Tag Archives: Mississippi Valley State

21 Mar

two teams, one win

Coming this weekend: the battle at the bottom in the Southwestern Athletic Conference. Mississippi Valley State, 0-18 and 0-7 in the league, visits Alcorn State, 1-19 and 1-5, for a pair of games Saturday and a solo Sunday at Rat McGowan Stadium in Lorman. Who knows what might happen? Valley coach Doug Shanks and Alcorn’s Barret Rey have had success with their programs in the recent past, but things have gone off the rails in 2014. Valley is hitting .197 (last in the league) and has an 8.24 ERA (ninth of 10) and a .938 fielding percentage (also ninth) with 41 errors. Alcorn is hitting .242 (tied for seventh) but is averaging just three runs a game with an ERA of 8.98 (last) and a fielding percentage of .932 (last) with 50 errors. The winner of this series will feel a little better about itself. Not sure what the loser might feel … . P.S. Also scuffling this year is Blue Mountain, 2-18 and 1-14 in its first year in the Southern States Athletic Conference. Last weekend, the Toppers lost a home series to William Carey by the scores of 12-2, 7-1 and 11-1.

09 Mar

sunday munchies

Mississippi Valley State, still winless through 14 games, was no-hit by Alabama on Saturday in Tuscaloosa. It was the Crimson Tide’s first nine-inning no-hitter since 1942. … Ross Mitchell, Mississippi State’s crafty lefty, suffered the first loss of his college career on Saturday as the Bulldogs fell to UC-Santa Barbara 7-6 in the Hi Corbett Classic in Tucson, Ariz. Mitchell had won his first 18 decisions. The Bulldogs are 0-3 in the desert tournament (11-7 overall) and face Arizona today. … Belhaven University won its 20th game on Saturday. The Blazers (20-4) swept Blue Mountain in a Friday-Saturday series at Smith-Wills Stadium and are now 7-2 in the Southern States Athletic Conference. BMC, in its first year in the tough NAIA league, fell to 2-14, 1-11. The Blazers have stolen 83 bags, led by Reagan Rutledge with 24, Paul Pickerrell with 15 (in 15 attempts) and Emilio DeSilva with 14. … Mississippi College took two of three from East Texas Baptist in Clinton this weekend to improve to 4-8 overall and 4-5 in the American Southwest Conference. Robbie Jernigan and Colton Mears combined for five RBIs in the Choctaws’ 7-2 win in Saturday’s rubber game. … Millsaps, behind a complete-game effort from Keith Shumaker in Game 2, split a twinbill at Birmingham-Southern on Saturday in its first Southern Athletic Association games of the season. The Majors (9-6) and the Panthers (10-2) play their rubber game today.

07 Mar

drought in itta bena

On the bright side, Arrington Smith is hitting .391, near the top of the Southwestern Athletic Conference leaders list, and has six doubles. Aside from that, it has been a gloomy season so far for Mississippi Valley State. Doug Shanks’ Delta Devils, two years removed from playing for the conference tournament championship, are 0-12. They started their season by losing a series at Dallas Baptist by the scores of 19-0, 19-3 and 14-2. They’ve also lost to Ball State 12-1, Northwestern 12-2 and Kansas 11-1. They’re 0-4 in the SWAC, having scored just 10 runs in that series against Alabama State and twice getting shut out. Valley isn’t playing any games in Itta Bena this season because of campus construction; the Devils are using Mississippi Delta Community College’s ballpark in Moorhead for “home” games. It’ll be interesting to see how long the winless drought lingers. Valley takes on Alabama tonight in Tuscaloosa. Don’t see it ending there.