Millsaps, off since Feb. 21, will take a sub-.500 mark into its first Southern Athletic Association series at Oglethorpe. Isaac Glenn was hot before the break, batting .406. … Tougaloo, after starting 0-16, has won its last two and will play its first Gulf Coast Athletic Conference series at Talladega.

25 Feb

up in arms — again

Pitching was a Southern Miss trademark in 2015, when the Golden Eagles put up a 3.14 staff ERA en route to a 36-18-1 finish. Three pitchers from that team were drafted and a fourth signed as a free agent. Four games – and four wins — into 2016, with a lot of new arms in key roles, Eagles pitching is soaring again. The staff has a 2.00 ERA, and the bullpen hasn’t allowed an earned run in 16 innings of work. Quickly emerging as a player to watch is true freshman Nick Sandlin, a sidearming right-hander from Evans, Ga. He notched his first save on Wednesday night in a 7-4 win against UNO at Taylor Park in Hattiesburg. In three innings in two appearances, Sandlin has yielded one hit, one walk and fanned five. “I feel good when he gets the ball,” coach Scott Berry said in a school release following the UNO game. “He’s like (former All-America closer) Daniel Best. He’s very similar to what Best was. Very athletic, great mound presence.” Sandlin, listed at 5 feet 11, 148 pounds, was a dominant pitcher at Greenbrier High School, posting a 1.23 ERA with 211 K’s in 159 innings.

24 Feb

statistically speaking

Southern Miss’ Taylor Braley isn’t going to hit 50 home runs this season, but he is on a good pace with three bombs in three games. He is also batting .444 with six RBIs and five runs. Stats don’t mean a whole lot at this stage of the college campaign, but some jump off the page just the same. Blue Mountain’s Miciah Heard has scored 16 runs in 12 games. Mississippi College’s Logan Ferrell has 16 runs in just 10 games, and he is hitting .459. Mississippi State’s Jack Kruger has nine hits, nine RBIs and eight runs in four games. William Carey’s Adrian Brown has a .471 on-base percentage, eight RBIs, six runs and three steals over 11 games. Delta State’s Ben Pickard has three homers, 12 RBIs and a .409 average in 11 games. Millsaps’ Isaac Glenn is hitting .406 with nine runs and five RBIs in eight games. Ole Miss’ Tate Blackman has rolled sixes in hits, RBIs and runs over three games. Jackson State’s Jesus Santana has two homers, four RBIs and seven runs in four games. P.S. On the subject of numbers, Jones County Junior College’s Mason Irby tallied nine hits, two homers, nine RBIs and four runs in four games last week to earn MACJC player of the week honors. The catcher-turned-outfielder is a USM signee. Jarod Wright, a right-hander at Northwest CC, was named pitcher of the week after throwing six shutout innings with eight strikeouts in a win over Rend Lake (Ill.).

22 Feb

the way it was

There were hot starts (see Ole Miss and Southern Miss, who registered Opening Weekend sweeps). And there were lukewarm starts (Mississippi State went 2-2, with both losses to Florida Atlantic, and Jackson State also split its four games). Alcorn State celebrated the first win of the Brett Richardson era (6-2 vs. Southern University on Sunday) but lost its other two games in the MLB Urban Invitational. On the colder end of the scale, Mississippi Valley State went 0-4 at Nicholls State. Among the small four-year schools, Blue Mountain, now 8-4, swept three games over the weekend from Tougaloo, which fell to 0-14 on the year. William Carey beat NAIA No. 21 Missouri Baptist two of three. Delta State took two of three from West Alabama to start its Gulf South Conference schedule. (Worth noting: Tre Hobbs, a lefty out of Mississippi Delta Community College, threw a six-hit shutout for the Statesmen and is now 3-0 with an 0.47 ERA.) Mississippi College won one of three GSC games against West Florida, and Millsaps went 1-2 in a tournament at Piedmont College. Which brings us to the most inspiring performance of the weekend. That has to go to Belhaven, which bounced back from a 25-0 loss in its season opener last Tuesday to sweep a road series at Louisiana College. Senior slugger Adam Kowalczyk led the way with two homers, five RBIs and six runs in the three games. BU is slated to play at Millsaps on Tuesday in the first game of the Maloney Trophy Series.

18 Feb

save the date

New Alcorn State coach Brett Richardson will debut on Friday when the Braves play UNO in the MLB Urban Invitational in New Orleans. Four of the state’s other NCAA Division I schools open at home Friday: Mississippi State against Florida Atlantic, Ole Miss vs. Florida International, Southern Miss vs. Eastern Illinois and Jackson State vs. Tennessee-Martin. Mississippi Valley State is at Nicholls State. Here are some more dates of note on the Mississippi calendar for 2016:
Feb. 23: Belhaven at Millsaps (first Maloney Trophy Series game)
March 1: Jackson State-Southern University at MGM Park in Biloxi
March 2: Southern Miss-South Alabama at MGM Park
March 9: William Carey-Delta State at MGM Park
March 11: Jackson State at Alcorn State (series opener)
March 22: Southern Miss-Tulane at MGM Park
March 29: Southern Miss-Mississippi State at Trustmark Park in Pearl
April 1: Ole Miss at Mississippi State (series opener)
April 2: Milwaukee Brewers-Biloxi Shuckers exhibition at MGM Park
April 4: Jackson State-Biloxi Shuckers exhibition at MGM Park
April 5: Southern Miss-Ole Miss at Trustmark Park
April 7: Pensacola at Mississippi, Chattanooga at Biloxi (Southern League openers)
April 12: Mississippi Valley State at Delta State
April 15: Jackson State-Alcorn State at MGM Park
April 20: Mississippi State–Louisiana-Monroe at MGM Park
April 22: Biloxi at Mississippi (first meeting of season)
April 26: Mississippi State-Ole Miss at Trustmark Park
April 30: Mississippi College at Delta State (series opener)
May 25: Conference USA Tournament starts at Taylor Park in Hattiesburg
June 21: Southern League All-Star Game at Trustmark Park

16 Feb

by the numbers

14 – Pitchers used by Millsaps College in going 1-2 in the Millsaps Invitational over the weekend. Daniel Ross went 5 1/3 innings against LaGrange on Friday to get the lone win.
13 – RBIs by Pearl River Community College’s Carter Hankins in six games over the weekend. The Wildcats (8-2) won five of the six.
11 – Runs in six games this season by Mississippi College’s Logan Ferrell.
10 – RBIs in seven games for Delta State’s Will Robertson.
9 – Losses to start the season for Tougaloo College.
8 – Road games scheduled to start the season for Belhaven University, which opens today against Huntingdon in Montgomery, Ala.
4 – Wins in four games to start Chris Kirtland’s coaching career at Jones County Junior College.
2 – Wins in two starts for William Carey University’s J.D. Little, who has a 1.38 ERA.
1 – Home run on Friday by Mississippi Gulf Coast CC’s Brian Lane, the first at Biloxi’s MGM Park for the Bulldogs.

08 Feb

weekend wrap

No one had a better opening weekend than Mississippi College’s Hunter Bolin. The junior from Starkville went 9-for-13 with five RBIs and five runs as the Choctaws launched the Jeremy Haworth era with a three-game sweep of Tougaloo at Frierson Field in Clinton. MC outscored the Bulldogs 32-14, and its pitchers posted a 2.63 ERA. If there was a downside, the Choctaws committed seven errors; Haworth is counting on defense to be a strength of this club, which is entering its second season of NCAA Division II play. … Jasper James, a junior from Wiggins, had eight hits and five RBIs in three games for Tougaloo. … Blue Mountain College took three of four from Judson College in New Albany, capping the weekend with a brilliant performance by Collin McCrory, who threw a one-hitter in a 5-0 victory. The junior from Amory was one out away from a seven-inning no-hitter. … Will Robertson, a senior from Falkner coming back from a 2015 injury, went 5-for-12 with two homers and four RBIs to help Delta State sweep Harding in a three-game series at Ferriss Field in Cleveland. … Nick Lowe and James Land each hit a homer and the pair combined for 10 RBIs but William Carey went just 1-2 on its trip to Ave Maria in Florida. … Millsaps put up 20 runs but won only once in three outings at the Firehouse Classic at Montgomery, Ala. Lee Ogletree, a 2015 transfer from Hinds Community College, had six hits and four RBIs for the Majors. He picked up three of his RBIs in an 11-7 win over Southwestern on Saturday. P.S. Worth noting: Pearl River CC scored in every inning of both games of a doubleheader sweep of Mineral Area CC on Saturday in Poplarville. The Wildcats won 14-7 and 16-8. After losing the season opener to Mineral Area on Friday by a 20-9 count, PRCC won Game 2 of that twinbill 14-4. Carter Hankins, a sophomore from Purvis, banged out nine hits and drove in six runs for the weekend.

04 Feb

choosing nine

Time to take a break from the football recruiting blather and Super Bowl hype. Enough already with the Golden State Warriors. Opening Day Eve for college baseball is upon us. To get in the spirit of the new season, here’s a list of nine Magnolia State players to watch over the coming months:
1. Seth Davis, Blue Mountain, first baseman. No player in the state made a bigger leap forward in 2015 than Davis. A .195 hitter as a sophomore, the 6-foot-5, 225-pounder raked at a .396 clip last season, belting eight homers and driving in 40 runs. He was BMC’s first first-team All-SSAC selection.
2. Adrian Brown, William Carey, outfielder. Brown was a first-team All-NJCAA Region 23 pick for Copiah-Lincoln CC in 2015 after batting .318 with seven homers and 12 steals. If the name sounds familiar, it should. Brown’s father, also named Adrian Brown, played in the big leagues from 1997-2006.
3. Isaac Glenn, Millsaps, outfielder. Glenn, who played in the shadow of Keith Shumaker in 2015, will get a bigger share of the stage now. He led the Majors with a .436 average and 45 RBIs last year and earned first-team All-SAA honors. He’s now getting NCAA Division III preseason All-America notice.
4. Ethan Gill, Delta State, third baseman. Slugging is making a comeback, and the 6-foot-3, 225-pound Gill can accurately be called a slugger. He came in last year as a transfer from Itawamba CC and led the Statesmen in homers (10), RBIs (51) and slugging percentage (.610). He also batted .325.
5. Gavin Collins, Mississippi State, catcher/third baseman. Collins made the SEC All-Freshman team at catcher in 2014 and was a preseason All-SEC pick last year but was set back by a hand injury. He wound up hitting just .228 in 35 games. Expect a bounce-back season.
6. Brady Bramlett, Ole Miss, right-hander. Drafted in the 22nd round by Oakland last summer, Bramlett opted to return to Oxford. That’s a real shot in the arm (pun intended) for the Rebels. After missing the 2014 season with an injury, Bramlett went 7-4 with a 3.74 ERA in 2015.
7. Nick Johnson, Southern Miss, right-hander. The former Ridgeland High star is poised for a bigger role with the Golden Eagles, who lost a lot from a very good 2015 staff. Johnson was 4-0 with a 2.93 ERA in 12 games and 27 2/3 innings. He limited batters to a .198 average.
8. Jesus Santana, Jackson State, third baseman. As a freshman in 2015, the Puerto Rico native led the SWAC in homers with 12 while batting .283 with 48 RBIs. He was All-SWAC last year and is now showing up on some black college preseason All-America charts.
9. Collin Carroll, Alcorn State, first baseman. Carroll won’t sneak up on anyone in 2016. Collegiate Baseball has pegged the senior as the SWAC’s projected player of the year and a third-team All-America. Carroll, a transfer from Southwest Mississippi CC last year, batted .337 with 12 homers and 50 RBIs.