Tag Archives: SEC

14 Apr

state of the state

Both Mississippi State and Ole Miss popped up in various national preseason polls. Then the games started. Since winning its first 13 (all at Starkville) and rising in some polls, State has gone 9-16, a tailspin that seemed to start with a home loss to Arkansas-Pine Bluff on March 3. The Bulldogs are 6-9 in the SEC West, a game back of Ole Miss (7-8). State has won just one SEC series (South Carolina), UM two (Florida and Vanderbilt). The Rebels, playing one of the toughest schedules in the nation, are just 18-18 overall, apparently missing the eight MLB draftees taken from last year’s College World Series club more than some people thought they would. There is, of course, lots of baseball still to be played in the SEC. But State and Ole Miss have lots of work to do to get back in the polls and, more importantly, back in the NCAA regionals. … Southern Miss is 20-12-1 (2-0 in the Trustmark Park College Series) and 8-6 (fifth) in Conference USA. The Golden Eagles, who have the league’s top hitter in Taylor Braley (.398), have won two straight C-USA series. … In the SWAC, Jackson State is 10-5 and third in the East, with Alcorn State and Mississippi Valley State tied in the cellar at 3-14. JSU, the defending league tournament champ, is 21-14 overall. … Delta State is 17-13 and 12-8 (t-fifth) in the Gulf South Conference. The Statesmen celebrated Mike Kinnison’s 800th career win last week and then took two of three from Mississippi College in the renewal of their old rivalry. … MC, ineligible for the GSC title as it transitions to NCAA Division II, is 12-27, 4-22 in what will be coach Brian Owens’ final season in Clinton. … Millsaps, 25-7 and ranked 10th in NCAA D-III, is first in the Southern Athletic Association standings at 15-3. … In the NAIA Southern States Athletic Conference, William Carey (15-9) is third, Belhaven (10-16) seventh and Blue Mountain (7-18) 10th. Carey (24-19 overall) swept league foe Martin Methodist over the weekend. BU celebrated another Maloney Trophy Series championship by beating Millsaps last week, then got swept by No. 1-ranked Faulkner in the SSAC. … NAIA Tougaloo, under first-year coach Earl Sanders, is 5-30. … In the jucos, No. 1-ranked Hinds Community College (29-2) is tops in the MACJC at 16-2, having won its showdown with East Mississippi CC last Saturday. Northwest has moved to No. 2 in the league at 14-4, and EMCC is third at 13-5.

15 May

the hot spot

It’s a quiet day at college ballparks around the state — except in Ellisville, where fireworks are in the offing. No. 1-ranked Jones County Junior College plays East Central and Hinds tangles with No. 2 LSU-Eunice in the NJCAA Division II Region 23 Tournament. … Belhaven University’s season ended Wednesday at Smith-Wills Stadium when the Blazers lost for a second time to NAIA No. 3 Oklahoma Wesleyan. No shame in that. BU (42-21) went 2-2 in the NAIA regional, including a win over Houston-Victoria, coached by former major leaguer Terry Puhl. … At Tampa, Fla., Delta State takes on Florida Southern in the NCAA Division II South Regional. … At New Orleans, Jackson State and Alcorn State, both upset winners in the SWAC Tournament’s opening round, are back on the field today. JSU, coming off a win over West Division champ Arkansas-Pine Bluff, plays Alabama A&M; Alcorn gets tourney favorite Alabama State. … The Division I Big 3 are all on the road to finish conference play. League tournaments are next week. Southern Miss, third in Conference USA, is at Charlotte. Ole Miss and Mississippi State, which rank 1-2 in the SEC West standings, play at Texas A&M and Alabama, respectively.

06 May

encore, encore

Ross Mitchell, Mississippi State’s junior left-hander, set a high standard for himself in 2013. He went 13-0 and posted a 1.53 ERA in 94 innings, all out of the bullpen for the national runner-up. He made several All-America teams. Mitchell’s encore in 2014, if not as spectacular as last year, has been pretty darn good. He is 7-4 for the 31-18 Bulldogs, with a 2.12 ERA in an SEC-leading 89 1/3 innings. He has made eight starts and won five of them since moving from the pen. Mitchell beat Auburn on Saturday with his first career complete game shutout, part of State’s sweep on The Plains. On Monday, the Tennessee native was named co-pitcher of the week in the SEC, the third time in 2014 he has received that honor. Mitchell is the definition of the crafty lefty: only 42 strikeouts this season but a .220 opponent batting average and just 22 walks. He figured to be a key player for the Bulldogs this season, and that he certainly has been for a team headed back to the NCAA postseason.

27 Apr

kings of swing

Nomination for Understatement of the Year, College Edition: “We swung the bats well today.” Ole Miss coach Mike Bianco made that comment today moments after the No. 12 Rebels produced 17 hits and beat nationally ranked Kentucky 18-5 in Lexington. Yes, 17 hits and 18 runs qualifies as swinging the bats well. Auston Bousfield, having an amazing season, went 5-for-6 with a home run, six RBIs and three runs. For the year, the junior from Florida is at .363 with five homers, 34 RBIs and 38 runs. The Rebels got three more homers in today’s win, from Will Allen, J.B. Woodman and Sikes Orvis. Orvis homered for the second straight day and now has 11 bombs for the year. Yes, the Rebels also swung the bats well on Friday, getting 15 hits in a 12-4 victory. They are 32-12, 12-8 SEC, heading into Sunday’s series finale. Chances are they’ll swing the bats well again. P.S. Former Ole Miss star Seth Smith, now with the San Diego Padres, missed a second straight game today because of a groin injury. Smith has been swinging the bat well, so to speak, hitting .313 over his last 10 games before the injury. He’s at .277 for the year. Smith homered in his first at-bat as a Padre back on March 31 but has hit just one since.

18 Apr

whirlwind weekend

The weekend started with a bang Thursday night in Oxford, where LSU beat Ole Miss 4-3 in 13 innings in a collision of top 10 teams. More fireworks are sure to follow. Mississippi State is at Missouri for a three-game SEC set, and Southern Miss is hosting Louisiana Tech in a three-game C-USA series. But the more compelling games may involve the smaller schools. To wit: Jackson State vs. Mississippi Valley State in Moorhead. JSU, the defending SWAC champ, sits in third place in the SWAC East at 6-9 (23-17 overall). Time to get healthy in this three-game set with 1-28 Valley. Player to watch: JSU’s Tilur Smith, who has picked up the slack for slumping Charles Tillery (.224) and is batting .347. Delta State at Shorter. The Statesmen are in the midst of playing 10 straight road games, but they are 15-5 away from Cleveland’s Ferriss Field, so no worries there. In fact, DSU seemingly has few worries at all. The Mean Green is 28-8, 19-4 Gulf South Conference and ranked in the top 10 in NCAA Division II. Player to watch: Landon Thibodeaux, hitting .351 with five homers and 25 RBIs. Mississippi College vs. Howard Payne in Clinton. The Choctaws are 15-15 after dropping Thursday’s series opener 6-3. They are chasing a bid to the National Christian College Athletic Association regionals, and they need more wins. Player to watch: Blake Mcilwain, (5-1, 2.91 ERA) who threw a no-hitter last weekend and is slated for one of today’s two games. Millsaps at Oglethorpe. The Majors, ranked in NCAA Division III in preseason, are 19-16 and 9-8 (fifth) in the Southern Athletic Association. They need to build some momentum for league tournament play, which starts next weekend. Player to watch: Keith Shumaker, rocking along with a .340 batting average and a 4-1, 1.56 pitching ledger. Belhaven vs. Bethel in Jackson. The Blazers (34-14) have been guaranteed an NAIA postseason berth as host of a regional, but they certainly don’t want to limp through the last two weekends of the regular season. They’re just 14-10 in the Southern States Athletic Conference. Player to watch: Reagan Rutledge, who is batting .313 and has 51 stolen bases in 55 attempts. William Carey vs. Auburn-Montgomery in Hattiesburg. The Crusaders began the year ranked in the NAIA poll but are just 27-22 and 13-11 in the SSAC, fighting for one of the eight tournament berths. A 13-15 record at Wheeler Field is hard to figure. Player to watch: Jeremy Ferguson, who has a .423 on-base percentage and a team-best 32 runs.

30 Mar

big sunday

The state’s Big 3 Division I schools find themselves in very different positions heading into series finales today. Ole Miss seeks to avoid a sweep at Alabama; Mississippi State will play a rubber game against Arkansas at Dudy Noble Field; and Southern Miss goes for the sweep at Florida Atlantic. Worth noting, too, is a doubleheader in Lorman, where Jackson State will try to rebound from a 4-3 loss to struggling Alcorn State in Saturday’s SWAC series opener. Ole Miss, coming off a thumping by USM at Trustmark Park in Pearl last Tuesday, saw ace Chris Ellis (0.67 ERA) get KO’d early by Alabama in a 7-6 loss on Friday, then fell 6-5 in 10 innings on Saturday. The Rebels, ranked ninth, are now 21-7, 4-4 SEC. State, ranked 13th, moved to 5-3 in the league and 19-10 overall by beating Arkansas 5-1 in Game 2 on Saturday after dropping Game 1 of the twinbill 4-0. USM clinched its third straight Conference USA series win with a 5-2 over Florida Atlantic on Saturday. The Golden Eagles won the opener 2-0 on Friday. USM has won four straight games overall to reach 15-12 and 6-2 C-USA. P.S. Jackson native and Ole Miss alum Seth Smith hit his first homer of the spring in San Diego’s last exhibition game on Saturday. The left-handed hitting Smith, batting .325 with seven RBIs in his first camp with the Padres, should see plenty of playing time early on, though he may sit in tonight’s opener against Los Angeles Dodger lefty Hyun-Jin Ryu. The Padres put Carlos Quentin on the disabled list — where he joins Cameron Maybin — and sent Kyle Blanks to Triple-A, reducing the crowd in their outfield. Smith is one of five on the opening day roster.

21 Mar

armed to the teeth

If you have an itch for pitching, this weekend’s Vanderbilt-Mississippi State series is for you. Here are the matchups: Tonight, MSU’s Preston Brown (0.75 ERA) vs. Vandy’s Tyler Beede (0.84); Saturday, Ross Mitchell (1.50) vs. Jared Miller (0.57) in a battle of lefties; and Sunday, Trevor Fitts (3.55) vs. Tyler Ferguson (1.63). Oh, and both teams have excellent closers, too (Jonathan Holder and Brian Miller). The Commodores, who always seem to have great pitching, come to Dudy Noble Field in Starkville with a 19-3 record (2-1 SEC) and ranked as high as No. 3. The Bulldogs, also ranked, are 15-8 and 2-1. Runs will be at a premium, which usually makes for high drama.