Mississippi
What we learned from Mississippi State baseball, Justin Parker’s SEC series sweep vs Kentucky
STARKVILLE — The start of Justin Parker as interim Mississippi State baseball coach couldn’t have gone much better.
The Bulldogs (29-19, 10-14 SEC) are 4-0 since firing coach Chris Lemonis on April 28. They swept Kentucky (25-20, 10-14) at Dudy Noble Field, MSU’s first SEC series sweep of the season.
MSU run-ruled the Wildcats 14-4 in Game 1 and won with a Joe Powell walk-off single in Game 2 after the May 2 game was postponed. It won again on May 4, 6-1, to clinch the sweep.
“We’ve been through a lot,” Parker said. “It’s a tough and resilient group. They’re proving it.”
Here’s what we learned from the series.
Mississippi State baseball is playing with new energy under Justin Parker
Parker said he didn’t notice a difference in Mississippi State’s demeanor in the four games following Lemonis’ firing, but it’s hard to deny something has changed.
The energy, the motivation, the confidence, the urgency all felt elevated in the four games at Dudy Noble Field. The in-game coaching decisions paid off. So many of them this season under Lemonis backfired.
“It’s not a completely different club, and there’s not a whole lot of different moves being made,” Parker said. “We’re fairly consistent as a staff. I think it was just guys believing in themselves and getting a little bit of wake-up call and responding to it.”
It’s not uncommon in sports for a team to play with some extra juice shortly after a coach is fired. Will it sustain? That’s the big question.
But for now, Mississippi State deserves credit for not folding. The Bulldogs have said all along that the NCAA tournament is still the goal. They did a lot to keep those hopes alive by sweeping Kentucky.
Mississippi State’s bullpen responded against Kentucky
MSU’s bullpen was a strength of the team early in the season but ran into trouble the last two series.
Against Kentucky, the Mississippi State bullpen didn’t allow a run in 15 innings.
“You don’t just overnight lose your bullpen,” said Parker, who’s also the MSU pitching coach. “There’s good arms in there, there’s good competitors and there’s really good stuff. It was just a matter of going back out there and believing in it and competing.”
Two relievers, Ben Davis and Luke Dotson, pitched twice. Dotson earned the win in Game 2 and Davis got the win in Game 3 after three scoreless innings. The Bulldogs got two important long relief outings in Game 2 from Ryan McPherson and Nate Williams, combining for 6⅓ innings with one hit, three walks and no runs.
“We got to get ahead for strike one,” Dotson said. “And then, we just can’t waste any pitches.”
Bryce Chance is playing a great center field
Center fielder Bryce Chance got two ovations from the Mississippi State crowd during the series.
The first one came after a sliding catch in left-center field in the fifth inning of Game 1. The game was close at the time, with MSU leading 5-4 and two runners on base. The difficult catch likely prevented two runs from scoring, and Chance received a standing ovation while running back to the dugout.
One inning later, Mississippi State scored eight runs for the comfortable lead on Kentucky.
In Game 3, Chance made a leaping catch at the wall in the first inning to perhaps save a home run or at least prevent the runner at third base from scoring. The out ended the inning, and Chance once again got an ovation.
Chance scored the winning run in Game 2 and hasn’t committed an error in 45 starts this season.
Joe Powell is turning into a clutch hitter
Powell started all three games of the series at catcher and played well in the field and at the plate.
In Game 1, he batted 3-for-3 with a home run, a walk, three RBIs and three runs. He had only one hit in Game 2, but it was the big one, a walk-off single in the 11th inning. Powell provided another clutch hit on May 4, punching a two-run single in the sixth inning for a 4-1 lead.
In the field, Powell threw out a runner attempting to steal a base in Game 3 and limited Kentucky, which leads the SEC in stolen bases, to just two in the series.
Sam Sklar is the Mississippi State beat reporter for the Clarion Ledger. Email him at ssklar@gannett.com and follow him on X @sklarsam_.
Mississippi
11 indicted in $12.3 million Mississippi Medicaid fraud scheme, AG says
JACKSON, Miss. (WLBT) – Eleven people have been indicted in connection with an alleged Medicaid fraud scheme involving more than $12.3 million.
This according to Mississippi Attorney General Lynn Fitch, who said the indictments involve allegations of fraudulent billing, wire fraud, and/or false documentation seeking to defraud the government.
All 11 charged include:
- Isluv Robertson, 36, of Jackson
- Shawncee Vassar-Cunningham, 51, of Olive Branch
- Katricia Smith, 47, of Olive Branch
- Sheila Boney Collins, 53, of Hollandale
- Ahyana Nicole Crosby, 34, of Laurel
- Angela Nannette Crosby, 51, of Laurel
- Yolanda Evette Blackman, 54, of Hattiesburg
- Linda Jenkins, 46, of Hermanville
- Deja Almore, 30, of Yazoo City
- Curtis Moore, 51, of Gulfport
- Taylor Christian Rushing, 34, of Gautier
Officials said the defendants are accused of participating in health care fraud schemes involving more than $6.5 billion in intended loss.
“These indictments are just the latest efforts we are taking to fight waste, fraud, and corruption,” said Attorney General Lynn Fitch. “I am proud to partner with President Trump to protect taxpayer dollars and ensure that money meant to help those in need is not stolen from safety net programs. I will remain laser-focused on rooting out fraud, recovering money wrongfully stolen from hard-working taxpayers, and holding fraudsters accountable.”
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Copyright 2026 WLBT. All rights reserved.
Mississippi
Governor: At least 47 homes, 50 roads damaged by Mississippi storms, flooding – SuperTalk Mississippi
Gov. Tate Reeves has released updated damage assessments following the severe weather and flooding that inundated parts of southern Mississippi last week.
According to Reeves, assessments through the Mississippi Emergency Management Agency are ongoing, and disaster aid is still being distributed through a mix of federal, state, and local agencies, along with nonprofits. But numbers as of Monday morning showed dozens of homes and businesses damaged and even more public roads affected.

Among the counties with significant impacts are Covington, Forrest, George, Greene, Hancock, Jackson, Pearl River, Perry and Stone. Across those counties and others, at least 47 homes were affected, seven of which were completely destroyed. Nine businesses sustained damaged, six of which are considered major. One farm sustained major damage.
50 public roadways were affected, including four that are considered major and four that were completely destroyed. Two bridges sustained major damage, while two public buildings sustained minor damage.
Reeves said two rivers are in the moderate flood stage – Leaf River near McClain and the Pascagoula River at Graham Ferry.
15 other waterways are in the minor flood stage: Big Black River near Bentonia, Biloxi River near Lyman, Chickasawhay River at Enterprise, Chickasawhay River at Leakesville, East Hobolochitto Creek near Caesar, Pascagoula River at Merrill, Pearl River at Jackson, Pearl River near Pearl River, Pearl River near Philadelphia, Pearl River at Rockport, Strong River at D’Lo, Tallahala Creek at Laurel, Tuscolameta Creek at Laurel, West Hobolochitto Creek near McNeill, and Wolf River around Gulfport.


Damage reports could have worsened on Monday with additional rounds of severe weather in some parts of the state. The worst of the storms and floods came with the remnants of what was Tropical Storm Arthur late last week and into the weekend.
Mississippi
Family of 1-year-old killed by police at a Walmart in Mississippi wants video released
(AP) – A Mississippi family whose 1-year-old child was killed when police fired into a moving vehicle said Monday they want authorities to release video showing whether officers were in danger of being struck when one of them opened fire.
The shooting has sparked outrage in the small city of Senatobia, where some say it’s the latest in a series of troubling encounters between police and Black residents.
Kohen Wiley was riding with his mother and another woman in a Walmart parking lot on June 14 when police responded to a shoplifting call. The family says they were driving away, while the officers say the car was heading toward them.
“I watched my baby take his first breath, and I watched my baby take his last breath,” Vellesiya Wiley said at a news conference Monday.
The other woman in the car, whose name has not been released, suffered “critical injuries,” according to the Mississippi Bureau of Investigation, which is handling the inquiry.
Standing alongside Kohen’s parents and grandparents at a local church, civil rights attorney Ben Crump told reporters Monday that the best way to determine whether the officers were at risk is to publicly release any body camera, dash camera or Walmart security camera video.
“If that is the truth, then show us that,” Crump said. “The longer you delay releasing the video, the more distrustful we become.”
The Mississippi Bureau of Investigation declined to comment on what videos investigators have or whether they would be released, agency spokesperson Bailey Martin said Monday.
“This case has been made a top priority,” Martin said in an emailed statement, “and we currently have multiple agents working tirelessly to ensure every aspect of the investigation is thoroughly examined.”
The agency says the officers weren’t hurt. Senatobia Police Chief Harold Vanderford did not return a phone message seeking comment Monday.
State investigators gave an initial account of the shooting last week, saying that when Senatobia police arrived at the Walmart, they found two women and a child getting into a car and driving away.
“Officers attempted to stop the vehicle, but the driver drove in the direction of the officers, almost striking one. An officer then discharged their weapon and the vehicle fled the scene,” the agency statement said.
Kohen’s mother has said the shoplifting call was over a box of diapers that her friend was carrying — and that she believes her friend had paid for the diapers. State investigators declined to comment on those details.
Crump questioned why police didn’t let the car go and take down the license plate number.
“They were called over a box of diapers and a family now has to bury their baby,” Crump said Monday. “You cannot put those two things next to each other and call it reasonable policing.”
Crump also said an independent autopsy would be performed.
While there’s no question the child was shot by police, he said, details about the angles at which any bullets struck the child could yield clues as to whether the officer fired from in front of the car or off to the side — and therefore whether that officer was in any danger.
Policing expert Ian Adams, who teaches criminal justice at the University of South Carolina, told The Associated Press last week that police should know that “shooting into a moving vehicle is a very bad idea and one to be avoided at almost all costs,” noting the danger to passengers and other bystanders.
Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
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