Mississippi’s three major college baseball programs returned to the diamond for conference play this weekend.
No. 19 Southern Miss (18-6, 5-1 Sun Belt), coming off a midweek mashing of in-state rival Ole Miss, found a sweep at Louisiana Monroe (9-14, 1-5). Friday’s 8-5 win was followed by a closer, 7-6 contest on Saturday. Sunday’s matinee at Lou St. Amant Field was called early as the Golden Eagles run-ruled the Warhawks 14-2 in eight innings.
Senior outfielder Carson Paetow belted three home runs throughout the series while JB Middleton (4-1), Brooks Willoughby (2-0), and Grayden Harris (3-1) secured wins on the mound.
The No. 18 Rebels (18-5, 4-2 SEC), looking to bounce back from the loss to Southern Miss, did just that at Missouri (8-14, 0-6). On Friday, ace Hunter Elliott struck out seven as the pitching staff combined to whiff 16 batters. Saturday was an offense-heavy day as Ole Miss won 17-10. Mike Bianco’s club closed out the sweep on Sunday with a 14-6 win.
Louisville transfer and senior outfielder Isaac Humphrey hit four home runs over the three games as Ole Miss had a party at the plate, launching 10 long balls as a team. Winning pitchers on the weekend were Mason Morris (3-0), Alex Canney (1-0), and Mason Nichols (2-0).
Both Ole Miss and Southern Miss will maintain spots in D1Baseball’s weekly poll, set to be released Monday morning.
Unranked Mississippi State (15-9, 1-5) continued its rough start to SEC play. After being swept by No. 11 Texas a week ago, Bulldog fans thought a leaf may have been turned with a 2-1 win at No. 10 Oklahoma (20-3, 4-2) on Friday. Saturday and Sunday’s games were a different story, with the Sooners winning 13-11 and 7-3.
Pico Kohn (4-0) was the lone winning pitcher for Mississippi State while Nate Williams (0-2) and Karson Ligon (2-3) suffered losses on the scorecard. Houston transfer and sophomore infielder Ace Reese was a bright spot for the Bulldogs offensively, finishing the series with two home runs and seven runs batted in.
Mississippi State’s 1-5 start to conference play is the program’s worst since 2023 when beginning 0-6. In the four years after the Bulldogs’ national title in 2021, Chris Lemonis’ group is 36-60 against SEC opponents.
All three teams will get a nonconference breather on Tuesday. Mississippi State hosts Samford while Ole Miss hosts Memphis. Southern Miss plays Nicholls in a neutral site game at Keesler Federal Park in Biloxi. The Colonels recently played on the Biloxi Shuckers’ field on March 12, falling to Mississippi State by a 2-1 score.
