wow!

What a Saturday in Mississippi. In Oxford, there was the jaw-dropping comeback by Ole Miss to sweep the series against Mississippi State. In Hattiesburg, Southern Miss made a comeback of its own to beat Charlotte and extend its win streak to eight games. And in Raymond, Hinds Community College blasted Northwest Mississippi 14-3 to claim its eighth state championship. Hinds, 41-5 and ranked No. 1 in NJCAA Division II, went 3-0 in the MACJC tourney, getting outstanding pitching efforts from Randy Bell, Derek Martin and Casey Sutton. Quade Smith was the hitting hero in the finale, going 3-for-4 with three RBIs and two runs. USM, now 30-16-1 and 15-10 C-USA, got brilliant mound work from Cody Carroll, Luke Lowery and Ryan Milton in Friday’s 1-0 win over Charlotte. Down 5-0 early on Saturday, the Eagles rallied to win 11-10 in 10 innings, Michael Sterling scoring the game-winner on a throwing error that followed an infield hit by Connor Barron. Game 3 of that series is today. But, of course, the events at Oxford-University Stadium, witnessed by crowds totaling 27,871, trumped all. On Thursday, the Rebels (28-24, 14-13 SEC) got two big hits and three RBIs from Errol Robinson in a 4-3 win. On Friday, Sikes Orvis belted a home run and drove in four runs all told in a 13-10 victory. And on Saturday, down 7-2 in the ninth, the Rebels battled back against a crumbling State bullpen to win 8-7 in 10 innings. Colby Bortles had a game-tying, two-out, two-run hit in the ninth, and Nic Perkins knocked in the game-winner in the 10th. Orvis had two more homers on Saturday, boosting his total to 14. Wyatt Short, the sophomore left-hander from Southaven, worked a perfect 10th to earn the win on Saturday after notching saves on both Thursday and Friday. Short is 4-1 with nine saves. The devastated Bulldogs fell to 24-27, 8-19 and are in real danger of missing the SEC Tournament. P.S. Worth noting: In Pearl on Saturday, the Mississippi Braves beat the Biloxi Shuckers 5-2 in 10 innings to clinch the series with Game 5 still to play today. The M-Braves lost the inaugural game between the two Southern League clubs on Wednesday but have now won three straight.