Tag Archives: Ole Miss

01 Apr

hot spots

Opposing pitchers must be hard-pressed to find a soft spot in Delta State’s lineup. Every regular is hitting .300 or better, and collectively the Statesmen are batting .336 with 212 runs in 30 games. Will Robertson, a senior from Falkner who missed 2015 with an injury, has been hot from the jump and is batting .409. Trent Giambroni and Ben Pickard have seven home runs each. DSU also throws out a pair of aces: Left-handers Tre Hobbs and Dalton Moats are a combined 12-3 with a 3.02 ERA and 117 strikeouts in 107 innings. The sum of these parts is also impressive. The Statesmen, unranked in preseason, are now ranked in two NCAA Division II polls, No. 14 in one, 24 in the other. They’ll take a 20-10 overall record and a 13-5 Gulf South Conference mark into this weekend’s series against Christian Brothers at refurbished Ferriss Field. … Cleveland isn’t the only hot spot in the state this weekend. In Hattiesburg, at Wheeler Field, William Carey plays host to NAIA No. 3 Faulkner in a Southern States Athletic Conference series. The Crusaders are 23-11 and coming off what amounted to a batting practice session against Tougaloo on Wednesday. WCU won 18-3 and 16-0; Tyler Richardson had a day, going 4-for-8 with nine RBIs. Things will be a little tougher against Faulkner, which is 29-7, 11-1 SSAC and was ranked No. 1 last week before losses to Georgia-Gwinnett and Bethel. Carey, 7-4 in the league, is 18-5 overall at home. Faulkner is 4-3 on the road. … Of course, the hottest spot in the state this weekend is Starkville. Tonight’s pitching matchup is a dandy: Mississippi State’s Dakota Hudson vs. Ole Miss’ Brady Bramlett in the opener of the three-game series at Dudy Noble Field. Strong arms and good hitters abound on these two nationally ranked rivals. State (18-7-1, 4-2 SEC) is hitting .317 as a team, third in the league. Ole Miss (20-5, 2-4) has a 2.73 staff ERA, fourth in the league. The Bulldogs roll out the likes of Jacob Robson and Jack Kruger and Austin Sexton, each of whom has sparkling stats. The Rebels feature Tate Blackman and J.B. Woodman and Wyatt Short, among other stars. But many times the hero in a big series is someone you might not expect. Here’s a couple of candidates: Nathaniel Lowe arrived at State as a touted slugger, coming off a 17-home run season as an NJCAA All-America in 2015. The 6-foot-3, 245-pound Lowe is hitting .306 and is third on the team with 22 RBIs, but he has just one long ball. Who better to break out against than Ole Miss? The Rebels, meanwhile, have been waiting for Errol Robinson to break out. A highly rated draft prospect who made some preseason All-America teams, the junior shortstop is batting just .213 with four extra-base hits in 24 games. He batted .297 in 2015, with 31 runs and 30 RBIs in 58 games. Robinson had a big hit in a win against State last year; perhaps he can summon another.

28 Mar

triple feature

Mississippi State jumped to No. 5 (from 10th) in the new Baseball America poll, and on Tuesday the Bulldogs will jump back into the fray against Southern Miss, unranked but rolling, in the first of the three College Series games at Trustmark Park in Pearl. This should be good. State, at 17-7-1, has more losses than any team ranked 13th or higher in the BA poll. But the Bulldogs have beaten Vanderbilt and Georgia two of three in their first two SEC series, apparently impressing the pollsters. USM is 19-6, coming off a sweep of a C-USA series against Texas-San Antonio. The Golden Eagles won last year’s College Series game, ending a six-game skid against State with a 3-0 victory before a rowdy crowd of 5,438 at the TeePee. You can debate the significance of these midweek games, but last year’s sure seemed to be a harbinger. USM was 13-8-1 at the time, finished 35-16-1. State was 18-8 and finished 24-30. If nothing else, a win for USM on Tuesday would be a big boost toward cracking the national polls. Looming just ahead for State is a home series with Ole Miss, 20-5 but coming off a lost weekend against South Carolina that dropped the Rebels from seventh to 13th in the BA poll. … A few miles from Trustmark Park on Tuesday, Millsaps will host Belhaven at Twenty Field in the second Maloney Trophy Series game of the year. The Majors topped their NCAA Division III rivals 10-7 last week. … And a short hop from Twenty Field on Tuesday, Hinds Community College and East Central CC will play an MACJC doubleheader at Smith-Wills Stadium. Hinds, ranked in preseason, is 11-13 and 3-5. ECCC is 19-7, 7-3.

28 Mar

here and there

If there were any doubts about his place in the Oakland rotation, Kendall Graveman likely quashed them on Sunday. The Mississippi State alum drew raves after a seven-inning outing against Kansas City in which he yielded just four hits and one run and fanned six. “I knew it was big,” Graveman told mlb.com. Graveman and the A’s beat the Royals 10-1, getting a home run from Ole Miss product Chris Coghlan in the process. Graveman was 6-9 with a 4.05 ERA in 21 starts as a rookie for the A’s in 2015, his first year with the club after coming in a trade with Toronto. He has 4.98 ERA this spring. Drafted in the eighth round out of MSU in 2013, the right-hander climbed through four levels of the minors in 2014 to reach the big leagues with the Blue Jays. P.S. Tyler Moore should serve as a nice insurance policy if Freddie Freeman’s wrist troubles him again. Atlanta traded for Moore, the ex-State star, on Sunday and will stash the power-hitting first baseman at Triple-A Gwinnett. … Milwaukee shipped Ole Miss product David Goforth, a bullpen candidate, to the minors on Sunday, but ex-Rebels standout Alex Presley is still hanging around in the Brewers’ outfield picture. Presley is in camp as a non-roster player. … Just when the job of first-base coach is getting some pub – see Tom Verducci’s article in the March 28 issue of Sports Illustrated – Chris Maloney moves to third base with St. Louis. Jackson native and former State star Maloney has been the Cardinals’ first-base coach since 2012. He’ll move across the diamond while Jose Oquendo recovers from knee surgery.

27 Mar

scatter shots

A change of scenery might be what Tyler Moore needs, but a return to Triple-A Syracuse probably isn’t going to help. Moore, the former Mississippi State standout, was outrighted to Syracuse by the Washington Nationals on Friday after clearing waivers. Declaring free agency was not an option for the 29-year-old Moore, who doesn’t have enough service time. As a regular in the minors, Moore hit .271 with 107 homers, including back-to-back 31-bomb seasons, over 612 games. Playing irregularly in the big leagues, he has a .228 average and 24 homers in 277 games over four years. He is hitting .121 as a pinch hitter, and he struggled this spring. Moore, well-liked in Washington, needs an opportunity somewhere else. Maybe the Nationals will try to deal him. … Cleveland optioned Pascagoula’s Joey Butler to Triple-A Buffalo, but manager Terry Francona said he was “thrilled” that the Indians were able to keep the slugging outfielder in the organization. Butler, who flashed his potential with Tampa Bay in 2015, didn’t have a good spring with the Indians, but he’ll get another shot with them. … Delta State is suddenly cooking, with eight straight wins and back-to-back Gulf South Conference series sweeps. The Statesmen, after rolling over North Alabama on the road this weekend, are 20-9, 13-5. They’ll be climbing in the NCAA Division II polls. … This just in: Southern Miss can hit a little bit. The Golden Eagles mashed four home runs on Saturday to finish off a C-USA sweep of Texas-San Antonio and now have 33 homers in 25 games. Taylor Braley leads with eight and Dylan Burdeaux has seven for 19-6 USM. …. Big series. Big crowds. Big letdown in Oxford? After getting swept by South Carolina in a matchup of top 10 teams, Ole Miss finds itself with a 2-4 SEC record. It’ll be interesting to see how the Rebels respond. … Was anybody left at Dudy Noble Field on Saturday when Mississippi State’s game against Georgia ended? Was anybody awake? The home Dogs lost to the road Dogs 11-8 in a nine-inning game that lasted almost five hours and “featured” 22 walks and 10 pitching changes. State did win the first two games and is now 4-2 in the league. … Props to Itawamba Community College’s Rick Collier on becoming the school’s all-time winningest coach with 452 W’s in 14 years. The Indians, with two homers from Timothy Rowe, beat Meridian 10-3 in the second game of a twinbill on Friday to push Collier past Roy Cresap. … Nominee for Game of the Year: In Ellisville on Friday, Jones County Junior College got a game-tying three-run homer from pinch-hitter Marcus Hardy in the bottom of the ninth and a walk-off two-run shot from Erick Hoard in the 10th to beat Northwest 8-6. After completing the doubleheader sweep, Jones is 24-2 and 7-1, leading the MACJC standings.

23 Mar

big league chew

It looks like there is just one bench job left on Washington’s 25-man roster, and ex-Mississippi State star Tyler Moore is in a group that includes Brendan Ryan, Scott Sizemore, Reed Johnson, Chris Heisey and Matt den Dekker vying for that spot as camp winds down. Moore, an outfielder/first baseman, provides right-handed power (24 homers in 601 MLB at-bats) but is just a .228 career hitter (.203 in 2015). A change of uniforms might be in store for Moore. … The frightening injury suffered by Milwaukee’s Rymer Liriano, who was hit in the face by a pitch, will open a roster spot that Ole Miss alum Alex Presley might squeeze into. The lefty-hitting outfielder, in Brewers camp as a non-roster invitee, is batting .321 with three homers (he hit one Tuesday) and nine RBIs. … Former Pillow Academy standout Louis Coleman hasn’t allowed a run in six innings for the Los Angeles Dodgers and may stick in their bullpen. Coleman, formerly with Kansas City, is out of minor league options, which could help his cause. … Cody Reed, not yet on Cincinnati’s 40-man roster, was sent to minor league camp on Tuesday despite a 3.97 ERA in four Cactus League games. The Northwest Mississippi Community College product, who hasn’t pitched above Double-A, will be back with the Reds soon enough. … A strong outing on Sunday wasn’t enough to earn T.J. House a roster spot with Cleveland, which optioned the left-hander from Picayune to Triple-A Columbus on Monday. Despite those four shutout innings against Seattle, House had a 5.59 ERA this spring in four games. After posting a 3.35 ERA in 19 games as a rookie in 2014, House’s 2015 season was wrecked by a rotator cuff issue. He was 0-4, 13.15 to open last season before being sent to the minors and ultimately shut down. “He needs to find some consistency,” manager Terry Francona told mlb.com. “(R)epetition will be really good for him.” … Ole Miss product Drew Pomeranz is slated to start today for San Diego against the Chicago White Sox in the Cactus League as he bids for a spot in the Padres’ rotation. A newly developed cutter could be the key for left-hander Pomeranz, who has been primarily a two-pitch pitcher working as a starter and reliever in the past. … Chris Coghlan has been getting time at second base in Oakland’s camp. The former Ole Miss star, traded to the A’s by the Chicago Cubs this spring, has played primarily outfield in his MLB career but has seen some duty at second and third. He is hitting just .233 this spring but did take San Francisco’s Jeff Samardzija deep on Monday.

23 Mar

second time around

The early leader for comeback player of the year from among Magnolia State colleges is, without a doubt, Tate Blackman of Ole Miss. The Florida native, a Louisville Slugger All-American as a prep senior, hit just .197 with nine RBIs in 39 games (36 starts) as a freshman for the Rebels in 2015. He had some moments – a game-winning run against Mississippi State, a walk-off hit vs. Arkansas-Pine Bluff, a good series against LSU – but overall, it was a rough first year. The second baseman has come back with a vengeance this spring: He went 2-for-4 with a home run on Tuesday as the Rebels (20-2) rolled to an 8-2 win over UT-Martin. Blackman leads Ole Miss with a .347 average and is tied for the team lead with 21 RBIs. He also has scored 20 runs. He’ll surely be in the Ferriss Trophy conversation down the road. P.S. Down went the heavyweights in the MACJC on Tuesday. Both Jones County Junior College and Meridian Community College lost for the first time in league play. Jones (now 5-1 and 22-2 overall) split a twinbill with Southwest (3-3), and MCC (5-1 and 20-2) split with Delta (3-1). Of note: In Southwest’s 4-1 win in Game 2 at Ellisville, Brady Anderson hit a game-turning grand slam off JCJC ace Calder Mikell, and Bears pitchers Braden Smith and Kaleb Clarke checked the slugging Bobcats on seven hits.

20 Mar

names to know

In Nashville, Tenn., on Saturday night, under the SEC Network spotlight, Jake Mangum and Noah Hughes — freshmen and former Jackson Prep teammates –- played starring roles for Mississippi State in an SEC series-clinching win against Vanderbilt. Mangum had a go-ahead, two-run hit in the eighth inning and Hughes delivered two scoreless innings of relief in the 5-4 victory against a Commodores team ranked as high as No. 2 in the country. But those aren’t the only names to know today. Other Magnolia State players taking star turns this weekend: Southern Miss catcher Chuckie Robinson delivered a go-ahead hit and threw out a Marshall baserunner trying to steal in the eighth inning as the Golden Eagles won the rubber game of their C-USA series on Saturday. … Ole Miss’ Wyatt Short notched his fifth save of the year and 18th of his career as the Rebels beat Tennessee 6-4 on Saturday and evened their SEC series. … Wallace Rios of Alcorn State hit two homers and drove in six runs as the Braves beat Alabama A&M 15-13 in a SWAC contest. … Nick Lowe hit a game-tying sac fly and Cody Christian drew a bases-loaded walk in the bottom of the ninth to give William Carey a 5-4 win over visiting Blue Mountain in a Southern States Athletic Conference game. … Garrett Odom blasted two homers and knocked in six runs to pace Mississippi College to a 13-7 Gulf South Conference win against Christian Brothers. …. Terrell Hodges went 6-for-12 with six runs, three RBIs and two steals as Belhaven swept Louisiana College in an American Southwest Conference series at Smith-Wills Stadium. … Millsaps’ Brennan Ducote had two hits and two RBIs to spark the Majors to a 4-1 win over Southern Athletic Association rival Rhodes in Game 2 of a Saturday twinbill. … And in Cleveland, where Delta State swept a GSC doubleheader from Alabama-Huntsville, ranked No. 9 in NCAA Division II, the heroes were many. Lefties Justin Vincent and Tre Hobbs threw complete games; Ben Pickard drove in seven runs; Brandon Cummins scored five times; and Trent Giambroni hit his seventh homer.

16 Mar

ups and downs

Tuesday was a happening day. In Hattiesburg, Southern Miss enjoyed one of those games you’d like to bottle and store. Ole Miss traveled to Birmingham and rolled to its 11th straight win. At Braddy Field in Jackson, Jackson State overwhelmed LeMoyne-Owen with a 43-run barrage. But there was no joy in Starkville, where Mississippi State blew a six-run lead in the eighth inning and lost 16-12 to Eastern Kentucky in extras. Let’s start at Taylor Park, where the Golden Eagles beat Alabama 9-2. A crowd of 3,577 saw USM (14-4) get 15 hits against a good Bama staff. Sizzling Jake Sandlin went 4-for-4, Hunter Slater got three hits and Dylan Burdeaux clubbed his third homer. Nick Johnson worked a masterful 6 2/3 innings for his first win. Michael Gilbert made a huge play at third base. “You can’t ask for more,” catcher Chuckie Robinson said in a school release. Nationally ranked Ole Miss is now 16-1 after routing UAB 8-1, getting homers from Henri Lartigue and Cameron Dishon. The Rebels scored three in the first inning, the 10th time this year they’ve scored in the opening frame. Jackson State (9-7) used seven homers to crush an overmatched LeMoyne-Owen 23-2 and 20-3. Anthony Stricklin went yard in both games. But at Dudy Noble Field, things went horribly wrong. Nathaniel Lowe, the power-hitting juco transfer, blasted his first homer and drove in seven runs as State built a 12-6 lead through seven. Stunningly, EKU tied it with a six-run eighth, then put up four in the 10th to win it. Four Bulldogs relievers yielded 14 earned runs over the final six innings. State, climbing in the national polls after its sweep of Oregon over the weekend, dips to 12-4-1. While USM, UM and JSU players are walking tall today, it might be the Bulldogs who are most eager to get back on the field. They’ll want to put Tuesday’s clunker behind them, and they get that chance tonight at home against Oral Roberts.

15 Mar

taking up arms

Chris Stratton was optioned out to Triple-A Sacramento on Monday, but the right-hander from Mississippi State surely made a good impression in San Francisco’s camp. Stratton pitched five innings over two starts, yielding four hits and no runs. In his last outing last Thursday, he threw three hitless innings against Milwaukee. The Tupelo native, who went 4-5, 3.86 ERA at Sacramento in 2015, could be the first pitcher recalled if or when the Giants need another starter this season. … Cody Reed, the Northwest Mississippi Community College product, is still hanging around in Cincinnati’s camp as a non-roster pitcher. The left-hander, a highly rated prospect, has a 1.13 ERA in three games, two starts. In eight innings, he has seven strikeouts and no walks. … Ex-State star Kendall Graveman has scuffled in his two appearances for Oakland, posting a 7.20 ERA in five innings. Graveman, 6-5 with a 4.09 ERA for the A’s a year ago, is competing for a rotation spot. … Picayune High product T.J. House, a darkhorse to make Cleveland’s rotation at the start of spring, has a 9.53 ERA in three relief appearances. The left-hander is coming off an injury-wrecked 2015 season. … Drew Pomeranz, the former Ole Miss standout, has a 3.86 ERA in three appearances for San Diego, his new club. His role with the Padres hasn’t really been defined. … Southern Miss alum Scott Copeland, a non-roster invitee in Toronto’s camp, hasn’t yielded a run in three innings but is a longshot to stick with their staff. He made three starts for the Blue Jays last season. P.S. Jonathan Papelbon, the former MSU star who gets his share of bad press, received some well-deserved positive attention after attending the annual Leukemia Ball, held by the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, in Washington, D.C., over the weekend. Papelbon and his wife, Ashley, reportedly donated $25,000 to the fund.

14 Mar

centerpieces

Mississippi State’s sweep of Oregon got top billing in the college weekend wrap-up on Baseball America’s web site. The host Bulldogs (12-3-1) put up 24 runs on 33 hits against the Ducks’ vaunted pitching staff. State had a bunch of heroes, but Brent Rooker stood out with a 6-for-11 effort, two homers and five RBIs. He is batting .377 – third among State regulars — and leads the club with 20 RBIs. State jumped from 24th to 15th in the new BA poll, while Oregon dropped from No. 11 to 19. … Ole Miss, BA’s No. 12 team, swept three from Grambling State in Oxford to improve to 15-1. The Big Man on Campus for the Rebels was Brady Bramlett, who beat the Tigers (five shutout innings, 11 strikeouts) to move to 4-0 with a 2.14 ERA, 30 K’s in 21 innings. … Jake Sandlin went off for Southern Miss as the Golden Eagles (13-4) took two of three from visiting Samford. The Georgia College transfer, an NCAA Division II All-America last year, went 6-for-12 with five RBIs and three runs. He is batting .350 for the year. … Delta State (13-9, 7-5) salvaged the final game of its Gulf South Conference series against West Georgia. Will Robertson was 2-for-5 in the 6-3 win, recording his 14th multi-hit game and boosting his average to .429 (with 23 RBIs and 20 runs). … Millsaps used a seven-run ninth inning rally to beat Center 9-7 on Saturday and claim the Southern Athletic Association series. Freshman Brennan Ducote had the go-ahead hit, a two-run single, for the Majors (8-8, 4-2). … Delta State transfer Tanner Cable got the win, his fourth, as Belhaven crushed Eureka College 15-1 on Saturday. Cable is 4-0 with a 2.08 ERA for the Division III Blazers (8-4). … Blue Mountain, forced to play NAIA No. 3 Faulkner on the road instead of in New Albany, was outscored 43-5 in losing three straight. … In the only MACJC doubleheader completed over the weekend, Hinds Community College beat Itawamba CC 17-6 and 4-3, getting 24 hits and four home runs in the process at Jackson’s Smith-Wills Stadium. The Eagles are 9-7, the Indians 12-6.