Tag Archives: NCAA Division II South Region

17 May

down goes no. 1

That crash you heard coming from central Florida on Friday was the fall of the No. 1-ranked team in NCAA Division II, Tampa, taken down in its own backyard by a surging Mississippi College team. MC, which has won nine of its last 11 games, whipped the Spartans 13-5 in a winners bracket game in the South Region. The Choctaws (34-21) likely will meet Tampa (44-8) again tonight for the championship of this half of the region bracket. Hot-hitting Bryce LaRocca belted two of MC’s four homers and drove in five runs in a 4-for-6 performance. He had three hits and three RBIs in the first-round win against Lynn. J.T. Vance and Jordan Evans also homered Friday in MC’s 18-hit attack. The Choctaws roughed up Tampa’s C.J. Williams, who came in with a 12-2 record, for seven runs in 5 2/3 innings. … MC stole the spotlight on what was a big day for Mississippi schools. On the other side of the D-II South Region bracket, Delta State stayed alive with a four-run rally in the ninth inning to beat West Florida 6-5. Tyler Janos got the game-winning hit. Belhaven ran over Rhodes 14-1 in the NCAA D-III Tournament and D-I schools Southern Miss (which has won 14 in a row), Ole Miss (two in a row over No. 2 Auburn), Mississippi State (Hunter Hines breaks career homer record) and Jackson State (a shutout of Southern U.) all won. In the NJCAA D-II Region 23 finals, East Central Community College forced a Game 3 by beating host Pearl River CC 6-4 as Pablo Roque drove in three runs. The winner of today’s game goes to the juco World Series. Millsaps suffered a tough loss in its D-III regional opener: Ace Nick Tarantino gave up seven runs in the first inning as the Majors fell to host East Texas Baptist 11-4.

16 May

full throttle

Pearl River Community College still needs one more win to advance to the NJCAA Division II World Series, but there doesn’t appear to be any stopping this train. The Wildcats, ranked No. 2 in the nation, barreled through No. 5 East Central CC 22-1 on Thursday in Poplarville, scoring 17 runs in the third inning of the five-inning contest. “The focus we have right now is special,” coach Michael Avalon said in a school release. PRCC is 49-7 and has won 15 of its last 16. The Wildcats are 4-0 in this postseason, having outscored their opponents 53-6. Jaxon Milam drove in six runs Thursday. Chap Cook hit a pinch-hit grand slam in the 17-run inning, and Nico Williams also went yard in that frame. Ace K.K. Clark (10-2) called it a day after three. Game 2 of the best-of-3 Region 23 title series is tonight at Dub Herring Park. “We have to show up and be ready to play. East Central is going to bounce back,” Avalon said. The winner of the series gets the automatic berth in the juco World Series at Enid, Okla. East Central (41-13) made that trip the last two seasons. PRCC last went in 2022, when the Wildcats won the national title. P.S. Eight was a magic number on Thursday night for the state’s Big 4 NCAA Division I schools. Mississippi State hit eight homers — a school record — in a 25-7 rout of hapless Missouri at Columbia, Mo. Hunter Elliott struck out eight batters for his eighth win as Ole Miss upset Auburn 9-2 in Oxford. In another matchup of nationally ranked teams, Joey Urban’s eighth-inning homer provided the winning run for Southern Miss in a 4-3 victory at Troy (Ala.). And Jordan McCladdie’s two-run knock in the eighth inning propelled Jackson State to an 8-7 win over visiting Southern University. Worth noting: Three MSU players hit two homers each Thursday, including Hunter Hines, who tied Rafael Palmeiro’s career homer mark with 67. Hines, a senior out of Madison Central High, now has 13 homers on the year. … In the NCAA Division II South Region Tournament at Tampa, Fla., Mississippi College rolled to a 13-9 win over Lynn as Bryce LaRocca and Tyler Jacobsen drove in three runs each. In the other side of that regional, at Lakeland, Fla., slumping Delta State stumbled to a 7-3 loss against West Florida. Gulf South Conference pitcher of the year Drake Fontenot gave up four runs in 3 2/3 innings to take the loss, DSU’s sixth in a row. The Statesmen face elimination today. MC moves into a winners bracket game vs. No. 1-ranked Tampa.

15 May

the roads taken

Both Mississippi College and Delta State are in Florida for regional play today, but the last leg of the journey was quite different for the two old rivals. Both are in the NCAA Division II South Region Tournament as at-large teams. MC (32-21), back in the NCAAs for the first time in seven years, has won seven of it last nine games, going 2-2 in the Gulf South Conference Tournament after sweeping DSU three straight to finish the regular season. DSU (32-18) won the GSC regular season title but actually faded down the stretch, losing seven of 10, including a 2-and-out (with another loss to the Choctaws) in the GSC Tournament. If momentum really is a thing, their opening-round games might be a tell. MC, the 4-seed, will play Lynn (Fla.) at Tampa, Fla., on one side of the eight-team regional. Delta State, seeded sixth, will play West Florida at Lakeland, Fla., in the other four-team bracket. Tampa (43-7), in MC’s bracket, is the No. 1 team in the nation in D-II and the top seed in the regional. The only way MC and DSU could meet is in the best-of-3 regional finals. Here are some players to watch in today’s openers: For MC, Jordan Evans (.351, 12 homers, 47 RBIs, 73 runs and 24 steals). For Lynn, Cole Fowler (.435, .810 slug, 18 homers, 62 RBIs). For DSU, Dylan Coleman (.359, 13 homers, 46 RBIs). For West Florida, Brett Rowell (.345, eight homers, 46 RBIs). P.S. It’s closing time for the state’s Big 4 D-I schools, each of which has a winning record and NCAA Tournament aspirations entering the regular season’s end. Ole Miss, No. 22 in the Baseball America poll, hosts No.2 Auburn (coached by Aberdeen native Butch Thompson); No. 24 Southern Miss is at No. 14 Troy; Mississippi State travels to Missouri; and Jackson State hosts Southern University. Ole Miss and USM are projected as 2-seeds in the NCAAs by d1baseball.com, and State is a 3-seed. JSU’s path to a regional berth is via winning the SWAC Tournament. … Pushed back a day, Pearl River Community College and East Central CC, both ranked in the top five nationally, are slated to play Game 1 of their NJCAA D-II Region 23 Tournament finals today at Poplarville. … Worth noting: Ti’Quan Forbes, the former Mr. Baseball from Columbia High in his 11th pro season, hit the first home run in Mississippi Mud Monsters history on Wednesday night. The independent club, now 1-2, lost to Gateway 9-8 in 10 innings at Pearl’s Trustmark Park.

17 May

catching up

LSU-Eunice, a seven-time national champion, completed a 4-0 run through the NJCAA Division II Region 23 Tournament by beating Jones College 7-2 Friday in the title game at Poplarville. The third-ranked Bengals get an automatic bid to the D-II World Series in Enid, Okla. There are two at-large bids available in the 12-team field, leaving the door open for an MACCC team to get a call. East Central Community College is 51-7 and ranked No. 1 in the most recent D-II poll; Pearl River is 49-10 and ranked second; and Jones is 41-16 and ranked eighth. Jones eliminated ECCC in the regional on Thursday, and LSU-E put out Pearl River. … Drake Fontenot, Noah Magee and Braiden Jones combined on a six-hitter and Blayke Dendy and Brendan McCauley hit home runs as Delta State stayed alive in the NCAA D-II South Region tourney with an 8-0 win over host St. Leo (Fla.). The Statesmen (33-23) will be back at it on Saturday.

16 May

good vibrations

Delta State might be carrying a special vibe as it enters the NCAA Division II Tournament. The Statesmen celebrated the 20th anniversary of their greatest season — the 2004 national championship season — during the team’s final homestand, swept three games from rival Mississippi College, then made a run to the finals of the Gulf South Conference Tournament, ensuring a bid to the NCAAs. DSU (32-22) begins play tonight in the South Region against Embry-Riddle (Fla.) in St. Leo, Fla. The streaky Statesmen have won seven of their last nine, but their path to a D-II World Series berth is seriously cluttered. Embry-Riddle, ranked 20th in D-II, is 30-20. Host St. Leo, ranked No. 7, is the top seed in the four-team sub-regional with a 38-11 record. No. 1-ranked Tampa is in the other South Region bracket. Dylan Coleman, from Madison by way of Hinds Community College, has had a huge year with the bat for DSU, hitting .387 with 16 homers, 57 RBIs and a .683 slugging percentage. Hayden Cooper is batting .345, and Cleveland native Brett Burrell is at .332. Pitching (5.53 staff ERA) hasn’t been a strength, though reliever Josh Hill, a Northwest Mississippi CC transfer, has been a valuable asset with 5-1 record, eight saves and a 3.58 in 19 appearances. Top starter Drake Fontenot is 7-4, 6.32, and Logan Cromer 4-3, 3.48. Embry-Riddle’s attack is led by Drew Barragan, who carries a .448 average with 16 homers and 94 RBIs. Travis Strickler is hitting .402 with 29 steals. The ace of the staff is Cole Altherr (6-4, 4.37, 106 strikeouts).

13 May

taking flight

A seven-game win streak capped by a 38-run explosion in a three-game conference road sweep has propelled Southern Miss back into Baseball America’s Top 25. The 25th-ranked Golden Eagles are 34-17, 18-9 Sun Belt, and back in BA’s poll for the first time in two months. It’s the right time to be taking off, with four regular season games left — Ole Miss at home on Tuesday and a Sun Belt series at home vs. Texas State on the weekend — before the league tournament. The NCAA Tournament looms in the distance. Ozzie Pratt had a five-hit game on Sunday in a 14-6 romp past Arkansas State, driving in three runs and scoring three. But no Eagles player is hotter than Slade Wilks, the senior DH from Columbia. Wilks went 7-for-14 in the ASU series with three homers, seven RBIs and seven runs. He has a 24-game hitting streak. He leads the team with 13 homers, 53 RBIs and a .596 slugging average. With 45 career homers, Wilks is tied for sixth on USM’s all-time list with the legendary slugger Fred Cooley. Leadoff batter Dalton McIntyre — USM’s Ferriss Trophy candidate — has been a spark all season; the Meridian Community College transfer leads the team with a .388 average and has scored 39 runs and swiped 10 bases. But Wilks is the aircraft carrier for first-year coach Christian Ostrander. P.S. Mississippi State (33-18) slipped from 12th to 15th in the BA poll after losing two of three at third-ranked Arkansas over the weekend. … Delta State (32-22) is bound for the NCAA Division II South Region Bracket 2 at St. Leo, Fla. The Statesmen, seeded sixth in the eight-team regional, will open tourney play with Embry-Riddle (Fla.) on Thursday. … William Carey University and Blue Mountain Christian are scheduled to play today in their respective NAIA regionals, though weather may interrupt. Carey is hosting a four-team Opening Round event in Hattiesburg, while BMC is in the five-team tourney at LSU-Shreveport.

16 May

developing situations

Suddenly, Ole Miss looks like a juggernaut. Again. Buried at the bottom of the SEC standings a couple weeks ago, the Rebels have won seven in a row, including their first (as in ever) sweep at nationally ranked LSU over the weekend. Three home runs and clutch pitching by closer Brandon Johnson carried UM (31-19, 13-14 SEC) to an 8-5 win Sunday. Ole Miss was a consensus top 10 team at the season’s outset.
It was bombs away in Hattiesburg as Southern Miss, in dire need of a big win, blasted six homers — three by Christopher Sargent — and got clutch pitching from closer Landon Harper in a 9-5 victory against Texas-San Antonio that clinched the weekend series. The Golden Eagles (38-14, ranked No. 18 by Baseball America) are 2 games up in first place in C-USA with a 20-7 record. An NCAA regional host role may still be in play.
The stunning freefall by Mississippi State continues, as the Bulldogs’ losing streak stretched to nine after a sweep at the hands of nationally ranked Texas A&M. MSU pitching yielded 8, 9 and 8 runs in the three losses. The defending national champion Bulldogs, at 9-18 in the SEC, are in real danger of missing the conference tournament.
Jackson State, seeking to right a listing ship, swept Florida A&M at Braddy Field over the weekend, winning the finale 13-2 as Jaelen Williams went 3-for-4 with three RBIs. The Tigers climbed back over .500 at 26-25 and are 13-14 in the SWAC with a road series at fading Mississippi Valley State (on a 12-game losing streak) remaining before the league tournament.
William Carey’s “reward” for winning the SSAC Tournament is a trip to Lawrenceville, Ga., to meet defending national champion Georgia Gwinnett today in an NAIA Opening Round game. Gwinnett is 42-14, Carey 37-15. Hope International (Calif.) is the top seed in this four-team regional. The winner of the double-elimination tourney goes to the NAIA World Series, which WCU won way back in 1969.
Delta State is off to Saint Leo, Fla., for an NCAA Division II South Regional matchup on Thursday against Rollins College. DSU, making its 35th regional appearance, is 32-15. The winner of this four-team bracket moves into a Super Regional series to play for a berth in the World Series. The Statesmen won the D-II national title in 2004.
The NJCAA Division II Region 23 Tournament starts today in Poplarville with MACCC champ Pearl River Community College playing Northwest, East Mississippi taking on Jones and Hinds tangling with LSU-Eunice. PRCC (36-10) is ranked No. 1 in the nation. LSU-E, the defending national champion, is No. 4. The winner of the double-elimination event gets a trip to the juco World Series.

17 May

clearing the bases

The contrast is striking. Delta State has won 96 postseason games, 68 in region play, and claimed 12 regional titles, including the 2017 NCAA Division II South Region, and one national crown. Mississippi College has been playing baseball a long time and had some good years, but the Choctaws had never played in an NCAA D-II regional before this season. The longtime rivals are meeting today in Lakeland, Fla., in the first round of the D-II South Region Tournament. Delta State is 40-9 and seeded third in a loaded field. MC, which won the Gulf South Conference Tournament for the first time ever, beating DSU along the way, is 33-15. This is MC’s best run since 2010, when it played in a Division III regional. The school left Division II and the GSC in the mid-’90s and returned in 2015. … What else is going on? Lots. In Pearl, at Trustmark Park, the MHSAA state finals continue today. … In New Orleans, Jackson State opened SWAC Tournament play on Wednesday with a 13-3 pounding of Arkansas-Pine Bluff. Four Tigers drove in three runs, including Jesus Santana, who hit his ninth homer of the year. JSU moves into a winner’s bracket game today against defending SWAC champ Texas Southern. Mississippi Valley State and Alcorn State both lost on Wednesday and face elimination games today. … In Hattiesburg, William Carey stayed alive in the NAIA Opening Round tourney with a 6-2 victory against Indiana-Southeast but then saw its season end with a loss against top-seeded St. Thomas. … In Eunice, La., in the opening round of the NJCAA Division II Region 23 Tournament, Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College beat MACJC champ Pearl River, Itawamba topped Meridian and Hinds fell to No. 1-ranked LSU-Eunice. The double-elimination event continues today. … MUW went 2-2, bowing out Wednesday, in something called the ASCAA World Series in Dubois, Penn. Matt Wolfenbarger’s Owls finished their inaugural season with a 21-15 record.

13 May

comes a time

The target is in plain sight now. Delta State, Mississippi College, William Carey University and five state junior colleges take aim this week on a spot in the World Series in their respective divisions. The state’s three SWAC schools are focused on the league’s tournament title and the NCAA regional bid — the only one the league will get — that goes with it. Delta State and Mississippi College — the Gulf South Conference Tournament champ — are bound for the NCAA Division II South Region tourney; they’ll find out tonight where they’re going and who they’ll play in the first round. It’s a good bet the event will be in Cleveland. The Statesmen won the regional in 2017 and went to the D-II World Series. Carey is hosting an NAIA Opening Round tournament — one of eight regionals — that begins Monday at Wheeler Field in Hattiesburg. The Crusaders, who made the NAIA World Series last year, open with LSU-Shreveport. Also in the five-team field are Westmont (Calif.), Indiana Southeast and top-seeded St. Thomas (Fla.). The NJCAA Division II Region 23 Tournament begins Wednesday at Eunice, La. A berth in the Junior College World Series is on the line. MACJC regular season champion Pearl River Community plays old rival Mississippi Gulf Coast in the first round, while Meridian hooks up with Itawamba and Hinds faces top-seeded and No. 1-ranked LSU-Eunice. Hinds, the defending region champion, reached this year’s event by upsetting No. 3 Jones County in a best-of-3 playoff. Gulf Coast, Meridian and Itawamba also won playoff series last week to advance. The eight-team SWAC Tournament starts Wednesday in New Orleans. Jackson State plays Arkansas-Pine Bluff, Mississippi Valley State meets Grambling and Alcorn State takes on Texas Southern in the first round. Alcorn, which finished fifth in the East Division, made the eight-team field because Alabama A&M is ineligible for postseason play. P.S. Greenwood native and former Pillow Academy star Louis Coleman made his first big league appearance since 2016 on Saturday when he threw 1 2/3 scoreless innings for Detroit in a game against Seattle. The veteran right-hander has a career 3.49 ERA.

05 May

going forward

Cracking a national poll for the first time in eight years, which Mississippi College did on March 8, is kind of a big deal. MC was 13-2 at the time. Coach Jeremy Haworth wondered during an interview how the players would handle that measure of success going forward. Not a problem, as it turned out. The schedule got tougher but the Choctaws never buckled. They went 16-13, 13-9 in a challenging league, the rest of the way and clinched a Gulf South Conference Tournament berth for the second straight year. As the No. 4 seed, they meet fifth-seeded North Alabama today in Cleveland in the first round of pool play. Four Choctaws – Grant Barber, Billy Cameron, Blaine Crim and Kyle Smith – made the All-GSC second team, and ace pitcher Zack Ingram arguably should have. Crim had a stellar campaign, leading the team in the Triple Crown categories (.372, 10 homers, 52 RBIs). Cameron, a transfer from East Central Community College, hit .354 with five homers. Smith stole 18 bases and hit .339; Barber contributed 30 RBIs while batting .327. Ingram was 4-0 with a 3.09 ERA. MC is ranked ninth in the NCAA Division II South Region poll, positioned for a possible invitation to a regional. How will the Choctaws handle it?