Southern Miss Archives - Page 10 of 105 - All Mississippi Baseball

18 May

there and here

MLB’s “rivalry weekend” featured a St. Louis-Kansas City series at Kauffman Stadium, where the Royals honored their 1985 and 2015 World Series championship clubs. There were Mississippi natives on both of those teams: Greenville’s Frank White was a slick-fielding, power-hitting second baseman for the ’85 Royals, who beat St. Louis in seven games in the memorable I-40 Series, and McComb’s Jarrod Dyson was a dash-fast outfielder for the ’15 team, which was managed by former Jackson Mets catcher Ned Yost. There are two state natives on the current Royals: Crystal Springs’ Hunter Renfroe and Tupelo’s Chris Stratton, both Mississippi State alums. … Former Ole Miss star Tim Elko had a nice debut in Chicago’s Crosstown Classic, hitting his second homer for the White Sox in their loss Saturday to the Cubs at Wrigley Field. UM product Drew Pomeranz, a Cubs reliever, did not work in the first two games of that series. … Ex-MSU star Nathaniel Lowe homered for Washington in its win over beltway rival Baltimore on Friday, then drove in two more runs in a win on Saturday in the slumping Orioles’ first game after manager Brandon Hyde’s dismissal. … Seedings and brackets are set for this week’s NCAA Division I tournaments. Mississippi State is seeded 11th in the SEC field and opens with Texas A&M in an elimination game on Tuesday at Hoover, Ala., while Ole Miss, seeded seventh, plays Wednesday against the Florida-South Carolina winner. Southern Miss is the 2-seed in the Sun Belt and will play on Wednesday at Montgomery, Ala. Jackson State is seeded sixth in the SWAC Tournament and draws Alabama State on Wednesday at Birmingham’s historic Rickwood Field. … The season is over for Delta State and Millsaps College, both of which lost elimination games in NCAA regional play on Saturday. Both were regular season champions in their respective conferences. … Pearl River Community College won the NJCAA Region 23 championship on Saturday with a 10-0 win over East Central CC in the deciding Game 3. Jacob Johnson (12-1) threw a brilliant seven innings. The No. 2-ranked Wildcats (50-8) are off to the Junior College World Series in Enid, Okla. … The MHSAA championship matchups are (almost) set: In Class 7A, it’s Madison Central-Brandon; in 6A, Saltillo-George County; in 5A Lafayette-South Jones; in 4A, it’s Purvis vs. the West Lauderdale-Newton winner from today; in 3A, Mooreville-Seminary; in 2A, East Union-Clarkdale; and in 1A West Union-Taylorsville. The seven best-of-3 series begin this week at Trustmark Park in Pearl.

14 May

three things

1 — William Carey University, 10th-ranked in NAIA, saw its season end on Tuesday with a 16-11 loss to Oklahoma Wesleyan in an elimination game in the Hattiesburg regional. A nine-run seventh inning doomed the Crusaders, who committed four errors and walked 11 batters in the game. Carey (38-14) was outscored 26-17 in its two losses. Oklahoma Wesleyan plays Indiana Southeast today with the winner then meeting British Columbia in the championship round.
2 — The Mississippi Mud Monsters finally got back on the field for the second game of their inaugural season, but the independent club fell to Gateway 8-5 at Trustmark Park. Newly activated Rodney Theopile, a 6-foot-6 Nicaragua native, pitched four strong innings before the bullpen faltered in a seven-run fifth. Kyle Booker, former DeSoto Central High star, went 3-for-4 with three RBIs for the Mud Monsters (1-1). Game 2 of the Gateway series is tonight in Pearl.
3 — Ryan Rolison, a 2018 first-round draftee, made his big league debut and Kendall Graveman, a veteran big leaguer who missed 2024 after arm surgery, made his season debut. Ole Miss alum Rolison, who has made 95 minor league appearances, got the last out for Colorado in a 4-1 loss at Texas. Graveman, ex-Mississippi State standout, pitched a scoreless inning for Arizona in a 10-6 loss at San Francisco.
P.S. In case you somehow missed it: Former Mississippi Braves star Ronald Acuna homered in his first rehab game for Atlanta’s Florida Complex League team. Former National League MVP Acuna has been out since last May because of a knee injury. On the undercard in that FCL game, Southern Miss product Dalton McIntyre went 1-for-3 with an RBI for the FCL Braves; he was a 19th-round pick last summer.

13 May

take it on the run

While no one is conjuring up images of Billy Hamilton circa 2012, speed is still a tool that many Magnolia State products bring to the game. To wit: Seven different Mississippians in the minors rank among the stolen base leaders in their respective leagues. Emaarion Boyd, former South Panola High star, is tied for second in the High-Class A Midwest League with 15 bags for Beloit in the Miami system. Boyd, hitting just .225 this year, has 106 steals all told in 222 pro games. Konnor Griffin and Dakota Jordan, both former Gatorade players of the year in the state and 2024 draftees, have 13 steals apiece, both playing in Low-A ball. Patrick Lee, a well-traveled former William Carey University standout from Pascagoula, has 11 steals in Low-A ball this year and 46 in two minor league seasons. In the Double-A Southern League, Cooper Pratt — another Gatorade POY out of Magnolia Heights — and Southern Miss alum Matthew Etzel are tied for fifth in the league with 10 steals each. Ex-Ole Miss star and Decatur native Kemp Alderman, also in the SL, has eight steals. Braden Montgomery, still another Gatorade POY from Madison Central, has swiped seven bases over two levels of A-ball, already surpassing his college season-high. In the big leagues, the leading Mississippian is Jake Mangum, the former Jackson Prep and Mississippi State star — on the injured list since April 24 — who has eight steals for Miami. Mangum totaled 81 steals over five minor league campaigns. The standard for all base stealers in the minors was set by Hamilton, the ex-big leaguer out of Taylorsville High. He nabbed 155 bags in 2012 in the Cincinnati system, a record that’ll never be broken. He stole 326 bases in his MLB career and is still out there performing thievery at age 34, with seven steals in 10 games in the Mexican League.

11 May

three stars

Ryan McPherson: The Mississippi State freshman right-hander entered Saturday’s game in the ninth inning with the tying and go-ahead runs on base, got a double-play ball and another ground-ball out to preserve the Bulldogs’ 6-5 win over Ole Miss in the rubber game of the series in Starkville. It was the second save of the season for McPherson. State (31-20, 12-15 SEC) improved to 6-1 under interim coach Justin Parker. Nationally ranked Ole Miss is 34-17, 14-13.
Drey Barrett: The Southern Miss freshman third baseman doubled, tripled and drove in four runs as the Golden Eagles won their 11th straight game, whipping Louisiana-Lafayette 15-5 in Hattiesburg. Barrett is hitting .261 with 27 RBIs on the season for USM (37-13, 20-6 Sun Belt)
Jacob Keys: The Pearl River Community College sophomore catcher, from Brandon via USM, hit a grand slam and knocked in five runs all told as the Wildcats (48-7) routed Northeast 17-2 in the Poplarville bracket and advanced to the NJCAA Division II Region 23 Championship Series against East Central.
Worth noting: Ole Miss product Tim Elko became the fifth Mississippian (native or school alum) to debut in the big leagues this season. The Chicago White Sox broadcasting crew sung the praises of Elko’s storybook career in Oxford, interviewed his parents in the Rate Field seats and played a video clip of his Triple-A manager, a very emotional Sergio Santos, informing Elko of his call-up. He played first base and went 0-for-3 in a 3-1 loss to Miami. … Ex-State standout Brent Rooker hit his 10th homer of the year — 89th career — as the A’s took down the New York Yankees 11-7. … Jurrangelo Cijntje, the switch-pitcher out of MSU, won his second straight start for High-Class A Everett (Seattle system), allowing one run in five innings vs. Tri-City. … Former Mississippi Braves star C.J. Alexander hit for the cycle, including his eighth homer, for Triple-A Las Vegas (A’s system). … Rhodes was declared the Southern Athletic Association Tournament champion as rain washed out Saturday’s schedule at Millsaps’ Twenty Field. Rhodes went 2-0 with wins over Millsaps and Centre, who were set to play a losers bracket game. Millsaps, SAA regular season champion, is hopeful of an NCAA Division III regional bid.

05 May

roster construction

Sunday was cut day in the Frontier League, with teams in the independent league — including the new Mississippi franchise — having to trim their training camp roster to 28. Only 24 can be active on opening day, which is Thursday. The Mud Monsters will play host to Florence (Ky.) at Trustmark Park in Pearl. One of the seven players released by Mississippi was C.J. (Cordell) Dunn, a catcher who played high school ball at Center Hill in Olive Branch several years back. Among the familiar names still on the roster are Brayland Skinner, a Lake Cormorant native and ex-Mississippi State standout who was the first player signed by the Mud Monsters; minor league veteran and ex-Columbia High star Ti’Quan Forbes; McLaurin High and Meridian Community College product Davis Bradshaw, another minor league vet; Kyle Booker out of DeSoto Central High (and Tennessee); Aubrey Gillentine, an Amory native who pitched at Southern Miss; and Jackson Smith, a Raymond native who pitched at Mississippi College and Northwest Mississippi CC. Skinner, 25, an outfielder, played at State in 2021-22 and then at Memphis. He played in the FL last season, batting .298 with eight homers and 49 RBIs in 90 games. When the signing was announced, Mud Monsters manager Jay Pecci called Skinner “the sort of player that the Mississippi Mud Monsters can build around. Fast and versatile, he brings a ton of excitement to the diamond.” Recent addition Forbes, 28, an infielder, was a second-round draft pick by Texas 11 years ago, made the Triple-A level in affiliated ball and also has played in indy and foreign leagues. “Signing Ti’Quan is big for us,” Pecci said in a team release. “He’s had great success in affiliated baseball, so to get a veteran that can help the younger guys along and add that level of professionalism to our brand new club is great.” One player sure to get a lot of attention is James Boeree, a 7-foot-2 Australia native who pitched in juco ball in the States from 2021-23 and in the Australian Baseball League before that. There is a skill to building a Frontier League team. There are parameters regarding how many players of certain ages and professional experience can fill the ranks, i.e., a team cannot simply stock up on 30-year-old Triple-A veterans. Pecci, a Stanford alum, is well aware of the dynamics of player development, having enjoyed a long career playing and coaching in both MLB-affiliated and indy ball. Winning is a priority in the independent ranks, but there is also a developmental aspect for young players seeking opportunities in affiliated ball and a possible path to the major leagues.

05 May

frozen ropes

Belhaven University gets a second crack at the Collegiate Conference of the South championship today when the Blazers play Huntingdon (Ala.) at Maryville, Tenn. The Blazers (31-12) were unbeaten in the tournament and riding an eight-game win streak before the Hawks took them down 2-1 Sunday night. NCAA Division III Belhaven last won a conference title in 2011 when the program was in the NAIA Southern States Athletic Conference. Hill Denson was the coach. The Blazers won five titles in the NAIA-level GCAC under Denson between 2004-10. … Mississippi College eliminated Delta State 9-3 in a losers bracket game in the GSC Tournament as Jordan Evans doubled, homered, drove in two runs and scored three. MC meets Valdosta State next in Oxford, Ala. … William Carey lost to Loyola (La.) 9-7 in the SSAC Tournament title game, but the Crusaders will move on to an NAIA Opening Round tourney starting May 12 in Hattiesburg. … Capping Super Bulldog Weekend with a 6-1 win Sunday for a sweep of Kentucky, Mississippi State moved to 4-0 under interim coach Justin Parker. MSU pitchers yielded just 15 runs over the four games against Memphis and the Wildcats under their (former) pitching coach. Next up for State: Ole Miss at Dudy Noble Field. Won’t that be fun? … Ole Miss salvaged a win in the series finale at Oklahoma, climbing to 13-11 in the SEC but falling to No. 18 in the new Baseball America poll. … Southern Miss, 35-13 with a nine-game win streak, swept Arkansas State in a three-game Sun Belt set in Hattiesburg, getting its fifth walk-off win on Friday on a Matthew Russo home run. … Jackson State has won 10 in a row, including a home sweep of Mississippi Valley State; the Tigers are 27-17, 14-10 SWAC. … In MLB, DeSoto Central High alum Austin Riley hit two homers totaling 842 feet to power Atlanta past the Los Angeles Dodgers 4-3 on ESPN’s Sunday Night Baseball. Riley, with 161 career homers, now ranks ninth among Mississippians on the career list. (Technically, he was born in a Memphis hospital, but he grew up in Southaven.) … Colt Keith, ex-Biloxi High star, homered for the third time in five games — and third time all year — to help Detroit beat the Angels 13-1. … Kansas City set a franchise record with seven homers in a wild win over Baltimore; former MSU standout Hunter Renfroe (192 career bombs) was not among the Royals who went yard and has yet to homer this season in 75 at-bats. … Ole Miss product Nick Fortes came off the injured list Sunday for Miami and went 1-for-3 as the starting catcher.

01 May

names to know

JoJo Parker (No. 14), J.B. Middleton (31), Landon Harmon (47), Talon Haley (84), Pico Kohn (102) and Mason Morris (116): All are ranked among MLB Pipeline’s new Top 150 MLB draft prospects for 2025. Parker (Purvis), Harmon (East Union) and Haley (Lewisburg) are high school players; Middleton pitches at Southern Miss, Kohn at Mississippi State and Morris at Ole Miss.
Brent Rooker: The ex-Mississippi State All-American hit his eighth homer to spark a six-run ninth as the A’s, 16-15 with six wins in eight games, beat Texas 7-1 in the major leagues on Wednesday.
Colt Keith: The former Biloxi High star, battling a sophomore slump in MLB, hit his first homer of the season and scored twice for Detroit in a 7-4 victory at Houston; Keith, a .260 hitter in 2024, is batting .181.
Brandon Johnson: The Ole Miss alum, a fourth-year pro, notched his fourth save for Double-A Northwest Arkansas (Kansas City chain) and now has a 1.42 ERA over 10 appearances.
Konnor Griffin: The ex-Jackson Prep standout, Pittsburgh’s No. 2 prospect, belted his fifth homer for Low-Class A Bradenton and is batting .265 over 20 games as a pro rookie.
Ti’Quan Forbes: The Columbia High product, the state’s Mr. Baseball in 2014, has signed with the independent Mississippi Mud Monsters; Forbes, 28, an infielder, was a second-round draft pick by Texas 11 years ago and reached the Triple-A level in affiliated ball.
Austin Canale: The Belhaven freshman shortstop drove in five runs on a four-hit day as 2-seed Belhaven beat Huntingdon 16-1 on Wednesday in the first round of the CCS Tournament at Maryville, Tenn.
Eli Collins: The senior outfielder went 2-for-4 with three RBIs and two runs to lead William Carey to a 15-5 win against Tennessee Southern in the first day of pool play in the SSAC Tournament.
Mason Nichols: The Ole Miss senior pitcher has been named the 2024-25 SEC Male H. Boyd McWhorter Scholar-Athlete of the Year by the conference office. Nichols, a Jackson Prep grad, is a biological sciences major and is 3-1 with a 5.40 ERA this season.

30 Apr

brought low

In need of a big hit in a clutch spot, Nathaniel Lowe delivered a huge one for Washington on Tuesday night. A short time later, his star turn was upstaged by a Philadelphia rally, Lowe brought low. The Phillies beat the visiting Nationals 7-6 in a wild affair at Citizens Bank Park. Lowe, the Mississippi State alum in his first season with the Nationals, was in a 2-for-27 funk when he blasted a two-strike, two-out, go-ahead three-run homer in the top of the ninth against Philly closer Orion Kerkering. In the bottom half, the Phillies rallied for two runs and the win against Nats closer Kyle Finnegan. The winning run crossed on a wild pitch. “That’s the roller coaster that we sign up for,” Lowe said in an mlb.com article. Washington traded for Lowe in the off-season, hoping his power bat — 78 bombs in four years with Texas — would boost a team that had posted four straight losing seasons. He has had some big knocks. The lefty-hitting first baseman is batting .245 with six homers and a team-best 23 RBIs — and the 2025 Nats (13-17) have been more competitive, Tuesday’s gut-punch notwithstanding. P.S. Former Southern Miss star Dustin Dickerson is hitting .353 in 10 games for Triple-A Omaha since Kansas City promoted the shortstop in his third pro season. … Braden Montgomery went 1-for-3 with two walks, an RBI and a run in his first game with High-Class A Winston-Salem in the Chicago White Sox system. The ex-Madison Central High standout, a first-round draftee in 2024, was hitting .304 with three homers and 19 RBIs at Low-A Kannapolis. … The fields are set for next week’s NJCAA Division II Region 23 sub-regionals. Pearl River Community College, the MACCC champ, will host Mississippi Gulf Coast, Northeast, Meridian and Northwest, with state runner-up East Central hosting Jones, Copiah-Lincoln, Holmes and Southwest. Meridian and Northwest will meet in a play-in game at Poplarville, and Holmes and Southwest will do the same in Decatur.

29 Apr

still grinding

Scroll through the list of the Mexican League’s current pitching leaders and you’ll run across the name Chris Ellis. Yes, it’s that Chris Ellis. The former Ole Miss star, who was drafted by the Los Angeles Angels 11 years ago, pitched for the Double-A Mississippi Braves nine years ago and appeared in 10 major league games between 2019 and ’22, is still wearing a uniform, still trying to get batters out for the Sultanes de Monterrey. The Mexican League is one of the many pro leagues not directly affiliated with Major League Baseball. Foreign leagues and independent leagues afford players who’ve been cast off by MLB clubs the opportunity to keep playing the game they love. Those leagues may also afford them the opportunity, potentially, to get back on the MLB track. Ellis, 32, has pitched in winter ball and indy ball since he last worked for a big league organization. He has pitched well this season for Monterrey; he is tied for the league lead with four saves in five appearances. Maybe an MLB scout will notice. Billy Hamilton, the former Taylorsville High star, is also playing in Mexico. At 34, he is tied for the league lead with seven steals and is hitting .281 in nine games for Jalisco. Hamilton played parts of 11 years in the majors, the last in 2023. He has spent the last two years in Mexico, playing winter ball there, as well. Clearly, he’s not ready to hang ’em up. Also still out there grinding is Cody Reed, the former Northwest Mississippi Community College standout from Horn Lake. The 32-year-old lefty, who pitched in 65 MLB games from 2016-21, is on the roster of Gary SouthShore RailCats of the independent American Association. Their season starts next week. Reed was in the Tampa Bay system in 2022, missed all of 2023 with injury and played in Mexico last summer, putting up a 4.12 ERA in 26 games for Tabasco. He may still have something left in the tank at 32. Demarcus Evans, a Petal High product, has been in pro ball since 2015 but is only 28 and has barely pitched the last two years since leaving the Texas Rangers’ system as a minor league free agent. A flame-throwing righty, Evans had a 4.75 ERA in 29 games with the Rangers in 2020-21 and a career ERA of 2.76 in the minors. He is on the roster of the American Association’s Cleburne club. … A large number of Mississippi-connected players are playing indy ball, including the likes of Davis Bradshaw, Brayland Skinner and Kyle Booker with the Mississippi Mud Monsters, the new Frontier League team that opens next week. Tyreque Reed, Regi Grace, Brett Sanchez and Banks Tolley are also on FL rosters. There’s Bobby Bradley, Errol Robinson and LeDarious Clark in the Atlantic League. Joe Gray Jr., J.C. Keys and Hayden Dunhurst are in the American Association. No doubt many of them are still yearning for The Show. P.S. Ex-Big leaguer Kirk McCarty, Southern Miss alum from Hattiesburg, had re-signed to play for CTBC Brothers in the Chinese Professional Baseball League but was released earlier this month. He previously played in Korea.

25 Apr

taking up arms

Doug Nikhazy is going to The Show, Brandon Woodruff moved a step closer to returning to the majors and Garrett Crochet and J.T. Ginn, both starting in MLB games Thursday, took some lumps. Indeed, it was quite the attention-grabbing day for Mississippi-connected pitchers in pro ball. … Nikhazy, an All-America pick at Ole Miss and a second-round pick by Cleveland in 2021, will join the Guardians today as they host Boston, reportedly to work out of the bullpen. The left-hander had a 3.44 ERA in four starts at Triple-A Columbus this season and carries a 3.87 career ERA in the minors. … Woodruff, former Mississippi State star, threw five shutout innings for Triple-A Nashville in his third rehab start as he comes back from 2023 shoulder surgery. The erstwhile Milwaukee ace, 46-26 in his MLB career, looks on track to rejoin Brewers early next month. … In MLB, Crochet, the Ocean Springs High product, gave up four runs in five innings, walking a career-high five, and took a loss for Boston against Seattle. The 2024 All-Star, in his first season with the Red Sox, is 2-2, 1.95. … Ex-MSU star Ginn, making his third start of 2025 for the A’s, faced off against Texas and Jacob deGrom. Ginn took a shutout into the fourth inning before allowing three solo homers that chased him from the game. His ERA rose to 4.61, but he got a no-decision in a game the A’s won late. DeGrom, the two-time Cy Young Award winner, went 5 1/3 (two runs). … Also on the bump Thursday was MSU alum and MLB vet Dakota Hudson, pitching for Triple-A Salt Lake in the Los Angeles Angels’ system. He gave up four runs in the first inning but nothing more in a four-inning stint. After a rough year with Colorado in 2024, Hudson — 40-32, 4.21, in his big league career — has a 4.50 ERA in four games for the Bees. … Ryan Rolison, a first-round pick out of Ole Miss back in 2018, threw 1 2/3 innings in relief for Albuquerque and trimmed his ERA to 1.32 in eight appearances for the Rockies’ Triple-A club. Now 27, he has yet to get the big league call. … Hurston Waldrep, the Southern Miss alum and a first-round pick by Atlanta in 2023, was slated to pitch Thursday for Triple-A Gwinnett but was pushed back to today. He is 2-0 with a 6.62 ERA in four starts as he aims to return to The Show. P.S. Ex-MSU star Jake Mangum, red-hot rookie with Tampa Bay (see previous post), was placed on the 10-day injured list with a groin strain. … Former Magnolia Heights standout Cooper Pratt, with family in attendance Thursday, received his 2024 MiLB Gold Glove pregame and then hit a big home run for Double-A Biloxi at Keesler Federal Park. Shortstop Pratt, 20, Milwaukee’s No. 3 prospect, is batting .267 with three homers in his Double-A debut. Of note: Pratt’s brother Ozzie is the shortstop for nationally ranked Southern Miss and brother Quincy catches for Magnolia Heights, one of the top-rated prep teams in the state this year.