Mississippi State Archives - Page 3 of 168

27 Sep

one for the books

A wide range of emotions were on display Thursday at Oakland Coliseum. For J.T. Ginn, there was the thrill of his first major league win, which happened to coincide with the Oakland A’s final game at the place they’ve called home since 1968. Former Mississippi State star Ginn, making his eighth MLB appearance, took a shutout into the sixth inning and wound up being charged with two runs over 5 1/3 in the A’s 3-2 victory against Texas. He is 1-1 with a 4.24 ERA. He got a standing ovation when he left the mound. The game, broadcast on MLB Network, drew a crowd of 46,889, many no doubt angered that the team’s owner is moving the club — first to Sacramento, then to Las Vegas — but also saddened to see the proud franchise pull up roots. “Today there is crying in baseball,” read one sign. In the ninth, someone threw a smoke bomb on the field, causing a delay. Former MSU star Brent Rooker had two hits for the A’s, and fellow former Bulldogs slugger Nathaniel Lowe went 1-for-4 with an RBI for the Rangers. … Mississippians have some interesting history in the green-and-gold. Belzoni’s Herb Washington, the track star-turned-designated runner, won a World Series ring with the 1974 team, the last of the Swingin’ A’s three straight titles. Grenada native Dave Parker, in the twilight of his excellent career, was the DH on the 1989 Oakland club that won the Earthquake Series, the last of the A’s world championships. Chad Bradford, the ex-Southern Miss standout from Byram, pitched and MSU product Adam Piatt played some first base for the Moneyball A’s of 2002, made famous by the book and the movie. That 103-win team, which had a 20-game win streak, didn’t make it to the World Series. In 2021, Amory native and former Mississippi State standout Mitch Moreland played the final season of his outstanding career with the A’s. In 1981, Kelvin Moore became the first Jackson State product to reach the majors when he debuted for Oakland in the second half of that strike-interrupted split season. Baseball is losing something without a team in Oakland. P.S. In Thursday games that were meaningful for other reasons, Detroit and Kansas City maintained their cushion over Minnesota in the American League wild card standings. Only two of the three will make the playoffs. Colt Keith, the rookie out of Biloxi High, went 2-for-4 with a couple of RBIs as the Tigers beat Tampa Bay 4-3, their fifth straight win and 30th in 41 games. Ex-MSU standout Adam Frazier delivered a pinch two-run knock in the ninth inning to propel the Royals to their third straight victory, 7-4 over Washington. Hunter Renfroe, another State alum, belted his 14th homer for KC.

26 Sep

just stuff

The good news for the Minnesota Twins on Wednesday: They beat Miami 8-3 to keep pace in the American League wild card chase, 2 games back of sizzling-hot Detroit and Kansas City. The bad news: Former Southern Miss standout Matt Wallner, one of the Twins’ top power threats, went on the injured list with an oblique injury. “It sucks. Definitely not something I foresaw happening, so not ideal,” Wallner said in a Sports Illustrated story. Wallner has 13 homers and a .523 slugging percentage in 75 games. … Kansas City, which has won two straight after a seven-game skid, is missing ex-Mississippi State star Chris Stratton and Ole Miss alum James McArthur, both on the IL, from its bullpen. McArthur won’t pitch again in 2024. … J.T. Ginn, rookie righty out of MSU, will get the dubious honor of starting today in the A’s final game at Oakland Coliseum, their home since 1968. They’ll play in Sacramento next season. Ginn is 0-1 with a 4.40 ERA in seven MLB games. He’ll face a Texas club that suits up ex-MSU stars Nathaniel Lowe and Justin Foscue. … MSU alum Eric Cerantola, a Kansas City prospect, pitched the last two innings, allowing one unearned run, as Omaha beat Columbus 5-4 in 11 innings to even the International League Championship Series at 1-all. The deciding game is tonight in Omaha. … Former State and Jackson Prep star Jake Mangum won the IL batting title with a .317 average. The fifth-year pro, 28, finished with six homers, 56 RBIs and 20 steals for Durham in the Tampa Bay organization. … On the occasion of Arkansas winning the 2024 Texas League crown on Wednesday night, here’s a tip of the cap to the 1984 TL champion Jackson Mets and the 1994 Jackson Generals, who reached the finals in dramatic fashion. The ’84 JaxMets, featuring the likes of Lenny Dykstra, Billy Beane and Randy Myers, dominated the TL East in the regular season and beat Beaumont for the pennant in six games. The ’94 Generals, the defending league champs, won the TL East playoffs in one of Smith-Wills Stadium’s most memorable games. Down 1-0 in the bottom of the ninth of the decisive Game 5, the Generals got back-to-back home runs from Tom Nevers and Jeff Ball to stun rival Shreveport 2-1. The Gens, whose best player was Bobby Abreu, lost in the TL Championship Series.

25 Sep

fall finishers

In the 2024 Arizona Fall League, Mississippi baseball aficionados might want to pay particular attention to the Peoria Javelinas. Former Southern Miss standouts Landon Harper and Justin Storm and Ole Miss product Kemp Alderman will play in Peoria, which launches its season on Oct. 8. There are quite a few Mississippians headed for the AFL, sort of a finishing school for minor league prospects from all 30 MLB organizations. Harper, who pitched for the Double-A Mississippi Braves this season, is among the Atlanta contingent headed for the desert. Storm and Alderman reached the Double-A level in the Miami system. Harper, from Meridian, posted a 1.41 ERA over 22 appearances in Mississippi. Decatur native Alderman, the 2023 Ferriss Trophy winner, batted .242 with eight home runs, playing at four levels in the Marlins’ chain. Storm, out of Madison Central High, put up a 1.97 ERA at three levels in 2024. One of the more interesting names on an AFL team is Tim Elko, the ex-Ole Miss slugger now in the Chicago White Sox’s system; he reached Triple-A this year but is not ranked among the team’s Top 30 prospects. He’ll play for Glendale. Others making AFL rosters: Mississippi State alum Preston Johnson (Baltimore); Ole Miss product Houston Roth (Baltimore); UM’s Brandon Johnson (Kansas City); and ex-Rebel Dylan DeLucia (Cleveland), all with Surprise. MSU product Jackson Fristoe (New York Yankees) is going to Salt River; UM’s Derek Diamond (Pittsburgh) to Scottsdale; and MSU’s David Mershon (Los Angeles Angels) to Mesa. DeLucia, pitching hero of Ole Miss’ 2022 national title team, has been limited by injury to 13 pro appearances, all this season. Infielder Mershon, a 2024 draftee, debuted in Double-A this summer.

23 Sep

on center stage

The spotlight is a little brighter in the postseason, and Jacob Gonzalez is showing out in the Southern League playoffs. The ex-Ole Miss standout went 3-for-5 Sunday, including a three-run double that broke the game open in the seventh inning, as Birmingham beat Montgomery 7-2 in the opener of the SL Championship Series. Gonzalez, a lefty-swinging shortstop, is batting .538 with a homer, five RBIs and two steals in four postseason games for the Chicago White Sox’s Double-A club. The 15th overall pick ($3.9 million signing bonus) in the 2023 draft, Gonzalez was promoted from High-Class A Winston-Salem in late May and started hot for Birmingham before cooling down to a .225 average. On the year, he batted .238 with eight homers, 57 RBIs and 17 steals. He’s considered a good glove, but speculation is he’ll eventually move off shortstop. The California native had a stellar career at Ole Miss, helping the Rebels win the 2022 College World Series. Game 2 of the best-of-3 title series is Tuesday in Birmingham. … In the Double-A Eastern League Championship Series, Erie beat Somerset 9-5 in Game 1. Former Mississippi State product Colby White is a bullpen piece for Somerset (New York Yankees affiliate) and ex-William Carey star Patrick Lee a reserve infielder for Erie (Detroit). Neither played in the opener. … The Triple-A postseason begins on Tuesday. Ole Miss alum Doug Nikhazy pitches for Columbus (Cleveland) and MSU product Eric Cerantola for Omaha (Kansas City), who meet in the International League title series. Former State standout Konnor Pilkington pitches for Reno (Arizona), which takes on Sugar Land for the Pacific Coast League crown. P.S. In MLB, All-Star infielder Jordan Westburg returned to Baltimore’s lineup on Sunday, the ex-MSU star going 1-for-4 with an RBI in a loss to surging Detroit. … Emblematic of Kansas City’s struggles, MSU product Hunter Renfroe went 0-for-4 with four strikeouts as the Royals lost for the seventh straight time, 2-0 to San Francisco. The Royals managed three hits and fanned 13 times as they fell into a tie for the second American League wild card with Detroit. Renfroe, who has 13 homers, is in a 1-for-21 slump in his last seven games. … Southern Miss alum Matt Wallner had a hit in each game but couldn’t prevent Minnesota from being swept in a twinbill by Boston (8-1 and 9-3) and tumbling out of a wild card berth in the AL. … On Sept. 23, 2009, former Shannon High and Jackson State standout Dave Clark notched his first win as interim manager for Houston, which beat St. Louis 3-0. A longtime big league slugger and current first-base coach for the Astros, Clark went 4-9 in his lone managerial stint.

21 Sep

odds and ends

Garrett Crochet’s 2024 numbers, most of them, are pretty good. The Ocean Springs native, starting for the first time since his college days four years ago, has a 3.68 ERA, a 1.06 WHIP, a .220 batting average against and 203 strikeouts with just 32 walks in 142 innings. The tall left-hander, an All-Star back in July, struck out eight with no walks in a four-inning scoreless outing on Friday. His team, the mournful Chicago White Sox, lost again to fall to 36-118. Crochet’s record is 6-12. How’d he ever win six? … Ex-Southern Miss standout Matt Wallner went 2-for-6 with an RBI knock in the 12th inning as Minnesota beat Boston 4-2 at Fenway Park to climb to within a game of slumping Kansas City for second place in the American League wild card race. Detroit, which lost Friday to wild card leader Baltimore, is a game back of the Twins, and Seattle is a game back of the Tigers. Three wild card teams make the postseason. … Madison Central High alum Spencer Turnbull is slated for a rehab appearance at Triple-A Lehigh Valley on Sunday; the right-hander, on the injured list since late June, is 3-0 with a 2.65 ERA in 17 games for Philadelphia, which clinched a postseason berth on Friday. When he might return to the active roster remains unclear. … J.T. Ginn, the former Mississippi State pitcher from Brandon, worked five innings, allowing one run, for Oakland against the New York Yankees Friday but got a no-decision in a game the A’s would lose 4-2 in 10 innings. Rookie Ginn is 0-1 with a 4.40 ERA in seven games. … Ex-USM star Matthew Etzel went 1-for-3 and scored a run as Montgomery beat Biloxi to claim the Southern League South Division title. Former Magnolia Heights standout Cooper Pratt homered for the Shuckers. Birmingham won the North Division title over Tennessee with Ole Miss product Jacob Gonzalez going 2-for-3 with an RBI and a run. The SL Championship Series starts Sunday at Montgomery. … USM alum and erstwhile big leaguer Kirk McCarty is 5-2 with a 2.61 ERA in 11 starts for CTBC Brothers, which has the best overall record in the Chinese Professional Baseball League.

20 Sep

southern exposure

Behind a gem of an outing from former Mississippi State pitcher K.C. Hunt, Biloxi squared its Southern League Division Series at a game apiece with a 5-1 win against Montgomery on Thursday night. Hunt threw 7 2/3 innings, allowing just the one run on three hits and no walks with five strikeouts. A member of State’s 2021 national title team, Hunt was 8-3 with a 2.03 ERA over three levels in Milwaukee’s minor league system in 2024. Joining the Shuckers on Thursday was Cooper Pratt, the ex-Magnolia Heights star who celebrated his first game in Double-A by going 1-for-4 with an RBI. Shortstop Pratt, the Brewers’ No. 2 prospect, hit .277 with eight homers, 45 RBIs and 27 steals over two Class A levels this season. Southern Miss product Matthew Etzel drove in the only run for Montgomery, a Tampa Bay affiliate. The decisive Game 3 of the series is tonight at Montgomery’s Riverwalk Stadium. … In the other Southern League series, former Ole Miss standout Jacob Gonzalez went 2-for-4 with a homer and scored twice as Birmingham (Chicago White Sox) beat Tennessee (Cubs) 12-5 to even that series at 1-1. Gonzalez, a 2023 first-round pick, hit .238 with eight homers, 57 RBIs and 17 bags over two levels this year. P.S. MSU alum Jordan Westburg went 1-for-4 with a walk and an RBI for Triple-A Norfolk as he began a rehab assignment in the Baltimore system. A 2024 All-Star, Westburg (.269, 18 homers, 58 RBIs) has been on the injured list (hand) since Aug. 1. The Orioles are battling the New York Yankees for the American League East title. … Ex-USM star Nick Sandlin got the final two outs (via strikeout) in the fifth inning, halting a Minnesota rally, and Cleveland went on to beat the Twins 3-2 in 10 innings and clinch a playoff berth in the AL. Sandlin has a 3.93 ERA in 66 games. … Ole Miss alum Nick Fortes had a good view of a history-making event on Thursday. He was catching for Miami as the Los Angeles Dodgers’ Shohei Ohtani went 6-for-6 with three homers, two steals and 10 RBIs, becoming the first player to record a 50-homer/50-steal season. BTW, Fortes hit his fourth homer of the year in the ninth inning of the Marlins’ 20-4 loss.

14 Sep

welcome back … ?

The Pittsburgh Pirates and fans at PNC Park gave Adam Frazier a warm “welcome back” on Friday night. The Pirates played a video tribute to their former star on the stadium scoreboard and the crowd gave him a standing ovation before his first at-bat. “Appreciate them doing that,” the Mississippi State product said in a postgame interview. “Then you gotta lock back in, that’s all I was trying to do right there … .” He did, helping visiting Kansas City — fighting for a playoff berth — roll to an 8-3 victory. Frazier scored twice and hit his fourth home run as the Royals improved to 81-67, second in the American League wild card standings. Frazier was drafted by the Pirates in 2013 and spent his first six MLB seasons in a Pittsburgh uniform. He was traded in mid-2021, which was the last time he played at PNC. He has bounced to four other teams the past four years. A .264 career hitter, Frazier’s first year in KC hasn’t been great — .205, four homers, 20 RBIs, 32 runs over 244 at-bats — but he plays hard and plays anywhere in the field he is needed. He also has postseason experience — with Baltimore in 2023 and Seattle in 2022. P.S. Saucier native Brandon Parker, back near his old stomping grounds at Biloxi’s Keesler Federal Park, homered for the second straight night as the Mississippi Braves beat the Shuckers 7-0 in a Double-A Southern League game. Parker has eight homers on the season. At Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College in Perkinston, Parker belted 38 homers in two seasons, setting the school record with 24 as a freshman in 2018. … Ole Miss alum T.J. McCants doubled home the winning run in the 11th inning as Low-Class A Kannapolis beat Charleston 2-1 to advance to the Carolina League Championship Series. McCants, who finished his college career at Alabama in 2024, hit .230 with two homers and four steals this season for the Chicago White Sox affiliate.

13 Sep

short hops

A year after helping his rookie-level club win a league title, Cooper Pratt is chasing another championship in the High-Class A Midwest League. The 2023 Mississippi prep player of the year at Magnolia Heights knocked in the tying run and scored the game-winner Thursday as Wisconsin beat Quad Cities 7-6 to advance to the MWL Championship Series. Pratt, a .277 hitter at two levels in 2024, had three hits and scored three times for the Timber Rattlers, a Milwaukee affiliate. Pratt is the Brewers’ No. 2 prospect. … Former Mississippi State right-hander K.C. Hunt threw six shutout innings to notch his first Double-A win as Biloxi beat visiting Mississippi 8-1 in Game 2 of a doubleheader. Hunt, the Brewers’ No. 29 prospect, is 1-2, 2.20 ERA, for the Shuckers and 8-3, 2.03, overall this year. … Former Shuckers star Jackson Chourio hit his 20th home run for Milwaukee, becoming the youngest player, at age 20, to post a 20-homer/20-steal season in major league history. … Ex-Ole Miss standout Kemp Alderman belted his first Double-A homer for Pensacola (Miami affiliate) and now has eight bombs over four levels in his second pro season. … UM alum Tim Elko hit his eighth homer for Triple-A Charlotte (Chicago White Sox) and now has 50 in his three-season minor league career. … Former MSU star Brent Rooker hit his 36th homer for Oakland and extended his on-base streak to 22 games, best current streak in MLB. … UM product Grae Kessinger was recalled from the minors by Houston but did not play in Thursday’s win against the A’s. Kessinger, batting .262 in Triple-A, is 0-for-15 in his limited duty with the Astros this season. … Ole Miss and Southern Miss will meet at Trustmark Park on March 18 next season, and Mississippi State and Ole Miss will play the annual Governor’s Cup game on April 22 at the Pearl ballpark. MSU is slated to play Southern Miss in a home-and-home series in 2025 but no game in Pearl. MSU will play two non-conference games in Biloxi (March 11-12).

12 Sep

central characters

With just a couple weeks left in the major league season, four of the five teams in the American League Central are very much in the playoff hunt. And, yes, there are Mississippi products in impactful roles on all of these clubs. To wit: Former Southern Miss star Matt Wallner homered for Minnesota in a win against the Los Angeles Angels on Wednesday. It was his 13th of the season, 12th in 51 games since he was recalled from the minors on July 7. Wallner hit a majestic 444-foot blast in the Twins’ win on Tuesday. The Twins, third in the division, are third in the wild card standings, 1.5 games back of Kansas City. The Royals, who swept the Twins last weekend, lost in extra innings to the New York Yankees on Wednesday, falling 4.5 games behind AL Central leader Cleveland. Ex-Mississippi State star Hunter Renfroe, who didn’t play Wednesday, is hitting .240 with 13 homers and 50 RBIs for the Royals. MSU product Adam Frazier (.204) plays a utility role for the team, and James McArthur (Ole Miss) and Chris Stratton (MSU) work out of the bullpen, though both have struggled of late. Cleveland won its third straight on Wednesday, beating the lowly Chicago White Sox. USM alum Nick Sandlin pitched 1 1/3 innings for the Guardians and cherry-picked the victory, his eighth, all in relief. He has nine holds, a save and a 3.78 ERA. Cool moment: In the sixth inning Wednesday, Sandlin faced ChiSox catcher Chuckie Robinson, his batterymate in Hattiesburg back in 2016. Sandlin struck out Robinson on a 3-2 pitch. Lurking in fourth place in the wild card standings is Detroit, just 3 games back of Minnesota. Ex-Biloxi High standout Colt Keith, the Tigers’ rookie second baseman, is batting .262 with 12 homers and 55 RBIs. He was 1-for-3 in a win over Colorado on Wednesday. The battle for postseason spots between the AL Central clubs intensifies next week: The Guardians and Twins meet in a four-game series, while the Tigers and Royals play a three-game set. P.S. Brent Rooker, the former SEC player of the year from MSU, knocked in two runs for Oakland on Wednesday, giving him 101 RBIs on the season. That’s tied for fifth in MLB, third in the AL.

11 Sep

puttin’ on the hits

You probably could have made some nice bank if you had bet that Brent Rooker would lead all Mississippians in the majors in hits in 2024. The former Mississippi State star, who entered this season with a .230 career average, is batting .298 for Oakland with 142 hits (35 of them home runs). One preseason magazine projected Rooker to bat .223 this year. He has more hits than Rafael Devers, Freddie Freeman and Alex Bregman. Go figure. Of course, few would have guessed that Biloxi High alum Colt Keith would be No. 2 on the all-Mississippi hits chart with just a couple weeks left in the season. A rookie with Detroit, Keith has 123 hits, 12 more than Nathaniel Lowe, an MLB vet out of MSU who has 111 in an off-year for Texas. Austin Riley, the DeSoto Central High product with Atlanta, has 109 hits but is currently on the injured list and may not return. Jordan Westburg, another MSU alum playing for Baltimore, has 105 knocks; he is also on the IL but may be close to coming back. … The hits leader among Mississippi products in the minors is ex-Ole Miss star Tim Elko, who has 139 between Double-A and Triple-A in the Chicago White Sox system. Former Mississippi College standout Blaine Crim, at Triple-A Round Rock in the Rangers’ organization, has 131 knocks. MSU alum Jake Mangum, the International League’s leading hitter at .328, got three more hits on Tuesday — including his sixth homer — and now has 118 in only 94 games for Triple-A Durham (Tampa Bay). … On the subject of hits, Kemp Alderman, the 2023 Ferriss Trophy winner out of Ole Miss, went 1-for-4 in his Double-A debut on Tuesday for Pensacola. The Miami Marlins’ No. 13 prospect hit .248 with seven homers and 43 RBIs over 105 games in the lower minors this season. P.S. Down in Mexico, where the Mexico City Red Devils claimed the King’s Series title on Monday, former big leaguer Bobby Bradley enjoyed a good year with Tijuana, batting .271 with 13 homers and 53 RBIs in 81 games. The former Harrison Central High star, 28, has 229 homers over 10 professional seasons, including 17 homers in MLB. Erstwhile big leaguer Anthony Alford, the ex-Petal High standout, batted .271 with eight homers and 25 RBIs in 39 games for Campeche in the LMB, and Columbia High product Ti’Quan Forbes hit .206 (in only 63 at-bats) for Queretaro.