Tag Archives: Southern Miss

15 May

as the seams turn

Life in the minor leagues can be quite the roller coaster. There are good days and bad days, all part of the process. A sampling of the experiences on Sunday of a handful of pitchers with Mississippi ties: In the Low-Class A Florida State League, former Southern Miss and West Lauderdale High standout Ben Ethridge pitched the final inning of a four-man no-hitter for Fort Myers, notching his first career save. The right-hander, a 2022 draftee making his pro debut this season, has enjoyed a run of good days; he has a 1.13 ERA over nine games for the Minnesota farm club. Ben Ethridge is not to be confused with Will Ethridge (no relation), an Ole Miss alumnus who pitched for Colorado’s Double-A Hartford club on Sunday. Will Ethridge, a four-year pro, allowed three hits and a run in 1 2/3 innings of relief work in a game his Yard Goats lost 9-2. Converted to the bullpen this season, Ethridge has a 2.35 ERA in four appearances; his numbers as a starter in three prior seasons in the low minors weren’t so good (13-15, 4.50 ERA). At Double-A Midland in the Texas League, former Mississippi State star J.T. Ginn, a highly regarded Oakland prospect now in his third pro season, came off the injured list Sunday to make a start. It was a bad day. Brandon native Ginn retired just one batter, allowing four hits, a walk, an HBP and six runs. His ERA swelled to 12.83 over four starts. It was a tough day also for Jonathan Holder, the ex-State standout who is trying to get back to the big leagues in the Los Angeles Angels’ system. On in the ninth for the save for Triple-A Salt Lake, Holder loaded the bases on two hits and a walk and was undone by a two-out error on his third baseman that allowed the tying and winning runs to score for Sacramento. Holder, soon to turn 30, fell to 0-4; the Gulfport native has a 4.58 ERA in 12 games. P.S. The Double-A Mississippi Braves, who got off to a rough start this year, completed a five-game series sweep of Chattanooga at Trustmark Park on Sunday as starter Alan Rangel (1-3) went five innings and punched out 10 batters in a 10-5 win. Victor Vodnik, an Atlanta prospect, got the last five outs for the save. Cade Bunnell hit a grand slam on his 26th birthday. The M-Braves are now 14-18.

08 May

turn the beat around

If you’re looking for a defining moment in Southern Miss’ resurgent season, zoom in on April 22, when the Golden Eagles were smacked around 20-7 at Coastal Carolina, their second straight blowout loss there. How would USM respond? By bouncing back for a 15-7 win on April 23 that ignited a win streak that reached 10 games on Sunday. “The biggest turnaround is the attitude and the purpose we have when we go to the plate …,” USM coach Scott Berry told Hattiesburg’s WDAM. “Our guys have been able to cool the storm down a little bit.” Indeed. After beating South Alabama 6-1 on Sunday at Taylor Park, USM is 32-15 and 17-7 in the Sun Belt Conference, tied with Coastal for the league lead. The win streak is the longest in the nation. The national polls will surely take notice again. All nine batters in the USM lineup got at least one hit on Sunday, and three pitchers combined on a five-hitter, with Niko Mazza working the last five and striking out nine. Dustin Dickerson leads the Eagles’ offense with a .322 average. Slade Wilks has provided big power with 18 homers and 52 RBIs, and Matthew Etzel has swiped 16 bases while batting .300. The pitching hasn’t been as formidable as in 2022; the staff ERA is 4.98. But there are reliable arms. Tanner Hall, a preseason All-America pick, has pitched like the ace he is with a 9-3 record and 2.71 ERA. Justin Storm has eight saves, and Mazza is 5-1 with two saves. Will Armistead has pitched to a 2.33 ERA in 11 appearances. How far will this surge carry the Eagles? Two more conference series await, then the SBC Tournament at Montgomery, Ala., then an NCAA Tournament berth. Stay tuned. P.S. Delta State plays on today in the GSC Tournament, taking on Valdosta State in Oxford, Ala. After an opening loss, the eighth-seeded Statesmen have won two straight in the double-elimination event. … William Carey apparently ran out of pitching in Sunday night’s GCAC Tournament title game, surrendering 17 hits and 12 walks in a 22-10 loss to Mobile in Hattiesburg. Carey (44-9) is expected to receive an NAIA Tournament bid on Thursday. … Belhaven bowed out of the CCS Tournament in LaGrange, Ga., with a pair of losses on Saturday.

04 May

farm livin’

After four-plus seasons of grinding in the low minors, former Hattiesburg High star Joe Gray Jr. received a promotion to Double-A Biloxi on Tuesday. Gray, a second-round draft pick by Milwaukee five years ago, was batting .247 with a homer, 12 RBIs and five steals at High-Class A Wisconsin when the Brewers moved him. Two games into the big jump, he is still looking for his first hit, having started 0-for-9 with four strikeouts in a series at Montgomery. The 23-year-old outfielder, considered a 5-tool player in high school, has fallen off the Brewers’ prospect charts; he is a .212 career hitter though he has flashed some power and speed. It’s time to put it all together. … The Colorado Rockies, currently 11-20, look like a team that could use some help. Maybe they’ve got an eye on what Hunter Stovall is doing at Triple-A Albuquerque. The Mississippi State product is batting .381 in 17 games. He was on base six times in the Isotopes’ 22-4 win over Sugar Land on Wednesday, hitting his first home run of the season, scoring three runs and knocking in two. The middle infielder, 26, is in his fifth year of pro ball. … Jordan Westburg is clamoring for a call-up from Baltimore. The ex-State star went 3-for-5 with a homer and three RBIs for Triple-A Norfolk and is at .337 for the year with six bombs. He has played five different positions this season, though second base might be where he fits best. … Southern Miss alum Chuckie Robinson is batting .414 with three homers and 12 RBIs in 20 games at Triple-A Louisville. If or when Cincinnati needs a catcher, he looks ready for a second MLB stint. … Pitching exclusively out of the bullpen this season, former MSU ace Ethan Small has done solid work for Milwaukee’s Triple-A Nashville club. The lefty, the Brewers’ No. 13 prospect, tossed three scoreless innings Wednesday, trimming his ERA to 2.70 in nine appearances. His brief big league looks as a starter in 2022 didn’t go well, but he’ll get another shot in this new role. … Hoping to become the first Mississippi College alum to play in the majors since Harry Craft in 1942, Blaine Crim just keeps banging in the Texas system. Crim, a first baseman, went 2-for-5 for Triple-A Round Rock in a Wednesday doubleheader to boost his average to .300 with two homers and seven RBIs. He is a .304 career hitter over four minor league campaigns. P.S. Taylorsville native Billy Hamilton, the speedy MLB veteran, is back in The Show with the Chicago White Sox and in two appearances as a pinch runner, he has a run and a stolen base. The White Sox won both games.

29 Apr

that other draft

While Ole Miss has tumbled from the national rankings this season, Jacob Gonzalez’s MLB draft stock has remained steady. The Rebels shortstop, regarded as a top 10 pick entering this season, is rated No. 8 in MLB Pipeline’s new list of the Top 150 prospects for this summer’s draft. Gonzalez is batting .322 with seven homers and 37 RBIs for the 22-20 Rebels, last year’s national champs. The left-handed hitter, who goes 6 feet 2, 200 pounds, has a .317 career average with 37 homers in three seasons at UM. Five other players from the state are in the Top 150: No. 43 Cooper Pratt, shortstop at Magnolia Heights; No. 47 Colton Ledbetter, Mississippi State outfielder; No. 64 Kemp Alderman, Ole Miss outfielder; No. 101 Tanner Hall, Southern Miss pitcher; and No. 145 Calvin Harris, UM catcher. Ranked 11th is Hurston Waldrep, who pitched at USM in 2022 but is now at Florida. Ledbetter, a Samford transfer, has been a standout during a tough year for State, hitting .322 with 10 homers, 46 RBIs and 15 steals. Hall, last year’s Ferriss Trophy winner, is 7-3 with a 2.95 ERA for the Golden Eagles, who are battling for the Sun Belt Conference title. P.S. Lexington beat the York Revolution 5-4 Friday night in Barry Lyons’ debut (see previous post) as manager of the Counter Clocks of the independent Atlantic League. Former Delta State star Trent Giambrone went 2-for-4 for York in his ALPB debut. Harrison Central High alum and ex-big leaguer Bobby Bradley homered for Charleston in his indy ball debut. … The Chicago White Sox lost their ninth straight game Friday after MSU product Kendall Graveman gave up a ninth-inning homer in a 3-2 defeat against visiting Tampa Bay. Graveman (1-2) has a 5.06 ERA in 11 relief appearances for the 7-20 White Sox. … Tim Anderson, on a rehab assignment for the ChiSox, went 0-for-4 for Triple-A Charlotte in Game 1 of a twinbill. Also in the Knights’ lineup was Taylorsville’s Billy Hamilton, the demoted big league vet who went 2-for-3 to improve his average to .186. He has three stolen bases.

23 Apr

around the horn

Names of note from a Saturday chock-full of diamond doings:
Kellum Clark, Luke Hancock, Slate Alford and Amani Larry hit home runs for Mississippi State in a hair-raising 11-10 win at Auburn.
Dustin Dickerson extended his hit streak to 17 games, but Southern Miss took one on the chin for the second straight day at Coastal Carolina, which has scored 35 times in the first two games of this key Sun Belt series.
Hunter Elliott’s much-anticipated return to the mound for Ole Miss was spoiled by LSU, which scored five times vs. Elliott in the first inning and beat the ailing Rebels 8-4 in Oxford.
Jatavis Melton rapped out three hits, including a homer, scored three times and drove in three runs to lead Jackson State to a 14-8 win at Alabama A&M.
A.J. Stinson threw a seven-inning, two-hit shutout to cap William Carey’s doubleheader sweep at Blue Mountain, running the Crusaders’ record to 34-9.
Sam Pitre belted a grand slam to propel Millsaps to a big 8-7 SAA win against Oglethorpe.
Jacob Pearson hit a walk-off grand slam to give the Double-A Mississippi Braves a split against Montgomery in a twinbill that drew an announced 5,689 to Pearl’s Trustmark Park.
Ethan Murray hit a grand slam for the Double-A Biloxi Shuckers in a win at Rocket City.
Blaze Jordan, the former DeSoto Central High slugger, went 4-for-5 with his first homer of the season for Boston’s High-Class A Greenville club.
Hunter Renfroe, former MSU standout, hit two homers and a double in a loss for the Los Angeles Angels and now has six bombs on the year, more than Shohei Ohtani or Mike Trout.
Former Biloxi Shuckers star Mauricio Dubon, filling in for injured Jose Altuve, extended his hit streak to 16 games, best active in MLB, to help Houston beat Atlanta 6-3.
Former M-Braves standout Ozzie Albies hit his fifth homer for the Braves in the loss at Truist Park.
M-Braves alum Joey Meneses put up a four-hit game for Washington.
M-Braves alum Cristian Pache hit his first homer of the year for Philadelphia and is 6-for-20 on the year with his new club.
Ex-Biloxi Shuckers star Josh Hader registered his seventh save in San Diego’s 11th win of the season.

21 Apr

puttin’ on the hits

In his second stint at Low-Class A Kannapolis, Tim Elko looks like he might be ready for the next step on the minor league ladder. The former Ole Miss slugger went 4-for-4 with two home runs on Thursday and is batting .413 with four homers and 16 RBIs for the Cannon Ballers. He also has a five-hit game during his current six-game hitting streak. A 10th-round pick by the Chicago White Sox last summer, Elko is, at 24, one of the oldest players on the Kannapolis roster. After mashing a school-record 24 homers and leading the Rebels to the national championship last year, Elko enjoyed a solid pro debut, hitting .240 with five homers between rookie ball and Kannapolis. Back with the Cannon Ballers to start this season, the 6-foot-4, 240-pound first baseman/DH is showing better plate discipline (seven walks, 17 strikeouts in 53 plate appearances). The White Sox’s High-A affiliate is in Winston-Salem. … Colt Keith, the former Biloxi High star, put up a 3-for-3 on Thursday for Double-A Erie in Detroit’s system. The 21-year-old Keith, the Tigers’ No. 4 prospect (per mlb.com), is batting .304 with a homer and seven RBIs in his first taste of the Double-A level. He is a lefty hitter who has played third and second base in his three pro seasons. … Southern Miss product Chuckie Robinson extended his hitting streak to 11 games Thursday with a knock for Triple-A Louisville in the Cincinnati system. Robinson, 28, a catcher, is batting .415 with two homers, seven RBIs and four steals in 12 games for the Bats. He got a call-up with the Reds last season, hitting a pair of homers in 25 MLB games. P.S. Ex-Delta State star Trent Giambrone, who got some big league time with the Chicago Cubs in 2021, has signed with York of the independent Atlantic League. Jacques Pucheu, a former West Harrison High and East Mississippi Community College pitcher, has signed with Southern Maryland of the Atlantic League, which starts its season next week.

20 Apr

over there

Anthony Alford is crushing it in the Korean Baseball Organization. In 49 at-bats over 12 games for KT Wiz, the ex-Petal High standout is batting .449 with six doubles, two homers, eight RBIs and 10 runs. Alford, 28, headed to the KBO last year after being released by Pittsburgh, and he hit .286 with 14 homers for KT Wiz. The former Southern Miss and Ole Miss football player began pursuing baseball full-time in 2014. Alford, who has dealt with a lot of injuries over the years, got into 102 MLB games as an outfielder with Toronto and Pittsburgh but hit just .209 with eight homers. KBO pitchers can’t quite seem to figure him out. Also in the KBO, with the SSG Landers club, is former USM star Kirk McCarty, who has posted a 1-1 record with a 4.41 ERA in three starts. McCarty reached the big leagues in 2022 with Cleveland and put up a 4.45 ERA in 13 games with the Guardians and Baltimore. Ole Miss alum Jacob Waguespack, who helped Orix win the championship in the Nippon Professional Baseball league, has been a bit wobbly through five appearances for Orix this season: 1-2, 8.31 ERA. P.S. Konnor Pilkington, the ex-Mississippi State ace, was called up from Triple-A by Cleveland on Tuesday and sent down to Columbus on Wednesday without making an appearance. The lefty made his big league debut for the Guardians in 2022 (3.88 ERA in 15 games).

20 Apr

where things stand

For what it’s worth in mid-April, Baseball America projects Southern Miss as an NCAA Tournament team and the No. 15 national seed, hosting a regional in Hattiesburg. Still a long way to go until the NCAA Baseball Selection Show on May 29, but the 25th-ranked Golden Eagles are trending in the right direction at 22-13 overall and 10-5 (tied for second) in the Sun Belt Conference. USM takes on first-place Coastal Carolina (11-4) in a three-game series this weekend at Myrtle Beach, S.C. USM swept James Madison last weekend, powered in part by SBC player of the week Slade Wilks, who homered twice, including a grand slam, and tied a school-record with eight RBIs in Sunday’s series finale. Wilks, out of Columbia Academy, is batting .333 with 14 homers and 39 RBIs. … In the mighty SEC, both Mississippi State and Ole Miss have a lot of work to do to impress the NCAA selection committee. State (22-15, 5-10) is tied for fifth with Auburn in the West Division and visits the Tigers this weekend. After last week’s gut-wrenching series loss at Starkville, Ole Miss (21-16, 3-12 and seventh in the West) gets to host No. 1 LSU this weekend. … It has been a tough year for Mississippi’s SWAC schools. Jackson State is 19-16 overall but just 4-11 in the league, fourth in the East and battling for a league tournament berth. Mississippi Valley State is 2-13 and 10-27, Alcorn State 2-12, 5-26. … It has also been a tough year for the state’s Division II schools. Delta State is 21-21 and 11-12 (ninth) in the Gulf South Conference. Mississippi College is 15-27 and 9-15 (11th). The top eight teams make the GSC Tournament. … In NAIA, William Carey University sits atop the Southern States Athletic Conference standings with a 14-4 record after sweeping Mobile last weekend. The nationally ranked Crusaders (32-9 overall) visit scuffling Blue Mountain Christian this weekend. The Toppers are 6-15 in the SSAC, 23-21 overall. … Rust College is tied for first in the NAIA Gulf Coast Athletic Conference with an 11-4 mark. Tougaloo is fifth in the six-team loop at 5-9. The league tournament is set for Jackson’s Smith-Wills Stadium April 27-30. … NCAA Division III Belhaven is second in the Collegiate Conference of the South standings at 10-4. The Blazers (18-15 overall) have one conference series remaining before the league tournament that starts May 3. … D-III Millsaps, on a six-game losing streak, is sixth in the Southern Athletic Association at 7-11 (16-21 overall) with one league series remaining. The postseason starts April 28 with four best-of-3 series, followed by a double-elimination tournament. The Majors reached the SAA championship series last year as the No. 6 seed under a different format. … MUW, a D-III independent, is 4-22. No record is available for Southeastern Baptist, an NCCAA school in Laurel.

17 Apr

noteworthy

Three Mississippi college products currently rank among the top 10 hitters in Triple-A: Southern Miss’ Chuckie Robinson, Mississippi State’s Jake Mangum and MSU’s Hunter Stovall. Robinson, who made his MLB debut last year with Cincinnati, is second in the International League with a .429 average (and a nine-game hit streak) at Louisville. Mangum, with Miami’s Jacksonville team, is fourth in the IL at .412. He hit his first homer of the year on Sunday. Stovall, playing at Albuquerque in the Colorado system, is 10th in the Pacific Coast League stats with a .368 average. … Other hot hitters of note: Hattiesburg’s Joe Gray, Jr., at .344 for Milwaukee’s High-Class A Midwest League club, and Ole Miss alum Tim Elko, a 2022 draftee, at .364 for the Chicago White Sox’s Low-A Carolina League team. … Ex-MSU standout Dakota Hudson, demoted to the minors by St. Louis to start this season, is 1-1 with a 2.87 ERA in three starts for Triple-A Memphis. … Former Ole Miss ace Lance Lynn, scuffling at 0-1, 7.31, with six homers allowed in 16 innings for the scuffling White Sox (6-10), goes to the bump today against Philadelphia at Guaranteed Rate Field in Chicago. … Bad news for Brandon Woodruff and the Milwaukee Brewers. The former State star’s stay on the injured list will be a lengthy one after he was diagnosed with a subscapular strain in his right shoulder. “I’m not going to rush this,” the Brewers ace said in published reports. Woodruff, a two-time All-Star, is 1-0 with a 1.79 ERA in two starts this season and is 42-25 career for Milwaukee. … USM alum Matt Wallner was returned to the minors after getting very little playing time with Minnesota; he went 0-for-8 with a walk during his brief call-up. Wallner debuted for the Twins last season, batting .228 with two homers in 57 at-bats, and remains one of their top prospects. … Former Ole Miss ace Drew Pomeranz has had his rehab progress halted because of a neck strain. The veteran lefty, on the shelf for San Diego since late 2021, was penciled in for a rehab appearance at Triple-A last Thursday but was scratched.

01 Apr

just stuff

South Carolina is the SEC leader in home runs, but Mississippi State beat the highly ranked Gamecocks at their own game on Friday night in Starkville. The Bulldogs won their first SEC game of the season, 13-3, behind an 18-hit barrage that included four homers, two by Slate Alford and one each by Hunter Hines and Dakota Jordan. MSU is 16-12, 1-7. South Carolina, which homered once Friday, is 25-3, 7-1. … Meanwhile, Ole Miss fell at Texas A&M and is still seeking its first conference W, and Southern Miss won at Troy to move to 4-3 in the Sun Belt. … Former USM ace Nick Sandlin, working 1 1/3 scoreless innings in relief on Friday, notched a win in his first appearance of 2023 with Cleveland, which beat Seattle. .. After getting the win in relief on Thursday, ex-MSU standout Kendall Graveman got knocked out and took the L in the Chicago White Sox’s loss to Houston. Ole Miss alum Lance Lynn pitched into the sixth and stood to get the win until the ChiSox’s bullpen melted down. … Billy Hamilton, the ex-Taylorsville High star, is in Triple-A for the White Sox and went 0-for-3 in his season debut. Other Mississippi-connected ex-big leaguers sent to Triple-A include Mike Mayers, Demarcus Evans and Jonathan Holder. … Former Mississippi Braves Vaughn Grissom and Braden Shewmake played shortstop and second base, respectively, for Triple-A Gwinnett on Friday. Shewmake hit a walk-off, three-run homer in the ninth. Grissom had a hit, scored three times and made a fielding error. … Jones College (26-6, 11-1) continues to rule in the MACCC after bashing Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College 17-4 and 12-0 last Wednesday behind Beau Bryans’ eight RBIs. But hot on the Bobcats’ heels is East Central, which has won seven in a row and stands 9-1 in the conference. ECCC won two one-run games at Copiah-Lincoln on Wednesday. Leighton Jenkins drove in three runs in a 4-3 win, Manny Huffman went 4-for-4 with four RBIs in an 8-7 victory and David Burton saved both games.