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Alabama baseball loses road series at Mississippi State; takeaways from the weekend

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Alabama baseball loses road series at Mississippi State; takeaways from the weekend


Alabama baseball dropped another conference series on the road, this time at No. 21 Mississippi State. Alabama lost 13-3 by mercy rule on Friday, then 8-1 on Saturday to lose the series. The Tide won Sunday’s series finale 10-5.

The No. 17 Crimson Tide (29-18, 10-14 SEC) continues to struggle on the road, with a 6-10 road record and a 3-9 SEC road record. Alabama won its first conference road series last week by taking two games at Ole Miss but has otherwise been swept (at Georgia and Kentucky) or lost two of three (at Mississippi State).

MORE: Will Alabama baseball host a regional? Latest bracket projections for NCAA Tournament

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The Alabama offense struggled mightily in the two losses, as Mississippi State pitchers consistently brought the right stuff at the right times. Mississippi State (32-16, 14-10 SEC) has now won 10 of its past 12 games and looks like one of the hottest teams in the SEC, while Alabama still feels like a middle-of-the-pack team in the conference.

Here are three takeaways from the series between Alabama and Mississippi State:

Alabama baseball mercy-ruled on Friday

Alabama has won by run rule seven times this season, including once in SEC play when it beat OIe Miss 12-0 in seven innings last weekend. This weekend, Alabama finally found itself on the losing end of the mercy rule, falling to Mississippi State 13-3 on Friday.

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Mississippi State got off to a fast 3-0 lead thanks to a three-run home run by Hunter Hines in the first inning. The Bulldogs never looked back, adding three more runs by the end of the third inning to make it 6-0. After Alabama failed to respond again in the fourth inning, Mississippi State doubled its lead with a six-spot in the bottom of the fourth to make it 12-0.

The Tide finally got its offense going in the fifth inning by posting three runs, but that would be its only scoring frame. Another run by the Bulldogs in the sixth inning got them back into run-rule territory, and a scoreless seventh by Alabama led to the 13-3 mercy rule final.

Shorthanded Alabama lineup falls on Saturday

Robbie Faulk of On3 and Starkville Daily News reported before the game that the Crimson Tide had an illness spread among the team, leaving them shorthanded for Saturday’s game. Sure enough, Will Hodo, TJ McCants and Evan Sleight were all out of action on Saturday. Max Grant and William Hamiter filled in for Hodo and Sleight, respectively, while Justin Lebron took McCants’ spot in center field. Will Portera took over for Lebron at shortstop.

The absences were felt across the Alabama lineup all day. The Crimson Tide managed just one run on eight hits, with the only run coming on a solo home run in the third inning by Grant. Alabama left nine runners on base in the game.

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On Sunday, McCants and Hodo both returned to the lineup, but Sleight remained out along with Gage Miller. The lineup is expected to be back at full strength by the next SEC series against LSU.

Ben Hess impressive in Sunday’s win

After starting the season strong as the Tide’s top starter, Ben Hess has struggled since the beginning of SEC play. Heading into the Mississippi State series, Hess had a 0-4 record and a 10.21 ERA, while Alabama was 1-6 in SEC games started by Hess.

Greg Farone replaced Hess as the series-opening starter with the Texas A&M series, and Zane Adams took over as the Saturday starter for this series. With Hess making his first Sunday start of the season, he put together one of his best performances yet in Alabama’s lone victory over the Bulldogs.

Hess went four innings and allowed just one run on four hits, logging his first SEC win this season. He struck out four batters and was very efficient, getting through those four innings with just 62 pitches. Hess’ performance included a healthy mixture of his signature powerful fastball and a clean breaking ball that really seemed to give the Bulldogs trouble.

The Crimson Tide will look for more of the same out of Hess with postseason play around the corner.

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What’s next for Alabama baseball?

Alabama will head to Troy for its final midweek nonconference game of the season on Tuesday. The Tide’s next SEC series will be a home series with LSU that is set to start on Friday.



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What channel is Mississippi State football vs Missouri on today? Time, TV schedule to watch Week 13 game

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What channel is Mississippi State football vs Missouri on today? Time, TV schedule to watch Week 13 game


Mississippi State football comes off a bye week with a chance to earn a win over nationally-ranked Missouri on Saturday.

The Bulldogs (2-8, 0-6) last played on Nov. 9 in a loss at Tennessee and have two more games against SEC opponents this year.

The Tigers (7-3, 3-3) lost a back-and-forth game at South Carolina last weekend.

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Here’s how to watch the Mississippi State football vs. Missouri game today, including time, TV schedule and streaming information:

Mississippi State vs. Missouri will broadcast nationally on SEC Network in Week 13 of the 2024 college football season. Taylor Zarzour and Matt Stinchcomb will call the game from the booth at Davis Wade Stadium, with Alyssa Lang reporting from the sidelines. Streaming options for the game include FUBO, which offers a free trial to new subscribers. 

  • Date: Saturday, Nov. 23
  • Start time: 3:15 p.m. CT

The Mississippi State football vs. Missouri game starts at 3:15 p.m. CT Saturday from Davis Wade Stadium in Starkville.

Clarion Ledger reporter Sam Sklar’s prediction: Missouri 37, Mississippi State 20

The Bulldogs are allowing 41 points per game in SEC play, and it’s difficult to see Missouri not having the same level of success. Expect big days from Burden and/or Wease, plus running back Nate Noel as MSU loses another game by double digits. 

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Odds courtesy of BetMGM as of Friday, Nov. 22

  • Odds:  Missouri -7.5
  • O/U:  61.5 points
  • Money line: Missouri -300, Mississippi State +240
  • Aug. 31:  EKU, W 56-7
  • Sept. 7:  at Arizona State, L 30-23
  • Sept. 14:  Toledo, L 41-17
  • Sept. 21:  Florida, L 45-28
  • Sept. 28:  at Texas, L 35-13
  • Oct. 5:  OPEN DATE
  • Oct. 12:  at Georgia, L 41-31
  • Oct. 19:  Texas A&M, L 34-24
  • Oct. 26:  Arkansas, L 58-25
  • Nov. 2:  UMass, W 45-20
  • Nov. 9:  at Tennessee, L 33-14
  • Nov. 16:  OPEN DATE
  • Nov. 23:  Missouri, 3:15 p.m. on SEC Network
  • Nov. 29: at Ole Miss, 2:30 p.m. on ABC and ESPN+

Record: 2-8 (0-6 SEC)

  • Aug. 29:  Murray State, W 51-0
  • Sept. 7:  Buffalo, W 38-0
  • Sept. 14:  Boston College, W 27-21
  • Sept. 21:  Vanderbilt, W 30-27 2OT
  • Sept. 28:  OPEN DATE
  • Oct. 5:  at Texas A&M, L 41-10
  • Oct. 12:  at UMass, W 45-3
  • Oct. 19:  Auburn, W 21-17
  • Oct. 26:  at Alabama, L 34-0
  • Nov. 2:  OPEN DATE
  • Nov. 9:  Oklahoma, W 30-23
  • Nov. 16:  at South Carolina, L 34-30
  • Nov. 23:  at Mississippi State, 4:15 p.m. on SEC Network
  • Nov. 30: Arkansas, TBD

Record:  7-3, 3-3 SEC

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SMU drops nonconference game at home as Mississippi State finds bench-led boost

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SMU drops nonconference game at home as Mississippi State finds bench-led boost


Reserve KeShawn Murphy scored 16 points and led a quartet of Mississippi State bench players in double-digit scoring and the Bulldogs beat SMU 84-79 on Friday night.

Reserves RJ Melendez scored 15 points, Riley Kugel 13 and Claudell Harris Jr. 10. Josh Hubbard was the lone Mississippi State (5-0) starter in double figures with 14 points on just 4-for-18 shooting. The Bulldogs’ starters went 10 for 33 from the floor compared to the 18-for-35 effort from the bench.

Why was former NBA star Dwyane Wade at Moody Coliseum for SMU-Mississippi State?

Cameron Matthews made a layup with 5:13 remaining to break a tie at 66. Murphy made a 3-pointer and Kanye Clary made 1 of 2 free throws and Mississippi State led for the remainder.

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Reserve Kario Oquendo scored 13 points for the Mustangs (4-2), Matt Cross, Boopie Miller and Samet Yigitoglu all had 12 points and B.J. Edwards scored 10.

Mississippi State will get almost a full week off before returning to action on Thanksgiving night at the Arizona Tipoff in Tempe. The Bulldogs play their first game of the event against UNLV.

The Mustangs will head to Palm Springs, California, for the Acrisure Holiday Invitational, where they face Cal Baptist on Tuesday.

Find more SMU coverage from The Dallas Morning News here.

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Attorneys want the US Supreme Court to say Mississippi’s felony voting ban is cruel and unusual

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Attorneys want the US Supreme Court to say Mississippi’s felony voting ban is cruel and unusual


By EMILY WAGSTER PETTUS

JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — The U.S. Supreme Court should overturn Mississippi’s Jim Crow-era practice of removing voting rights from people convicted of certain felonies, including nonviolent crimes such as forgery and timber theft, attorneys say in new court papers.

Most of the people affected are disenfranchised for life because the state provides few options for restoring ballot access.

“Mississippi’s harsh and unforgiving felony disenfranchisement scheme is a national outlier,” attorneys representing some who lost voting rights said in an appeal filed Wednesday. They wrote that states “have consistently moved away from lifetime felony disenfranchisement over the past few decades.”

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This case is the second in recent years — and the third since the late 19th century — that asks the Supreme Court to overturn Mississippi’s disenfranchisement for some felonies. The cases use different legal arguments, and the court rejected the most recent attempt in 2023.

The new appeal asks justices to reverse a July ruling from the conservative 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which said Mississippi legislators, not the courts, must decide whether to change the laws.

Stripping away voting rights for some crimes is unconstitutional because it is cruel and unusual punishment, the appeal argues. A majority of justices rejected arguments over cruel and unusual punishment in June when they cleared the way for cities to enforce bans on homeless people sleeping outside in public places.

Attorneys who sued Mississippi over voting rights say the authors of the state’s 1890 constitution based disenfranchisement on a list of crimes they thought Black people were more likely to commit. A majority of the appeals judges wrote that the Supreme Court in 1974 reaffirmed constitutional law allowing states to disenfranchise felons.

About 38% of Mississippi residents are Black. Nearly 50,000 people were disenfranchised under the state’s felony voting ban between 1994 and 2017. More than 29,000 of them have completed their sentences, and about 58% of that group are Black, according to an expert who analyzed data for plaintiffs challenging the voting ban.

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To regain voting rights in Mississippi, a person convicted of a disenfranchising crime must receive a governor’s pardon or win permission from two-thirds of the state House and Senate. In recent years, legislators have restored voting rights for only a few people.

The other recent case that went to the Supreme Court argued that authors of Mississippi’s constitution showed racist intent when they chose which felonies would cause people to lose the right to vote.

In that ruling, justices declined to reconsider a 2022 appeals court decision that said Mississippi remedied the discriminatory intent of the original provisions in the state constitution by later altering the list of disenfranchising crimes.

In 1950, Mississippi dropped burglary from the list. Murder and rape were added in 1968. The Mississippi attorney general issued an opinion in 2009 that expanded the list to 22 crimes, including timber larceny, carjacking, felony-level shoplifting and felony-level writing bad checks.

Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson wrote in a 2023 dissent that Mississippi’s list of disenfranchising crimes was “adopted for an illicit discriminatory purpose.”

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