Ole Miss Archives - Page 6 of 154 - All Mississippi Baseball

07 Aug

caught up in middle

Games aren’t always saved in the ninth inning. Middle relievers frequently work on the razor’s edge. Drew Pomeranz, the 36-year-old left-hander out of Ole Miss, faced such a situation on Wednesday with the Chicago Cubs. He came on in the sixth with the Cubs holding a one-run lead, a runner on base, two outs and the dangerous Elly De La Cruz up for Cincinnati. Pomeranz struck him out on four pitches. And his job was done. Rookie starter Cade Horton would get the win. Pomeranz was credited with a hold, his ninth in 38 appearances, and reduced his ERA to 1.97. He also has a save and two wins on his 2025 ledger. The Cubs used three more relievers, added on some runs and won 6-1 at Wrigley Field. Take 2: In Washington, Konnor Pilkington, the ex-Mississippi State standout, got the call in the fifth inning, two on, one out and the Nationals locked in a scoreless battle with the A’s. Pilkington struck out Nick Kurtz, pitched around Brent Rooker and got J.J. Bleday on a ground ball to end the inning. The lefty went back out for the sixth and gave up a tie-breaking solo homer to Tyler Soderstrom — the first he has allowed in eight appearances — before getting two outs and departing for another reliever. The Nationals tied the score in the bottom of the sixth and went on to win 2-1 via a walk-off hit. Pilkington, called up just last month, has been an effective pitcher in clutch situations though he has no wins, saves or holds. He has inherited seven baserunners and not allowed one to score in his 7 2/3 innings of work; he has put up a 2.35 ERA for a last-place team. P.S. Ole Miss alum Nick Fortes got his first hit — a home run — in his sixth game for Tampa Bay since joining the club in a trade on July 29. The Rays, with Fortes behind the plate, beat the Los Angeles Angels 5-4. … Philadelphia has claimed UM product Jacob Waguespack off waivers from Tampa Bay and assigned the right-hander to Triple-A Lehigh Valley. He has been on the injured list since late May. Waguespack, who has a 5.11 ERA in 31 career MLB games, had pitched well (0.46) in the minors this year.

06 Aug

numbers to crunch

4 — Hits by Brent Rooker in a 16-7 win Tuesday by the A’s over Washington in a game chock-full of crazy numbers, including 24 hits — nine for extra bases — and five walks by the visitors at Nationals Park. Former Mississippi State star Rooker hit two doubles, drove in three runs and scored three.
3 — Home runs by Shea Langeliers of the A’s in the catcher’s first career game batting leadoff. Langeliers, who powered the Double-A Mississippi Braves to a league title in 2021, went 5-for-6 and scored four times. It was his second career three-homer game, and he now has 22 bombs on the season.
4 — Walks drawn by Nathaniel Lowe in the Nationals’ humbling defeat. The MSU alum, teammates with Rooker back in 2016, went 0-for-1 and is batting .221 with a .294 OBP — far off his career numbers — in his first year with Washington.
13 — Wins this season for Garrett Crochet, who allowed two runs in seven innings as Boston beat Kansas City 6-2 for its seventh straight win. Ocean Springs native Crochet, pitching on nine days rest, is 13-4 with a 2.24 ERA in 23 starts for the surging Red Sox.
13 — Wins this season for Freddy Peralta, who went five innings for Milwaukee to subdue Atlanta 7-2. The former Biloxi Shuckers standout, 13-5 with a 3.03, helped the Brewers win their sixth straight and improve to an MLB-best 69-44.
7 — Hits and RBIs in four August games for Isaac Collins, who had two of each in Milwaukee’s win at Truist Park. The 5-foot-8, 188-pound Shuckers alum, batting .285 this season, was the National League rookie of the month for July.
5 — RBIs by Dakota Jordan in a two-homer game for Low-Class A San Jose in San Francisco’s organization. The ex-MSU star from Canton, a 2024 draftee, has 14 homers and 82 RBIs in 84 games. Coming off the IL, he is 11-for-19 with four bombs and 12 RBIs in four games in August.
1 — Save, in his first opportunity at Triple-A Omaha (Kansas City system), for Brandon Johnson. The Ole Miss product threw a scoreless 10th in a 7-6 win at Indianapolis, trimming his ERA to 6.37 in his 22nd game for the Storm Chasers. He had a 0.79 and seven saves at the Double-A level this year.
P.S. Rooker, former State standout Jake Mangum (Tampa Bay) and Shuckers alum Sal Frelick (Milwaukee) were selected as their team’s Heart and Hustle Award winners for 2025. The award honors a player who best embodies the values, spirit and tradition of the game. An overall winner will be chosen after the season.

05 Aug

just doing his thing

Minnesota Twins management may have waved the white flag on this season, purging the roster at the trade deadline, but Matt Wallner is still out there battling, doing Matt Wallner things. The Southern Miss product — the school’s all-time home run leader — hit his 15th homer on Monday night. The sixth-inning shot at Detroit’s Comerica Park gave the Twins a brief lead before they ultimately fell to the first-place Tigers 6-3. It was the Twins’ fifth loss in six games and they now stand 52-60. If the club is fading away, Wallner is not. The 6-foot-4 lefty slugger, at .217 on the season, is batting .368 over his last seven games and has four homers in his last eight. He is one of those proverbial “three true outcome” players: In 259 plate appearances this season — he missed a chunk of time early on with an injury — he has struck out 75 times and walked 32 (with four HBPs) in addition to his career-high homer total. He has 44 career bombs in 240 games. When Wallner hits the ball, he hits it hard: Of his 48 hits in 2025, 28 are for extra bases. In Monday’s game, his homer off Casey Mize carried 436 feet to center field. Wallner also walked once and struck out once. And, oh yeah, he has a cannon for a right arm; USM used him as a closer at times. Playing right field on Monday, he threw out two Tigers on the bases. The Minnesota native may give disheartened Twins fans something to cheer about down the stretch. P.S. Wallner is tied for third in the all-Mississippi home run derby for 2025. Brent Rooker leads with 23, followed by Austin Riley at 16 and Wallner and Nathaniel Lowe at 15. Jordan Westburg — hitting .419 in his last seven games — belted his 13th homer for Baltimore in a losing cause on Monday. … On the topic of homers, ex-Ole Miss star Ryan Rolison yielded a bomb in Colorado’s blowout loss to Toronto at Coors Field and has now allowed 10 homers in 34 2/3 innings this season, his first in MLB.

04 Aug

there and here

Kemp Alderman, former Ole Miss star and Decatur native, has been named the Double-A Southern League’s player of the week (July 28-Aug. 3). The 2023 Ferriss Trophy winner had nine hits — two of them homers — eight RBIs and three runs for Pensacola in the Miami chain. He hit both homers on Sunday against ex-Mississippi State hurler K.C. Hunt in the Blue Wahoos’ 8-4 win over Biloxi. It’s the second time this season Alderman has won the league’s POW award. He is one of 11 Mississippians to win the top player award in various minor leagues in 2025, joining Connor Hujsak, Konnor Griffin, Blaze Jordan, Tyson Hardin, Jurrangelo Cijntje, Niko Mazza, Braden Montgomery, Rowdey Jordan, Blaine Crim and J.T. Ginn. … Cijntje, the switch-pitcher out of MSU, has been promoted to Double-A Arkansas in the Seattle system. He was 4-7 with a 4.58 ERA in 19 games at the High-Class A level in what is his first pro season. … Atlanta has placed DeSoto Central High product Austin Riley (abdominal injury) back on the 10-day injured list. Former Mississippi Braves infielder Nacho Alvarez was recalled. … Baltimore sent Houston Roth back to Triple-A Norfolk without getting the ex-UM standout into a game. He has a 2.21 ERA, four wins and two saves in 24 relief appearances between Double-A and Triple-A this season. … The Mississippi Mud Monsters, hitting the road Tuesday for a six-game, two-city trip, have revamped their roster in recent days, adding right-hander Braden Forsyth (a Magnolia Heights, Meridian Community College and Ole Miss alum); first baseman Jack Holman; LH Ben Riley Flowers (a Southern Miss product); 7-foot RH Brenton Thiels; and RH Carl Brice (Callaway High alum). RH Heath Mann was signed and then released. The independent club is 35-36, fourth place in the West Division of the Midwest Conference of the Frontier League. The regular season ends Aug. 31. Eight teams qualify for the playoffs, four from each conference, in the 18-team league. … Ole Miss alum Anthony Calarco, who had 10 hits and seven RBIs in last week’s six-game series vs. the Mud Monsters, is batting .335 with a league-best 20 homers and 92 RBIs on the year for Schaumburg, one of the FL’s best teams. He played in Oxford in 2023.

04 Aug

a day at the park

It’s the 3rd of August, another sleepy, dusty, central Mississippi Sunday, and the Mississippi Mud Monsters are hosting the Schaumburg Boomers in a Frontier League doubleheader at Pearl’s Trustmark Park. … At 4:02 p.m., just before first pitch of Game 1, the crowd in the 6,000-plus seat ballpark is, uh, slim — think double digits — and the atmosphere subdued. Very. … The video board in left-center is “under repair” and displays only balls, strikes, outs and a basic linescore. … But there is music. And baseball. … Top of the first, Anthony Calarco, introduced as a former Ole Miss player, comes to the plate. The p.a. “taunts” him with the Mississippi State fight song. He rips an RBI double down the right-field line. There are cheers. … Bottom one, Brayland Skinner leads off with a double and comes in on a Travis Holt knock. … Kids behind the right-field fence can be heard razzing the Boomers right fielder. … Top second, Skinner, the Mud Monsters’ offensive catalyst, suffers an apparent leg injury tracking a fly ball. He limps off the field. … Third inning, Calarco, a hefty lefty hitter, rips another RBI hit. More cheers for the visitor. Boomers lead 2-1. … The “Chicken Dance” rings out on the p.a. after the third inning. It does little to inspire the scattered crowd. … Bottom four, the Mud-sters get two hits. But Boomers center fielder Banks Tolley — the St. Andrew’s grad — unleashes a laser to cut down Nilo Rijo at the plate. The sensational double play ends the inning. … Bottom five, the Boomers left fielder, Aaron Simmons, cuts down a runner at the plate to end that inning. Amazing. … Calarco is up in the sixth for his third at-bat. Cue the fight song. He crushes a line drive to left that clanks off Samil De La Rosa’s glove. Two batters later, Nick Podkul’s single up the middle makes it 3-1. … Bottom six, Jack Holman, recent addition to the Mississippi roster, smashes a double to the wall in center that Tolley almost reels in. A run scores, and it’s now 3-2 Schaumburg. … Some Mud-sters fans on the third-base side can be heard playfully mocking — “Rookie of the Year”-style — the anatomy of the Boomers pitcher, who has yielded only two runs. … Seventh inning: Chris Barraza replaces starter Brian Williams on the bump for Mississippi. Barraza walks four batters around a two-run hit by that man again, Calarco. … Following a much-needed visit from pitching coach Robert Carson, the former Hattiesburg High star and onetime big leaguer, Barraza fans two to end the inning. … The Mud-sters trail 5-2 going to the bottom of the final frame. … Hits by De La Rosa and Holt are squandered. A bouncer to the mound ends it. As the visitors quietly celebrate in the infield, the p.a. invites fans — who have grown in number, slightly — to have a catch on the field and stick around for Game 2. P.S. Mississippi pounds out 15 hits and rolls to a 12-6 win in the second game, the fourth game in two days between the teams. The announced attendance is 1,616.

03 Aug

three stars

Colt Keith: The Biloxi High product went 3-for-5 with a home run — for Detroit’s first run against Zack Wheeler — as the Tigers beat the Phillies 7-5 in a showdown of aces (Tarik Skubal vs. Wheeler) and first-place teams. Keith is batting .258 with nine homers and 33 RBIs and is hitting .316 over his last seven games.
Brandon Woodruff: The ex-Mississippi State standout allowed one hit (a homer), one walk and two runs over six innings and punched out eight to lead first-place Milwaukee to an 8-2 win against Washington. In five starts since coming off the injured list, Woodruff is 3-0 with a 2.22 ERA and 37 K’s in 28 1/3 innings.
Christopher Sargent Jr.: The former Southern Miss slugger drove in two runs with a double for Ogden in the independent Pioneer League and boosted his season RBI total to 101, best in the league. He is batting .381 with 25 homers.
P.S. Ex-Ole Miss star Ryan Rolison was recalled to the big leagues by Colorado; he had a 7.34 ERA in 22 games in his first stint for the woeful Rockies. … J.P. France, an MSU product, allowed four runs on two hits and four walks in a rehab start for Triple-A Sugar Land in the Houston system. … Blaine Crim, Mississippi College alum, was designated for assignment by Texas on July 31 and is in roster limbo. He is batting .284 with 18 homers at Triple-A Round Rock; he went 0-for-11 in The Show. … Mississippi native Lance Barksdale is on the umpiring crew for the historic MLB Speedway Classic in Bristol, Tenn. The Atlanta-Cincinnati game was suspended by rain and will be resumed today in the first inning.

01 Aug

catching up

The week’s trade winds — trade storms? — have subsided, and a handful of Mississippi products have landed in new places. To recap:
Khal Stephen: The former Mississippi State standout is now in the Cleveland system, assigned to Double-A Akron. A 2024 draft pick, he was 9-1 with a 2.06 ERA over three levels in the Toronto chain. Traded straight up for big leaguer Shane Bieber, the 6-foot-4 Stephen is slotted in as the Guardians’ No. 7 prospect by MLB Pipeline.
Victor Figueroa: The lone Mississippi Valley State alum in affiliated ball, he is now in the Baltimore organization, having been dealt by San Diego as one of the six prospects sent to the Orioles for major leaguers Ryan O’Hearn and Ramon Laureano. Figueroa, who played at Valley in 2023, was at Low-Class A Lake Elsinore, where he was batting .262 with seven homers. The Florida native, a 6-foot-5, 240-pound lefty hitter, hit .400 with eight homers and 14 steals at Valley in 2023 before transferring to a Florida juco. He was an 18th-round pick last summer.
Blaze Jordan: The slugger from DeSoto Central High is now in the St. Louis system and has been sent to Triple-A Memphis, 15 minutes from his Southaven home. A 22-year-old corner infielder, he is batting .308 with 12 homers and 62 RBIs between Double-A and Triple-A in his fifth pro season. He has 55 career homers.
Nate Dohm: The 6-4 right-hander, drafted out of MSU in the third round in 2024, also has moved to the St. Louis system and was placed on the High-Class A Peoria roster. He was 3-5 with a 2.87 ERA as a starter in A-ball in the New York Mets’ organization.
Nick Fortes: The ex-Ole Miss catcher was dealt to Tampa Bay by Miami and already has played in three games for the Rays. A fifth-year big leaguer, Fortes, known for his defense, is batting .231 with two homers and 10 RBIs on the year.
Matthew Etzel: The former Southern Miss standout went to Miami from Tampa Bay in the deal for Fortes. Etzel, currently on the injured list, was assigned to Double-A Pensacola. He is batting .230 with five homers, 34 RBIs and 17 steals this season, his third in the minors.
P.S. MSU product Adam Frazier, traded from Pittsburgh to Kansas City on July 16, is hitting .261 with two doubles, an RBI and three runs in eight games for the Royals, having played four different positions. … Ex-Ole Miss standout Tim Elko homered again Thursday — No. 18 — for Triple-A Charlotte; he is on a rehab assignment with the Chicago White Sox. … Former USM star Justin Storm threw two shutout innings for his fifth save as High-A Beloit beat Peoria 3-0. The 6-foot-7 lefty, in his third pro season, has a 4.08 ERA in 31 games.

30 Jul

bird feed

After a rather weak start to his season that included a stint on the injured list, Jordan Westburg has been coming on strong for Baltimore this month. Former Mississippi State star Westburg, batting leadoff, went 4-for-6 with two doubles, an RBI and four runs to spark the Orioles to a 16-4 win over Toronto in the first game of a Tuesday twinbill. Westburg is batting .337 in July, with seven knocks in his last two games, boosting his season average to .269. He was at .217 when he went on the IL in late April. For the year, the 2024 All-Star third baseman has 11 homers, 24 RBIs and 42 runs in 56 games for the underachieving Orioles. They did sweep first-place Toronto on Tuesday to extend their win streak to five but are just 50-58. In more Bird news: The Orioles called up ex-Ole Miss standout Houston Roth as an extra pitcher on Tuesday, but he did not play. It might be a short-term stay. The right-hander, a 2019 draftee by Baltimore, is having a good year, with a 2.21 ERA, four wins and two saves in 24 relief appearances between Double-A and Triple-A. The O’s also have MSU alum Preston Johnson, a 2022 draftee, at Triple-A Norfolk, though he has not pitched well there since moving up earlier this month. Baltimore promoted Southern Miss product Reed Trimble to Norfolk, but the outfielder didn’t play Tuesday. A 2021 draftee, he is batting .227 with nine homers and 10 steals on the season. Of note: The Orioles drafted — and have signed — two juco pitchers from Mississippi this year: Pearl River Community College ace K.K. Clark and Meridian CC star Conner Gehr. P.S. USM alum Hurston Waldrep, who was reportedly being promoted to Atlanta, instead tossed seven shutout innings with eight strikeouts for Triple-A Gwinnett. He is 7-8, 4.42 ERA. … Former Ole Miss star Drew Pomeranz faced four batters and retired one for the Chicago Cubs in their 9-3 loss to Milwaukee. The veteran lefty wasn’t charged with a run but has yielded five over his last seven outings (9.64 ERA) after throwing 26 scoreless innings to begin his Cubs tenure. … Petal High’s Trey Barnes will play in today’s Hank Aaron Invitational, a premier prep showcase event, at Birmingham’s Rickwood Field. A USM commit, Barnes hit .404 with four homers and 29 RBIs as a junior at Petal last season.

29 Jul

on the move

Former Madison Central High standout Braden Montgomery has been promoted to Double-A Birmingham in the Chicago White Sox’s system. The 12th overall pick last year (out of Texas A&M by Boston), the 22-year-old Montgomery, a switch-hitting outfielder, hit .269 with 11 homers, 57 RBIs, 50 runs and 11 stolen bases over two levels of A-ball. He is the ChiSox’s No. 2 prospect and No. 26 overall in the minors, per MLB Pipeline. … Michael Fowler, a Southern Miss product, has signed with the Milwaukee Brewers, the independent Mississippi Mud Monsters announced. Fowler, who only recently joined the Mud-sters’ roster, went 2-1 with a 1.92 ERA in seven games, striking out 15 in 9 1/3 innings. This is his first pro season. … Will Verdung, the MACCC’s player of the year for 2023 at Itawamba Community College, has been placed on the injured list at High-Class A Rome by the Atlanta Braves. The third baseman is batting .279 with no homers and 22 RBIs. Verdung mashed 25 homers in two years at ICC and went deep in his first pro at-bat in 2023 but has hit just two homers since. … Oak Grove outfielder Eric Booth Jr., Magnolia Heights infielder Cole Prosek and Jackson Prep outfielder Kevin Roberts Jr. have advanced to Phase 2 of USA Baseball’s U18 National Team Training Camp in Cary, N.C. There will be a second cut to 20 players, who will compete in the U-18 Baseball World Cup in Okinawa, Japan. … Nick Fortes, just acquired by Tampa Bay from Miami, is in the Rays’ lineup at catcher for tonight’s game at Yankee Stadium, facing New York ace Max Fried.

29 Jul

trade breeze

A pair of former Mississippi college standouts will trade places today in a deal that will soon be overshadowed when the trade winds pick up in MLB. Tampa Bay, in need of a defensive-minded catcher, is acquiring former Ole Miss star Nick Fortes from Miami, sending ex-Southern Miss star Matthew Etzel, a third-year minor league outfielder, to the Marlins. The Rays are 54-53 after beating the New York Yankees on Monday and are hanging on the fringe of the American League wild card race. Fortes, in his fifth big league season, was batting .240 with two home runs and 10 RBIs in 59 games as a part-timer for Miami. He’ll join a Rays team that includes Mississippi State alum Jake Mangum and share catching duties with Matt Thaiss, a .219 hitter. Etzel is currently on the injured list at Double-A Montgomery. He is batting .230 with five homers, 34 RBIs and 17 steals. Originally drafted by Baltimore in 2023 and traded last summer, the speedy Etzel is a .267 career hitter with 83 steals. He’ll likely go to Double-A Pensacola and join a club that includes Ole Miss product Kemp Alderman. P.S. Former Mississippi Braves star Michael Harris II, in the throes of a tough offensive year, was named the National League player of the week. He batted .478 with six extra-base hits, including two homers and two triples, last week. … A host of former Biloxi Shuckers started for Milwaukee on Monday in an 8-4 win over the visiting Chicago Cubs that moved the Brewers a game up in the NL Central. Shuckers alum Sal Frelick, batting leadoff, went 2-for-4 with a walk, a homer and two runs as the Brewers overcame a ragged start by ex-Shuckers star Jacob Misiorowski. … Former Jackson Prep star Konnor Griffin, currently in High-Class A for Pittsburgh, is now Baseball America’s No. 1 overall prospect; MLB Pipeline previously ranked Griffin No. 1.