Mississippi

Baseball: Mississippi State handles business against Alcorn State

Published

2 years ago

April 17, 2024

Baseball: Mississippi State handles business against Alcorn State

STARKVILLE — Pico Kohn’s first start back from Tommy John surgery wasn’t bad, but head coach Chris Lemonis knew the left-hander was capable of much more.

Mississippi State gave Kohn the midweek start at Samford on Mar. 26, and although he allowed only one run, he walked three batters in just two innings of work. Three weeks later, Kohn took the mound again to face an Alcorn State team with just two wins all season, a unit that entered Tuesday ranked 302nd out of 305 Division I teams in the RPI. And this time, he was excellent, holding the Braves to one hit and no walks with five strikeouts over three scoreless innings.

The Bulldogs were patient at the plate against the nation’s second-worst pitching staff by ERA, drawing 12 walks en route to an 11-0 run-rule victory.

“I was very pleased. We got out to a good start, got a little lead, got to add on to it,” Lemonis said. “That was the best we’ve ever seen Pico. Karson Ligon was really good, Gavin Black was probably as good as we’ve seen him.”

MSU (23-14), which fell out of the D1Baseball Top 25 after losing two out of three at Ole Miss over the weekend, jumped out in front in the first inning when Amani Larry and David Mershon walked and Dakota Jordan’s single brought them both in. Jordan drove in his third run of the night with a triple two innings later before he and most of the Bulldogs’ other starters were lifted for pinch hitters or defensive replacements.

Freshman Ethan Pulliam, a Starkville High graduate, made the most of his first collegiate start with an RBI single in the fifth and another single in his next at-bat. Fellow rookie Dylan Cupp, who had not played since Mar. 21 at Texas A&M, returned to action and committed a throwing error on his first fielding chance at shortstop, but later delivered an RBI single of his own.

“Ethan was really good in the fall, really good in spring training,” Lemonis said. “It was his time to get an opportunity, and he had a really good game. He just works. He’s just a worker. He just shows up and gets after it, hasn’t pouted, hasn’t acted like a baby, and the game respects that.”

Kohn retired the first eight batters he faced before giving up a double, then giving way to Ligon in the fourth. Ligon, Black, Colby Holcombe and Logan Forsythe each worked a scoreless inning in relief.

“I feel like I was full go today,” Kohn said. “Slowing down had a lot to do with the (velocity) being more consistent, finishing my pitches a lot. My arm felt really good today.”

Alcorn State (2-27) came in issuing 9.36 walks per nine innings, the most in all of Division I baseball. Mershon drew free passes in all three of his plate appearances before Cupp replaced him, and Jackson McKenzie and Logan Kohler each walked twice.

“That was part of the game plan,” Lemonis said. “It’s not the speed that we usually see, so (we wanted to) take a pitch, see a ball, get our timing, and make sure you get a pitch that you’re willing to hit. Sometimes it’s hard to get a lot of hits when you’re used to 94 (miles per hour) and you’re getting 84. It’s just a difference in timing, and you don’t train every day for that.”

The Bulldogs return to Southeastern Conference play with a three-game series against Auburn beginning Friday night. Lemonis did not provide an update on Nate Dohm, whose return from injury was cut short after just 12 pitches against Georgia on Apr. 7, but he expects Jurrangelo Cijntje — who exited his start last Saturday at Ole Miss with back tightness after three innings — to be ready to go.

Mississippi State Baseball MSU

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Mississippi

How Mississippi State’s Tomas Valincius dominated third straight SEC team vs Ole Miss

Published

5 hours ago

March 28, 2026

Press Room

How Mississippi State’s Tomas Valincius dominated third straight SEC team vs Ole Miss

OXFORD — Tomas Valincius struck out top Ole Miss baseball batter Tristan Bissetta looking on his last pitch of the game.

There was no emotion from the Mississippi State starting pitcher as he walked back to the dugout after Bissetta was the fourth straight Ole Miss batter to strike out.

It was another instance of Valincius, the left-handed Virginia transfer, showing a trait that’s made him such a dominant pitcher for the No. 4 Bulldogs. The longer Valincius pitches, the better he gets.

The sophomore pitched another five shutout innings as MSU (23-4, 5-2 SEC) took down No. 18 Ole Miss, 6-1, at Swayze Field on March 28 to win the series.

“It’s all mental,” Valincius said. “Just going out there and just kind of trusting yourself and all the work you put in throughout the week. And even when you don’t have your stuff, it’s still a war between every battle in every inning. It’s kind of like finding a way to do what you can do with what you got.”

The win clinched the Bulldogs’ ninth series against the Rebels (19-9, 3-5) in the last 10 meetings. Another win March 29 (3 p.m., SEC Network) would make Brian O’Connor the third straight first-year MSU coach to sweep Ole Miss.

Valincius (6-0) hasn’t allowed an earned run in 19 SEC innings and his season ERA dropped to 0.91.

Against the Rebels, one game after striking out a career-high 14 batters against Vanderbilt, Valincius recorded nine strikeouts with three hits, two walks and one hit by pitch in 90 pitches.

“He buckled down when runners were in scoring position,” O’Connor said. “He’s always best in his middle innings. You see him just rise his game up.”

Why Tomas Valincius could’ve done even better against Ole Miss

While the Ole Miss game was Valincius’ third SEC start without allowing an earned run, it was his shortest outing of the three. The other two against Arkansas and Vanderbilt both lasted seven innings.

Valincius stranded six Ole Miss batters on base in his five innings.

“Early on, I didn’t really feel like I had anything going,” Valincius said. “I was kind of just finding a way to win. That was kind of my whole approach throughout the whole game. I couldn’t really figure out the slider and fastball command. It wasn’t working a lot. I just found a way to win.”

Sam Sklar is the Mississippi State beat reporter for The Clarion Ledger. Email him at ssklar@usatodayco.com and follow him on X @sklarsam_.

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Mississippi

Mother, her 2 daughters among 5 killed in collision between train and van

Published

17 hours ago

March 28, 2026

Press Room

Mother, her 2 daughters among 5 killed in collision between train and van

STONE COUNTY, Miss. (WLOX/Gray News) — Multiple people were killed in a crash between a train and a van on Friday afternoon in Mississippi.

Stone County Sheriff Todd Stewart said the crash happened around 1 p.m. on Pump Branch Road. First responders had to cut through the woods to get to the wreckage.

There were six people in the van at the time of the crash, Stewart said. Stone County Coroner Wayne Flurry confirmed five of them died in the crash.

Multiple people are dead after a crash between a train and a van in Mississippi. (WLOX)

The sixth person was airlifted to New Orleans.

The five victims were identified as 26-year-old Ryan C. Peterson, who was a corrections officer with the Harrison County Sheriff’s Department, 23-year-old Demarcus Perkins, 45-year-old Kristina Carver, and Carver’s two daughters, 22-year-old Emley Chamblee and 20-year-old Sarabeth Chamblee.

Nearby resident Pam Olson has been sounding the alarm on the Pump Branch Road railroad crossing for some time. She was tending to her garden with her husband when the sound of screeching brakes made them jolt.

“We heard it,” explained Olson. “My husband and I were in the yard working on our flowerbeds. I told my husband a train hit another vehicle. My husband ran up there and said, ‘Pam, it’s bad.’”

A recent report from the Stone County Enterprise outlines another wreck in the same spot, which resulted in the driver of a pickup truck being airlifted. Stewart also pointed out a fatal train accident in Stone County happened at the location in 2023, claiming the life of a Wiggins woman.

“This’d be the second incident in the last four to five weeks involving fatalities and the third incident in the last year, all involving fatalities,” explained Stewart. “To date, we’ve lost seven folks within the last year.”

The crossing does not have crossing arms or lights. Stone County District 1 Supervisor Jimmy Springs said he previously reached out to Mississippi Department of Transportation railroad engineers and was told crossing arms are on the way for two crossings, including the one at Pump Branch Road. However, it could take a year for them to be installed.

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Mississippi

CLASH Endurance triathlon begins on Mississippi Gulf Coast

Published

1 day ago

March 27, 2026

Press Room

CLASH Endurance triathlon begins on Mississippi Gulf Coast

GULFPORT, Miss. (WLOX) — The CLASH Endurance triathlon officially started along the Mississippi Gulf Coast.

Maya Reilly placed first in the collegiate female draft-legal division.

“I placed first, so I’m pretty stoked about that,” Reilly said.

Winning a triathlon means beating competitors from across the country and around the world in swimming, biking and running.

“Definitely a lot of hours goes into the sport, but the actual race was tough. It was like full gas, swim, bike, and run, so over an hour. And I’m excited to be able to be done and take home the win,” Reilly said.

Maya Reilly placed first in the collegiate female draft-legal division.(WLOX)

Athletes praise Gulf Coast hospitality

It’s CLASH Endurance’s first year on the Mississippi Gulf Coast, and athletes say the experience is just as memorable as the competition.

“I have had such a great time down here in the south. It’s, like, the nicest people I’ve ever met. The culture is amazing. The music’s great. The food’s great. Honestly, nothing but positive for me. It’s awesome,” said Annette Zavala of the UC Davis Triathlon Team.

“I really like this course. It was really cool to see them swim in the marina. The course was very accessible to view, which I really appreciated,” said Sophia Najera of the UC Davis Triathlon Team.

It’s CLASH Endurance’s first year on the Mississippi Gulf Coast, and athletes say the... — It’s CLASH Endurance’s first year on the Mississippi Gulf Coast, and athletes say the experience is just as memorable as the competition.(WLOX)

More than 28 countries and all 50 states are represented, bringing a boost to the coastal economy.

“All of the athletes who are visiting coastal Mississippi, they’re staying in the hotels, they’re visiting the restaurants, they’re shopping, and they’re not just staying for a night or two. Some of them are staying and playing,” said Blair Lahaye, CLASH Endurance vice president of communications.

Athletes say it’s the support from the crowd and each other that pushes them across the finish line.

“You might have the worst mindset out there, but just hearing someone believe in you, like, that’s sometimes all you need to move forward,” Zavala said.

“I could not have gone through half the races I did, half the trainings I did, without the support of my teammates. We’re really excited to come race tomorrow, and we were super glad to get to be able to cheer on our teammates today,” Najera said.