Tag Archives: Jackson State

12 May

title searches

Delta State, celebrating the 10th anniversary of its 2004 NCAA Division II national championship, will begin its quest for another title on Thursday against Florida Southern in the South Regional at Tampa, Fla. The Statesmen (38-11) are the No. 3 seed. The top seed is No. 1-ranked Tampa, which is 47-2. Also in the regional are Lynn, Stillman and Alabama-Huntsville, which beat DSU in the title game of the Gulf South Conference Tournament. … MACJC champion Jones County Junior College opens NJCAA Region 23 Tournament play on Thursday against East Central; Hinds and LSU-Eunice meet in the other first-round game at Community Bank Park in Ellisville. JCJC (43-9) is ranked No. 1 in Division II; LSU-E (41-11) is No. 2. Jones overcame a challenge from Hinds in Saturday’s state championship final, winning the clincher by run rule (14-3) with an eight-run seventh inning. Trent Giambrone’s three-run homer ended it. Jones last won the state title in 2011 and also claimed the region crown — and a Juco World Series berth — that season. LSU-E has won four national championships since 2006 and was national runner-up a year ago. But the Bengals were just 10-8 away from home this season. So there is hope for the Mississippi schools. … As of Sunday night, the SWAC still had not released the bracket for its tournament, which starts Wednesday in New Orleans. Alcorn State and Jackson State are in the field as the Nos. 3 and 4 teams from the East Division. JSU (27-23) won the tournament last year but has had a rough season, one made even more stressful when the team bus, with much of their equipment, caught fire during a road trip on May 5. The trip was aborted; JSU last played on May 3. … Belhaven University begins play today against Oklahoma City in the NAIA regional (opening round) it is hosting at Smith-Wills Stadium.

03 May

rise and shine

Jackson State needed a hero on Friday. Desmond Russell came through. The Bahamas native threw a complete game, with 14 strikeouts, and went 2-for-3 at the plate as the Tigers beat Alcorn State 9-3 at Braddy Field. Russell is 7-4 for JSU, now 27-21 overall and 9-13 in the SWAC East, in a virtual tie for third with the Braves (8-12). JSU, the defending league champ, has lost five straight SWAC series, including a rather embarrassing pratfall against hapless Mississippi Valley State. The Tigers need to get it in gear with the SWAC Tournament approaching. Other stars from a fun-filled Friday: Westin Stringer won his 10th game as No. 1-ranked Jones County Junior College beat Holmes 12-2 in the MACJC playoffs. … Chance Whitten delivered a decisive two-run double as East Central upset North Division champion East Mississippi 4-3 in the opener of that three-game series. LaDarious Clark homered for the Lions. … Jonathan Andrews drove in four runs to lead Delta State past Christian Brothers 15-2 in the first round of the Gulf South Conference Tournament. … Chris Ellis improved to 7-0 as Ole Miss beat Arkansas 3-2. … Conor Fisk won his fifth game and Connor Barron homered as Southern Miss topped Tulane 4-2. … C.T. Bradford hit his first homer and Jonathan Holder notched his sixth save as Mississippi State beat Auburn 3-0. … In MLB, former MSU and Meridian CC star Tyler Moore hit his second homer — off former MCC standout Cliff Lee — to help Washington beat Philadelphia 5-3. … Itawamba CC product Desmond Jennings belted his third homer and stole two bases as Tampa Bay knocked off the New York Yankees 10-5 in 14 innings.

18 Apr

whirlwind weekend

The weekend started with a bang Thursday night in Oxford, where LSU beat Ole Miss 4-3 in 13 innings in a collision of top 10 teams. More fireworks are sure to follow. Mississippi State is at Missouri for a three-game SEC set, and Southern Miss is hosting Louisiana Tech in a three-game C-USA series. But the more compelling games may involve the smaller schools. To wit: Jackson State vs. Mississippi Valley State in Moorhead. JSU, the defending SWAC champ, sits in third place in the SWAC East at 6-9 (23-17 overall). Time to get healthy in this three-game set with 1-28 Valley. Player to watch: JSU’s Tilur Smith, who has picked up the slack for slumping Charles Tillery (.224) and is batting .347. Delta State at Shorter. The Statesmen are in the midst of playing 10 straight road games, but they are 15-5 away from Cleveland’s Ferriss Field, so no worries there. In fact, DSU seemingly has few worries at all. The Mean Green is 28-8, 19-4 Gulf South Conference and ranked in the top 10 in NCAA Division II. Player to watch: Landon Thibodeaux, hitting .351 with five homers and 25 RBIs. Mississippi College vs. Howard Payne in Clinton. The Choctaws are 15-15 after dropping Thursday’s series opener 6-3. They are chasing a bid to the National Christian College Athletic Association regionals, and they need more wins. Player to watch: Blake Mcilwain, (5-1, 2.91 ERA) who threw a no-hitter last weekend and is slated for one of today’s two games. Millsaps at Oglethorpe. The Majors, ranked in NCAA Division III in preseason, are 19-16 and 9-8 (fifth) in the Southern Athletic Association. They need to build some momentum for league tournament play, which starts next weekend. Player to watch: Keith Shumaker, rocking along with a .340 batting average and a 4-1, 1.56 pitching ledger. Belhaven vs. Bethel in Jackson. The Blazers (34-14) have been guaranteed an NAIA postseason berth as host of a regional, but they certainly don’t want to limp through the last two weekends of the regular season. They’re just 14-10 in the Southern States Athletic Conference. Player to watch: Reagan Rutledge, who is batting .313 and has 51 stolen bases in 55 attempts. William Carey vs. Auburn-Montgomery in Hattiesburg. The Crusaders began the year ranked in the NAIA poll but are just 27-22 and 13-11 in the SSAC, fighting for one of the eight tournament berths. A 13-15 record at Wheeler Field is hard to figure. Player to watch: Jeremy Ferguson, who has a .423 on-base percentage and a team-best 32 runs.

14 Mar

the new season

Road tests are in order as conference play begins this weekend for the state’s Big 3. Ole Miss is at South Carolina, Mississippi State is at Georgia and Southern Miss is at Marshall. All three series are big in their own way, but it’s USM’s that seems most compelling. The Golden Eagles are scuffling at 7-10. They’re hitting .230 as a team, with a .301 slugging percentage. They aren’t running much either: 7-for-12 on steals. Keep in mind that USM started sluggishly in 2013 and wound up winning the Conference USA regular season title and making the tournament championship game. No need for panic at this stage. Note, too, that the pitching has been generally good. Cameron Giannini, slated to start Sunday, is 1-1 with a 1.42 ERA in four starts, and Bradley Roney (a .302 hitter) has five saves and a 0.96 ERA in seven relief appearances. Perhaps the bats will get going at Marshall, which is 5-10 overall — but 2-1 in the league. P.S. Two other key series are going on this weekend: Jackson State hosts Mississippi Valley State in the SWAC and Belhaven visits Faulkner in a Southern States Athletic Conference clash. JSU is 13-6 (2-1 SWAC) and has won six straight games, with Melvin Rodriguez (.317, 15 RBIs) swinging the hot bat. Valley is 0-15 and 0-4. … Belhaven is 22-4 with seven straight wins. Faulkner is 22-5 – and ranked No. 1 in NAIA. The teams are tied atop the SSAC at 7-2. The Blazers love to run; they’ve got 96 steals. The Eagles love to mash; they’ve got 17 home runs.

06 Mar

number crunching

Delta State has won 33 straight games — yes, 33! — against Christian Brothers, which comes to Ferriss Field in Cleveland this weekend for a Gulf South Conference series. DSU is 79-11 all-time vs. CBU. The teams will play two on Saturday and a single game Sunday. The Statesmen, still nationally ranked in NCAA Division II, are 7-5 and 6-3 in the GSC. … Jackson State, which opens Southwestern Athletic Conference play this weekend at Braddy Field against Alabama A&M, is batting .211 as a team. And yet, the Tigers are 7-5 and coming off a 5-4 win over South Alabama. In addition to some solid pitching, JSU has 25 stolen bases, 21 sacrifice bunts and five sac flies. … Ole Miss and Mississippi State are 22-6 combined, and Memphis has wins over both of them. The Tigers (11-1) beat the Rebels (11-2) 4-1 on Wednesday. No longer in C-USA, Memphis doesn’t play Southern Miss this year but does take on Alcorn State and Mississippi Valley State in addition to another game with UM. … In Wednesday’s big junior college showdown in Senatobia, Jones County and Northwest split the doubleheader. The Rangers (now 9-5) got a 5-for-5, two-homer performance from Chase Clark in handing the Bobcats (15-1) their first loss of the year, 7-1, in the opener. JCJC won Game 2 5-3 as Trent Giambrone hit the Bobcats’ first homer of the season and Cole Barlow notched his fifth save. … East Mississippi CC improved to 12-4 by taking two from Pearl River at Poplarville on Wednesday. The Lions have swept four doubleheaders already. Chase Reeves had four hits, including a homer, in the PRCC sweep, while Connor Burton got his third save in Game 1 and J’Daylin Jackson his third win in Game 2.

24 Feb

more, more, more

Reports from Tampa Bay’s spring training camp indicate that the Rays believe former Itawamba Community College standout Desmond Jennings, who had a fine 2013 season, is capable of more. More hits. More home runs. More stolen bases. For his part, Jennings is seeking more consistency in 2014. “I just want to be consistent and hit the ball well all year,” he told mlb.com. “Get on base and steal some bags.” Jennings — All Mississippi Baseball’s Cool Papa Bell Award winner — hit .252 last season with 14 homers and 20 steals. He was especially productive in September as the Rays made their playoff push. Jennings, the Rays’ center fielder, has shown up in camp reportedly looking bigger and stronger. P.S. Jackson State is off to a 5-2 start, and Desmond Russell, the diminutive Bahamas native, has been a big factor. He is batting .368 with eight RBIs and has a 2-1 record, two saves and a 1.08 ERA in five mound appearances. … Millsaps, nationally ranked in NCAA Division III in preseason, is 6-5. The Majors are batting .297 and have a staff ERA if 3.73. But, they’ve committed 26 errors that have led to 22 unearned runs. … Jones County Junior College improved to 10-0 over the weekend by sweeping road doubleheaders against Mississippi Delta and Meridian, all four W’s coming in just a little over 24 hours.

14 Feb

blue skies ahead?

Weather has come out swinging this week, knocking out home openers at Millsaps (Tuesday), Delta State (Wednesday) and Southern Miss (today) and forcing Mississippi State to find a new opponent (Western Carolina replaces Hofstra). While USM will have to go on the road (Lake Charles, La.) to start its season on Saturday, there are some big games on state campuses this weekend. MSU, ranked as high as No. 2 in the nation, will play a three-day, three-game set at Dudy Noble Field. Jackson State plays Texas Southern and South Dakota State (two games with each) at Braddy Field starting today, and Alcorn State hosts Bradley for a three-game series at McGowan Stadium in Lorman. Millsaps, off to a 3-0 start, plays Trinity (Texas) in a doubleheader Saturday and single game Sunday at Twenty Field. Blue Mountain hosts a three-game set in New Albany with NAIA No. 1 Faulkner. Belhaven, 7-1 after a 9-2 win over St. Francis on Thursday, hosts Campbellsville today and Missouri Baptist on Saturday at Smith-Wills Stadium. William Carey has a three-game set at Wheeler Field in Hattiesburg against Spring Hill (single game today, twinbill Saturday). Delta State (1-2) hosts West Alabama for three games (two Saturday, one Sunday) in Cleveland. DSU went 25-3 at Ferriss Field last year and has a .772 winning percentage there all-time. But even the Statesmen can’t beat bad weather. Fingers are crossed all over the state, hoping the skies stay sunny.

13 Feb

4 for 4

Aspirations are high, as they always are, at Mississippi’s Big 4 NCAA Division I schools. Three of the four earned NCAA regional bids in 2013, and Southern Miss was one victory short. It would be sweet to see all four make it this season. And with that in mind, here are four players who could be key in making such a grand slam a reality. At Mississippi State, which won 51 games and reached the finals of the College World Series, there will be pressure to replace Hunter Renfroe’s thunderous bat. But pitching is more important in college baseball these days, and it would serve the Bulldogs well to get another season from Ross Mitchell like the one he had in 2013. The slightly built left-hander was brilliant in the middle relief role State’s coaches prize, posting a 13-0 record, two saves and a 1.53 ERA in 34 appearances (94 innings). At Ole Miss, which went 38-24 last season, keep a sharp eye on newcomer Braxton Lee, a left-handed hitting outfielder who transferred from Pearl River Community College. Lee hit .406 last year and .365 with 29 steals in 2012. He is penciled in as the Rebels’ leadoff batter and left fielder. “He’ll cause havoc out there,” UM coach Mike Bianco said. At USM, which went 30-27 and got to the final of the C-USA Tournament in 2013, Golden Eagles fans would love to see — but can’t really expect — a big year from highly touted, oft-injured ex-Sumrall High star Connor Barron. However, those fans likely can count on another solid year from Mason Robbins, the state’s 2011 Mr. Baseball from George County. The lefty-hitting outfielder, who can also take the mound, batted .317 with 40 RBIs as a sophomore and .330 as a freshman. He’s a gamer. At Jackson State, 34-22 and Southwestern Athletic Conference champion in 2013, much attention will be focused on conference preseason player of the year Charles Tillery, a senior outfielder from Starkville who batted .352 last year. Yet you can’t overlook junior right-hander Alexander Juday, who put up a 7-5 record with a 3.51 ERA. Juday is the kind of workhorse (115 1/3 innings in 22 games, 10 starts) that every successful staff must have. P.S. The Big 4 start Friday: State hosts Hofstra, Ole Miss is at Stetson, USM is home vs. Stony Brook and JSU hosts Texas Southern.