the other game

If you don’t want to fight the crowd at Trustmark Park for Tuesday night’s Ole Miss-Mississippi State game, there’s an equally intriguing contest at Smith-Wills Stadium, where UM and State used to play the old Mayor’s Trophy Game. Millsaps and Belhaven will battle (at 6 p.m.) in a game that could decide the Maloney Trophy Series. The visiting Majors, who have won the small college round-robin series four times, are 3-2, with two wins over the Blazers. BU is 2-2 (with another game to play against Mississippi College next week). These are two good clubs, both of which should be eager to get back on track after lost weekends. Millsaps (23-12) dropped two of three at home to rival Rhodes to fall to 8-3 in the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference. Belhaven (31-18) was swept three straight on the road against Shorter to slip to 14-13 in the Southern States Athletic Conference. Belhaven is 22-4 on the synthetic turf at Smith-Wills and features a prime Ferriss Trophy candidate in Anthony Doss (.400, seven homers, 45 RBIs). But Millsaps counters with a big three: Stephen Gates (.412), Ryan Zemke (.398) and Wes Perkins (.371, seven homers, 46 RBIs). Smith-Wills doesn’t usually play as a hitter’s park, but it would not be shocking to see a bunch of crooked numbers go up Tuesday, especially if second-line pitchers get the call.