Mississippi
Mississippi college baseball players earn all-conference honors – SuperTalk Mississippi
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As postseason play across college baseball begins, conferences are recognizing standout performers from this season with many representing Mississippi schools finding their names on the lists.
Beginning in the Southeastern Conference, Mississippi State shortstop David Mershon and pitcher Khal Stephen were named first-team All-SEC while outfielder Dakota Jordan nabbed second-team honors.
Mershon has been a key piece for the Bulldogs at the plate and in the field. The sophomore has posted a .958 fielding percentage while batting .326 with 63 hits and 36 RBI. His 23 stolen bases are third-most in the SEC.
Stephen has proven as one of the most durable arms in the SEC with a conference-high 83 innings pitched. The junior right-hander has a team-high eight wins with a 3.25 ERA and 93 strikeouts.
Jordan, coming off his first career Ferriss Trophy as Mississippi’s top player, has been a force to be reckoned with at the plate. The sophomore leads the team in home runs (17) and RBI (61). His .363 batting average is seventh best in the SEC.
Ole Miss’ lone All-SEC selection was utility player Andrew Fischer, who landed on the second team. The sophomore leads the Rebels in hits, (59), home runs (20), and RBI (57). He is also third on the team with a .289 batting average.
Over in the Sun Belt, Southern Miss placed five on all-conference teams. Pitcher Billy Oldham and designated hitter Slade Wilks landed on the first team, along with shortstop Ozzie Pratt, outfielder Dalton McIntyre, and pitcher Niko Mazza getting second-team nods.
Oldham went 7-2 over 14 starts as the Golden Eagles’ Friday starter. The senior right-hander wrapped up the regular season with a 4.03 ERA and 85 strikeouts.
Wilks has been a stronghold at the plate with a .332 batting average. The senior leads the team in home runs (14) and RBI (58). His current 28-game hitting streak is tied for third in program history.
Pratt, in his first season away from BYU, quickly found a home in Hattiesburg by starting all 53 games for Southern Miss. The junior has a .330 batting average with a team-best 18 doubles along with three home runs and 36 RBI.
McIntyre started the season on the bench before swinging his way into the lineup and never leaving. The junior’s .374 batting average leads the team, complemented by two home runs, 31 RBI, and 10 stolen bases.
Mazza went 8-3 with 15 appearances and 14 starts. The junior righty fanned 87 batters over 77.1 innings. On the season, he holds a 4.19 ERA.
The Southwestern Athletic Conference, which is home to Jackson State, Alcorn State, and Mississippi Valley State, has not yet announced its all-conference teams for the 2024 season.
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Mississippi
Mississippi alligator breaks 2 state records and is possibly a world record
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‘When she came up she was under the bottom of the boat in between the pontoons. She was slapping the boat with her tail and all that. I thought she was going to knock my motor off for a minute.’
Watch: Texas officer wrangles angry gator from family’s front porch
Body camera footage captured the moment a police officer swiftly removed a small alligator from a home in Texas.
After two frustrating nights on the last weekend of the season, a Mississippi hunter caught the alligator he’d been after, but what he didn’t realize when he pulled it in his boat was that not only did it break two state records, it’s possibly a world record.
Jason Ullendorf said a cousin of his was buying a part at a boat shop last week when he was told about an alligator in the Pascagoula River. The alligator had been spotted near a sandbar and had been making people visiting the location uncomfortable.
“We figured we’d help them out and get it out of there,” Ullendorf said. “We went down there to look at it, and it was a pretty good gator. It’s kind of crazy how it happened.”
Catching it was easier said than done, though. Ullendorf and members of his hunting party repeatedly hooked the alligator, only to have the hooks pull out or break off when the alligator would go under logs.
“We chased it from about 9 o’clock until about 3 o’clock in the morning,” Ullendorf said. “By then we’d lost all our hooks.”
More: Hunters bag Mississippi alligator weighing almost 700 pounds
Another long night of hunting alligators
The following day, Ullendorf bought more hooks and returned to the river with only one other hunter, Joseph Mangano of Richton. Fortunately, they found the alligator in the same spot as the night before. Unfortunately, it was shaping up to be a replay of the night before with the two repeatedly hooking the alligator, only to have the hooks pull free.
“It was frustrating,” Mangano said. “At one point, we got so frustrated we left it and an hour later started again. We knew we would hook it, but we were going to have to get it out of the trees.”
At 4:45 a.m., the hunters got a break. The alligator surfaced in open water near the sandbar. The two hooked the alligator with a rod and reel and then got a hand line on it as the alligator towed the two men and their 18-foot pontoon boat upriver. Everything was going relatively smoothly until they pulled the gator near the boat.
“When she came up she was under the bottom of the boat in between the pontoons,” Ullendorf said. “She was slapping the boat with her tail and all that. I thought she was going to knock my motor off for a minute.”
More: ‘The size and mass of his head is unreal.’ Mississippi alligator hunters bag 800-pound giant
Mississippi hunters suspect their alligator is a female
The two got the alligator in their boat and while Ullendorf referred to it as a “she,” he didn’t think it was a female at the time. This alligator was too big to be a female, and the longest female alligator ever recorded in the state was caught in 2022 by Jim Denson and measured 10 feet, 2 inches.
“As soon as she came up we said, ‘That’s a male,’” Ullendorf said. “We never second-guessed it.”
But then they did. When to two took the alligator to Mangano’s business in Richton, Running M Meat Company, they discovered the alligator didn’t have male sex organs.
“I couldn’t believe it at first,” Ullendorf said. “We called Andrew Arnett to come down and verify it. I didn’t believe it at all.”
Is this Mississippi alligator a world record?
Arnett is the head of the Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks Alligator Program. He confirmed it was a female and certified it at 11 feet, 3/4 inches long and 324 pounds. Not only was it a state record for longest female, it was the new state record for heaviest.
However, it may have broken another record, if only it existed. Multiple internet searches came up empty for an official world record for female alligators, but some states keep official records. According to searches by the hunters and Arnett, the longest female alligator on record before Ullendorf’s was 10 feet, 6.75 inches long and it was caught in Florida. If that’s true, Ullendorf has the new world record for longest female alligator.
“Just from what I’ve seen online, I think so,” Arnett said.
Do you have a story idea? Contact Brian Broom at 601-961-7225 or bbroom@gannett.com.
Mississippi
Mississippi Mass Choir new album
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JACKSON, Miss. (WLBT) – The Mississippi Mass Choir has a new album! We Still Believe is available!
The director and some choir members joined Studio 3 to discuss the songs.
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Mississippi
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