Tag Archives: Southern Miss

19 May

have a day

The numbers are good, very good: .367, six home runs, 15 RBIs, 12 runs. The numbers were posted by a collection of Mississippians in the majors – 12 of them – on Thursday night. Collectively, the 12 who played went 18-for-49. Adam Frazier (Mississippi State) and Tim Anderson (East Central Community College) had three-hit games. Frazier drove in four runs. He and Anderson homered, as did Seth Smith (Ole Miss), Hunter Renfroe (State), Mitch Moreland (State) and Jarrod Dyson (Southwest CC). Dyson scored three times and stole two bases. Frazier, Anderson, Billy Hamilton (Taylorsville) and Chris Coghlan (Ole Miss) rapped doubles. Zack Cozart (Ole Miss) had two hits and an RBI. Tyler Moore (State) and Stuart Turner (Ole Miss) struck out in pinch-hit appearances, but every Mississippian who started got at least one knock, save for Brian Dozier (Southern Miss). He had a tough day, going 0-for-9 in a doubleheader, though he did contribute a sac fly. All in all, a very good day for the Magnolia State boys. And the hottest hitter of them all, Corey Dickerson (Meridian CC, .335, nine homers, 18 RBIs), didn’t have a game on Thursday. P.S. Baseball America’s latest Top 500 draft prospects list shows just two Mississippians: State’s Brent Rooker at No. 64 and Jake Mangum at 160.

15 May

show stoppers

Tampa Bay can’t be too happy with its record – 19-21, fourth in the American League East – but has to be thrilled with the production it’s getting from Corey Dickerson. The Meridian Community College product, in his second season with the Rays, is batting .340 with a .576 slugging percentage. He extended his current hitting streak to eight games on Sunday with a 4-for-6 effort in an 11-2 win against Boston at wet, windy Fenway Park. He has six homers, 13 RBIs and 21 runs. The lefty-hitting outfielder/DH belted 24 homers for the Rays in 2016 but hit only .245 after coming over in a trade with Colorado. … Ole Miss alum Drew Pomeranz took the loss for the Red Sox, departing with triceps stiffness after yielding two runs in three innings. He is now 3-3 with a 5.29 ERA. … Ex-Mississippi State star Tyler Moore’s 25th career MLB homer and fourth as a pinch hitter carried Miami to a 3-1 win over Atlanta. Moore smacked an R.A. Dickey knuckleball out of Marlins Park in the seventh inning, accounting for all of Miami’s runs. Moore is hitting .357 over his two stints with the Marlins this season, serving mainly as a pinch hitter. “I love being in the big leagues,” he told The Associated Press. “Whatever is going to keep me here, I like.” … Former Southwest Mississippi CC standout Jarrod Dyson hit his first homer of the year for Seattle at Toronto’s Rogers Centre. It was his eighth career home run and the first in a park other than Kansas City’s Kauffman Stadium, where he spent the first seven seasons of his career. … Hunter Renfroe went deep for San Diego, the sixth homer of the year for the State product but first since April 26. The rookie right fielder is batting .209 with 13 RBIs. … Among the major leaguers wearing No. 2 on Sunday, the day the New York Yankees retired Derek Jeter’s old number, were former Southern Miss star Brian Dozier and ex-UM standout Zack Cozart, both of whom came up as shortstops during Jeter’s heyday.

12 May

three to watch

In a recent online chat, a Baseball America scribe made a prediction for this summer’s college Team USA roster that included three players from Mississippi: State’s Konnor Pilkington, Ole Miss’ Dallas Woolfolk and Southern Miss’ Matt Wallner. They are worthy candidates – and certainly worthy of keeping an eye on this weekend as the Big 3 charge toward tournament season. Pilkington, the sophomore left-hander out of East Central High, is slated to start today at Georgia. He is just 5-4 in 12 starts, but his wins have been big ones for the Bulldogs, 32-17 and 16-8, tied for best in the SEC. He has a 3.82 ERA with 84 strikeouts in 73 innings. Woolfolk, a sophomore out of DeSoto Central, has been a solid closer for Ole Miss, which faces a crucial series against nationally ranked Texas A&M in Oxford. While both State and USM are projected as regional hosts in Baseball America’s latest mock NCAA Tournament field, the Rebels (29-20, 11-13) aren’t in at all. Woolfolk has 10 saves, three wins and a 1.91 ERA in 23 appearances. USM (37-12, 19-5 C-USA) can clinch the conference title this weekend against UAB in Hattiesburg. Wallner, a freshman from Minnesota, has been just one of several mashers in the Golden Eagles lineup. The 6-foot-5 outfielder leads the team with 15 homers and is batting .328 (.447 on-base) with 47 RBIs. He also has three saves and a 1.84 ERA on the mound. P.S. East Central Community College has advanced to the NJCAA Region 23 Tournament with a two-game sweep of Mississippi Delta in their best-of-3 series. Game 1 winners on Thursday were Hinds, Northwest and Pearl River. No. 1-ranked Jones County and LSU-Eunice received byes to the six-team region tournament, which starts next week at Ellisville.

28 Apr

stranger things

We should have known it was going to be an unusual week on Monday, when Brian Dozier ripped a base-loaded double for Minnesota, accounting for all the Twins’ runs in a 3-2 win against Texas. That was especially noteworthy because the former Southern Miss star is one of those rare major leaguers who does NOT hit well with the bases loaded. He was 5-for-41 since 2012. The big hit Monday also doubled Dozier’s RBI total for the season. Of course, we were only getting started. On Tuesday, Ole Miss alum Chris Coghlan did his high-flying act for Toronto, soaring over St. Louis catcher Yadier Molina to land on home plate. It was hard to miss that highlight. On Wednesday, ex-UM standout Seth Smith scored a so-called “Little League home run” for Baltimore after a simple single to right field. Smith circled the bases as Tampa Bay fielders threw the ball all over the place trying to nail a runner, Ryan Flaherty, at third base. That highlight got a lot of play, too. This brings us to Thursday night and to Kendall Graveman, the Mississippi State product who pitches for Oakland. All he did was turn an unassisted double play, tagging out a Los Angeles Angels runner between third and home and then getting another as he slid into third. “That’s probably the best play I’ve ever seen a pitcher make, hurdling over a defender to get the second out unassisted,” A’s manager Bob Melvin told The Associated Press. It was the first unassisted DP by an A’s pitcher since the immortal Blue Moon Odom turned the trick in 1971. What could possibly happen today? Can’t hardly wait.

27 Apr

power hungry

Some power hitters — former Mississippi Braves stars Ernesto Mejia, Evan Gattis and Matt Esquivel come to mind — have fared just fine at Trustmark Park. Many more have not. (See Josh Burrus, Cody Johnson, Eric Campbell … .) The spacious TeePee gives up bombs very grudgingly. That in mind, it’ll be interesting to see how Travis Demeritte and Adam Brett Walker, sluggers of some renown, handle it over the course of this season. Walker, 25, recently sent down from Triple-A Gwinnett, has played five games for the M-Braves and hit two homers, both at Montgomery. The M-Braves start a five-game homestand tonight against Tennessee. Walker, 6 feet 5, 225 pounds, entered this season with 124 homers in five pro years, including 31 for Chattanooga in the Southern League in 2015. Atlanta acquired Walker, originally a Minnesota draftee, on a waiver claim from Baltimore in January. Demeritte, only 22, is a top 10 prospect making his Double-A debut this season. Listed at 6 feet, 180, Demeritte’s got impressive thump. Acquired from Texas in a trade last summer, he belted a total of 28 home runs, along with 29 doubles and nine triples, in A-ball in 2016. He had a 25-homer campaign in 2014. Demeritte has hit only one home run through 18 games for the M-Braves, though he did get that one at the TeePee, back on April 10. At the moment, the long ball isn’t the biggest concern for Demeritte or Walker. Both are just looking for hits of any kind. Demeritte is batting .212. Walker’s only two hits in his 20 at-bats are the two bombs; he was batting .128 at Gwinnett. P.S. Former Southern Miss star Bradley Roney is back with the M-Braves, moving up from a brief assignment at Class A Florida. Roney began 2016 in Pearl, posting a 2.82 ERA and two saves in 17 games before earning a promotion to Gwinnett. He was on the disabled list there to start 2017.

19 Apr

zonk. kapow. bam.

Twenty hits, a 10-run inning, a 16-8 victory – eye-popping numbers from Southern Miss against Nicholls State on Tuesday night at MGM Park in Biloxi. “It seemed like everything we hit we squared up,” coach Scott Berry told the Biloxi Sun-Herald. Of course, that’s a familiar refrain for these Golden Eagles, who are 29-19 and ranked in most of the major polls. They’ve scored 13 or more runs in 12 games and are averaging 8.4 runs per game. They have nine players with 20 or more runs. The 10-run inning wasn’t even their best this season; they put up an 11 spot at Taylor Park back in February. The 20 hits was a season-high, but they average 11.2 per game. They’ve got five regulars batting .317 or better. Matt Wallner, the imposing freshman from Minnesota, leads the team in hitting (.346) and homers (11), but Dylan Burdeaux, Mason Irby, Taylor Braley and Hunter Slater are also having big offensive years. This is a team that should be fun to watch during tournament and regional time.

17 Apr

big league chew

Apparently, Brian Dozier’s bruised knee is just fine. After sitting out Saturday’s game, the former Southern Miss star smacked an inside-the-park home run on Sunday, producing the only run Minnesota would score in a 3-1 loss to the Chicago White Sox at Target Field. It was Dozier’s 119th career homer but first inside-the-parker. “I put it in a different gear,” he told the Minneapolis Star Tribune. Dozier’s recent power surge has overshadowed the fact that he can run a little bit. He has five steals already this season and has swiped 12 or more bags in each of the last four seasons. … Mississippi State product Mitch Moreland continues to deliver big hits for Boston, going 2-for-3 with three RBIs on Sunday. He had the go-ahead hit in the seventh inning of the Red Sox’s 7-5 win over Tampa Bay at Fenway Park. Moreland is hitting .356 with a homer, five RBIs and seven runs in his first season with Boston. “It’s been a smooth transition,” he told The Associated Press. … Jarrod Dyson, inserted as a pinch hitter, sparked a ninth-inning rally for Seattle with an infield hit and a stolen base, his fourth of the year. “We are down one (run), and I am on base with no outs? I am looking to go — and go early,” McComb native Dyson told the Bellingham (Wash.) Herald. He scored the tying run in the Mariners’ 8-7 win against Texas at Safeco Field. Dyson is batting just .200 with five runs in 12 games for his new club. … Ex-State star Adam Frazier, Pittsburgh’s super utility man, went 3-for-4 with homer – his first – and three RBIs as the Pirates completed a sweep of the Chicago Cubs with a 6-1 victory at Wrigley Field. Frazier is batting .343. … Ole Miss alum Chris Coghlan, who’s due a World Series ring from the Cubs, got his first hit and first RBI for Toronto, but the scuffling Blue Jays fell to Baltimore 11-4 at Rogers Centre. Coghlan was called up from Triple-A last week as a replacement for injured Josh Donaldson.

11 Apr

a major incident

A bunch of attention-grabbing stuff went down last week among the state colleges. There was Brent Rooker’s three-homer game for Mississippi State, which helped him earn SEC player of the week honors. William Carey’s James Land also won a player of the week award, getting the SSAC nod after batting .455 with seven RBIs in a hard-fought series win against Blue Mountain. Ole Miss swept Alabama. Jackson State swept Mississippi Valley State. Delta State took three games from Shorter, its fourth straight GSC series sweep. Southern Miss took two of three from Florida International to remain atop the C-USA standings. Jones County Junior College, now 31-1, won four more MACJC games by a cumulative 52-11. As impressive as any of that, however, was Millsaps’ sweep of Oglethorpe at Twenty Field. Three straight walk-off wins. Logan Patterson had a big series, going 6-for-14 with three runs and two RBIs, including a game-winner on Saturday. Wes Lasserre hit a walk-off grand slam in the first game on Saturday. But the play of the week came on Sunday, a squeeze bunt by Cavan Breland that scored two runs and gave the Majors a 7-6 win. Patrick Grumbley, a 5-foot-9, 165-pound junior inserted as a pinch runner, made a mad dash all the way from second base to score the game-winner. In 16 games, Grumbley is 1-for-5 with five walks and eight runs for the Majors, now 15-18 and 6-8 in the Southern Athletic Association.

04 Apr

peaks and valleys

There could be a gold rush at Trustmark Park tonight, when Southern Miss plays Ole Miss in the second installment of the three-game College Series. It’s certainly a good time to be a Southern Miss fan. The Golden Eagles are ranked in all the major polls. They’re 24-5 with a six-game win streak. They’re hitting. They’re pitching. Taylor Braley is doing a lot of both. He is batting .343 with eight home runs and is 3-0 with a 4.05 ERA on the bump. He’s scheduled to start tonight. Scott Berry’s club also has seen star turns taken by Nick Sandlin (0.00 ERA in 24 innings), Matt Wallner (nine homers), Dylan Burdeaux (30 RBIs), Mason Irby (30 runs), Kirk McCarty and Hayden Roberts (four wins each) and on and on. Ole Miss fans will surely turn out tonight, too, but these are troubling times for the Hotty Toddy crowd. The Rebels have fallen out of the polls. They’re 16-12 and coming off three tough losses at home to Mississippi State. They’ve pitched well, but they can’t hit: .241 as a team. Colby Bortles (.278, four homers, 18 RBIs) looks like the only threat in the lineup. And then there’s this: USM leads the TeePee series 7-4 and has beaten Ole Miss 10 of the last 12 times they’ve played. It’s always a big deal when USM and UM get together for any kind of game. But tonight’s has a special feel.

03 Apr

weekend roll call

Corey Dickerson: The Meridian Community College product from McComb notched the first hit and first run of the MLB season in Tampa Bay’s win against the New York Yankees on Sunday.
Kendall Graveman: The ex-Mississippi State standout will start the opener tonight for Oakland against the visiting Los Angeles Angels; he was 10-11, 4.11 in 2016.
Zack Ingram: The freshman from Alabama threw a no-hitter for Mississippi College as the Choctaws completed a GSC series sweep at Valdosta State; Ingram is 2-4, 4.25 for MC, now 13-18, 10-10.
Spencer Price: Mississippi State’s closer got the save in all three games as the Bulldogs (19-10, 6-3 SEC) took down nationally ranked Ole Miss (16-12, 3-6) in Oxford; MCC transfer Price has nine saves all told for State, now ranked No. 22 by Baseball America.
J.C. Keys: The Southern Miss senior out of Oak Grove tossed a one-hitter as the Golden Eagles finished off a C-USA series sweep at Western Kentucky; Keys is 2-1, 3.46 for nationally ranked USM, now 24-5 (8-1 C-USA) heading into Tuesday’s clash with Ole Miss at Trustmark Park in Pearl.
Zack Shannon: The Delta State junior went 7-for-10 with 10 RBIs as the Statesmen swept a GSC series from Christian Brothers, a team they’ve beaten 47 straight times; juco transfer Shannon is batting .450 with nine homers for NCAA Division II nationally ranked DSU (25-8, 16-5).
Miguel Yrigoyen: The Jackson State senior tossed a seven-hitter as the Tigers finished off a SWAC sweep of Alabama A&M; Yrigoyen (4-2) walked one and fanned seven for the Tigers (22-11, 9-3).
Larson Barkurn: The senior from Petal delivered a walk-off hit that snapped a four-game skid and propelled William Carey to a doubleheader sweep and series victory over SSAC foe Bethel; the NAIA nationally ranked Crusaders are 25-10, 11-4.
Tanner Huddleston and Erick Hoard: The Jones County Junior College teammates notched back-to-back four-RBI games as the Bobcats beat Northeast 13-1 and 15-2; NJCAA D-II No. 1-ranked Jones (27-1, 9-1) is back atop the MACJC standings thanks to Itawamba’s sweep of Pearl River.