Tag Archives: William Carey University

03 Feb

campus notes

Impressive start for William Carey University on Thursday night. Displaced from their storm-damaged home field, the Crusaders took on Cumberland at Southern Miss’ Taylor Park and rolled to a 16-6 win. The Crusaders, ranked 23rd in the NAIA preseason poll, scored in each of the six innings they batted. Larson Barkurn went 3-for-4 with five RBIs, and James Land homered. Carey plays again today at Jones County Junior College’s field in Ellisville. … Mississippi College, starting year two under coach Jeremy Haworth, faces a challenging opening day today in Clinton. The Choctaws, 17-30 in 2016, play a doubleheader against Florida Tech, 32-14 last year. MC returns leading hitter Hunter Bolin (.380) and top pitcher Jake Fraze. … Millsaps, coming off a rare losing season (20-21) under Jim Page, goes on the road to start 2017, playing Huntingdon today in Montgomery, Ala. Having lost all-conference slugger Isaac Glenn to graduation, the Majors now look to Lee Ogletree (.310, three homers, 34 RBIs) to carry their offense. … Blue Mountain, which got the 2017 season started with an 8-3 win at Christian Brothers on Wednesday, is back in action today with a doubleheader against William Woods in New Albany. Peyton Callahan swung the big bat in the Toppers’ opener with three hits and two RBIs. … Name of note on Delta State’s roster: Clay Casey. The former DeSoto Central High and Northwest Mississippi Community College star transferred to DSU from Houston and could be a key figure on a rebuilding team. Casey hit five homers for the Cougars in 2016 and 12 for Northwest the year before. DSU opens Saturday at Harding in Searcy, Ark. … Mississippi State (10th), Ole Miss (18th) and Southern Miss (24th) finished in Baseball America’s final Top 25 in 2016, with all three making the NCAA Tournament. None of the Big 3 made BA’s 2017 preseason Top 25 (though Ole Miss does appear in a couple of other polls). There’s some motivation in there somewhere. D-I opening day is Feb. 17.

18 May

here and there

Brian Snitker, the manager of the first Mississippi Braves team in 2005 and a veteran of 40 years in the Atlanta organization, deserved the opportunity to manage in the big leagues. Just not sure if he deserved this: a 9-29 team that can’t seem to do anything right. It was difficult to watch on Tuesday night as the Braves, in Snitker’s debut as Fredi Gonzalez’s replacement, gave up seven runs to Pittsburgh in the first inning. Atlanta battled back – thanks in part to two homers by former M-Braves star Mallex Smith – but still lost 12-9. The Braves are last in MLB in runs, 25th in ERA and 29th in fielding percentage. How much difference can Snitker make? … Hunter Renfroe, the former Mississippi State star from Crystal Springs, homered for the third straight game with El Paso on Tuesday night. Renfroe, a right fielder, is batting .313 with eight bombs and 28 RBIs in 36 games for San Diego’s Triple-A club. The Padres, the worst hitting team in baseball, are last in the National League West. Seems like they could use some help. … Jackson State, which begins SWAC Tournament play today against Texas Southern, leads the SWAC in hitting and homers, but the Tigers do have some arms. While Alabama State’s pitching is far and away the best in the league, JSU’s ERA of 5.31 ranks second. Miguel Yrigoyen, an All-SWAC second-team pick, is 8-3 with a 5.16 ERA, and Jevon Jacobs (3.99), Jamal Wilson (4.42) and Vincent Anthonia (4.73) can get people out. … William Carey University faces an elimination game today in its NAIA regional at Santa Barbara, Calif. The Crusaders beat College of Idaho 7-6 (on Mitch Little’s two-run hit in the seventh) but lost to top-seeded Westmont (Calif.) 14-1 on Tuesday. … At the Clark/Gay Baseball Complex in Decatur on Thursday they can say with literal certainty that it gets no better than this: No. 1-ranked LSU-Eunice vs. No. 2 Jones County Junior College in the first round of the NJCAA Division II Region 23 Tournament. The undercard isn’t bad either: MACJC champion East Central, ranked 14th, and Northwest.

15 May

moving on

Buckle up. Big week ahead on many fronts. East Central Community College, continuing its ’27 Yankees impression, beat Jones County Junior College 13-12 on Saturday to win the MACJC title and will host the NJCAA Region 23 Tournament in Decatur. No. 2-ranked Jones will be there, as well as No. 1 LSU-Eunice (50-4) and Northwest Mississippi. … William Carey University is off to Santa Barbara, Calif., for NAIA regional play. The 25th-ranked Crusaders (37-19), led by All-SSAC first-team picks Adrian Brown and Tyler Odom, take on College of Idaho on Tuesday in the five-team opening round tournament. The top seed there is Westmont (Calif.). … Jackson State and Alcorn State, the Nos. 2 and 3 seeds from the SWAC East, start play on Wednesday in the conference tournament at Barrow Stadium in New Orleans. Alabama State dominated the league with a 24-0 mark, but JSU (32-24 overall) certainly has the hitters (see Cornelius Copeland, Carlos Diaz, Jesus Santana) to make a run. … Delta State will learn tonight where it is heading for NCAA Division II regional play. The Statesmen (38-15) earned an automatic bid by winning their 13th Gulf South Conference championship last week. … And the MHSAA finals matchups are set: Madison Central-George County in Class 6A, Oxford-Hattiesburg in 5A, Houston-Newton County in 4A, Kossuth-St. Andrews in 3A, East Union-Loyd Star in 2A and Tupelo Christian Prep-Ethel in 1A. The games in the best-of-3 series begin Tuesday at Trustmark Park in Pearl.

24 Apr

around the horn

It’s a day for letting baseball just flow over you. … Rubber game today in Hattiesburg with the Conference USA lead at stake. Kirk McCarty (3-0, 3.51 ERA) for Southern Miss vs. Ricardo Salinas (6-1, 3.60) for Rice in what has been a pitching-dominated series at Taylor Park. … Mississippi State goes for a sweep at LSU. Reid Humphreys, the ex-Northwest Rankin High star, got an RBI and the save in Saturday’s 2-1 win. For the year, he’s hitting .328 with 15 doubles, four homers and 31 RBIs and he has five saves. … Ole Miss, going for a sweep against Auburn in Oxford, now has won 30 games for 19 straight seasons. Impressive. … Delta State left-hander Tre Hobbs beat Valdosta State in Cleveland on Saturday to improve to 11-1 with a 2.46 ERA and eight complete games. Nationally ranked in NCAA Division II, DSU is 32-13, 21-8 Gulf South. … There was a celebration in Itta Bena on Saturday. By Alabama State, which clinched the SWAC East with a 10-0 win over hapless Mississippi Valley State. ASU (17-0 in the league) won Friday’s opener 12-0. … William Carey University improved to 34-15 and 16-7 in the Southern States Athletic Conference by sweeping Brewton-Parker in Hattiesburg. The NAIA nationally ranked Crusaders are hitting .327 with 390 runs. … Millsaps’ season ended with a 13-11 loss to Birmingham-Southern in the Southern Athletic Association tournament. The Majors finished 20-21. … Belhaven lost its home finale to McMurry at Smith-Wills Stadium on Saturday, saying goodbye to 11 seniors and paying special tribute to Devin McCann, who died in a car accident just before the season began. … Mississippi College stopped an 11-game GSC losing streak with a 3-2 win against Lee in Clinton on Saturday. The Choctaws go for the series win today at Frierson Field. … Former Ole Miss star Chris Ellis, bucking for a call-up to the big leagues, threw six brilliant innings for the Mississippi Braves against Biloxi at Trustmark Park on Saturday. He got a no-decision in a game the M-Braves would ultimately lose but is 2-0 with a 1.16 ERA in four Double-A starts. He got a long look with Atlanta in spring training. … Ex-State standout Chad Girodo’s stay in MLB was short but sweet. He threw two scoreless innings in his debut for Toronto against Oakland on Friday but was shipped back to the minors on Saturday. … UM product Zack Cozart went 3-for-5 in Cincinnati’s 13-5 win over the Chicago Cubs on Saturday and is now batting .400 (20-for-50) on the year with a homer, five RBIs and 10 runs. … Anthony Alford, the former Mr. Baseball from Petal and a top-rated Toronto prospect, has not played since suffering a leg injury in his first game of the season at Class A Dunedin. The Blue Jays have been silent on his status.

13 Apr

on the march

The number William Carey University got on Tuesday was 22. The Crusaders likely would have preferred a 30. On the same day it moved back into the NAIA national rankings at No. 22, Carey failed in a bid for its 30th win, losing to LSU-Alexandria at Wheeler Field in Hattiesburg. That setback aside, Bobby Halford’s Crusaders are a team on the march. They are 29-14 with nine wins in their last 12 games, including taking best-of-3 series from a pair of top 10 teams. Carey is 11-6 in the Southern States Athletic Conference heading into a series this weekend at Bethel (21-14, 7-8). Tyler Richardson and Adrian Brown have won the last two SSAC player of the week honors. Richardson is batting .329 and leading the team in homers (five), RBIs (38) and runs (42). McComb native Brown, son of the ex-big leaguer of the same name, is at .385 with 33 RBIs and 20 steals. Tyler Odom of Hattiesburg leads the team in hitting with a .417 average, Magee’s Stevie Hubbard is at .386, Cody Christian at .338 and Tyler James has 26 steals. Carey has outscored its opponents 339-170, getting strong pitching from Devin Smith (6-0, 2.25 ERA), Taylorsville’s Mason Woodrow (4-1, 3.46) and J.D. Little (5-1, 4.13). Carey has nine league games left as it jockeys for SSAC Tournament position. The Crusaders are fifth in the standings but have a 4-2 mark against the first- and second-place clubs, powerhouses Faulkner and Auburn-Montgomery. An NAIA postseason bid is well within the Crusaders’ grasp.