Mississippi
Mississippi State enters postseason play after best SEC finish in 17 years
After finishing .500 or better in Southeastern Conference play for the first time since 2007, Mississippi State is ready for the postseason. And the Bulldogs have a lot to play for this week at Auburn’s Jane B. Moore Field.
The only SEC team to miss the NCAA Tournament in 2023, MSU is all but assured of a return to the tournament this year, but the Bulldogs (33-17, 12-12 SEC) are hoping for more than that. Despite hitting a rough patch in late April, MSU rebounded to win two out of three against Georgia to close the regular season and still has a shot to host a regional for the first time in program history.
The No. 6 seed Bulldogs arrived in Auburn on Monday, giving them plenty of time to prepare for their first SEC Tournament game Wednesday night against 11th-seed South Carolina. A win over the Gamecocks may not move the needle much, but it would send MSU to the quarterfinals against No. 3 seed Texas A&M, and if the Bulldogs can knock off the Aggies, it may just be enough to sneak in and earn a top-16 national seed.
“We’re just really excited,” fifth-year senior pitcher Aspen Wesley said. “As long as we have fun, keep doing what we’re doing and try not to get ahead of ourselves, we’re going to do just fine.”
As of Tuesday, MSU’s RPI was back up to No. 20, but the Bulldogs still have work to do to climb into the hosting conversation — the worst RPI of a team that ended up hosting in the last five tournaments was 18. Some of the peripheral metrics should help, though. MSU is an impressive 11-11 against the top 25 and has 19 wins against the top 50, more than any of the other teams around them in the latest RPI.
The road starts with South Carolina (33-21, 8-16), a team the Bulldogs already took a series from in Columbia back in early April. The Gamecocks have the SEC’s worst team batting average, on-base percentage and slugging percentage and have hit just 32 home runs, the fewest in the conference. South Carolina’s pitching, though, is among the SEC’s best.
Led by Stanford transfer Alana Vawter, the Gamecocks’ team ERA of 2.02 is behind only conference champion Tennessee, and they keep the ball in the park better than any other SEC team, yielding just 18 homers in the regular season. Sage Mardjetko and Jori Heard complement Vawter to form one of the strongest pitching staffs in the conference.
Texas A&M (39-12, 15-9) took two out of three at Nusz Park in mid-March, but enters the postseason trending in the wrong direction after being swept at Florida. The Aggies, once considered a lock to host, are now down to No. 16 in the RPI, so a potential MSU-A&M quarterfinal matchup could have major implications for Selection Sunday.
With Trinity Cannon, Allie Enright and Jazmine Hill leading the way, the Aggies are second to the Gators in team batting average in the SEC. Tall left-hander Emiley Kennedy is Texas A&M’s ace, with a 20-10 record and a 1.67 ERA in 168 innings pitched.
Wesley comes in pitching the best softball of her career, holding a deep Georgia lineup to one run over 14 innings in two wins last weekend. Sophomore Josey Marron has struggled of late, though, although she did throw a shutout against South Carolina last month.
The Bulldogs’ offense stumbled down the stretch and scored just four runs in the Georgia series despite winning two of three. In particular, MSU needs to get Madisyn Kennedy going again — the fifth-year senior hit 10 homers and drove in 34 runs in March, but was held to just one hit over her last eight games. That one hit was a go-ahead solo shot Friday night against Georgia, but teams are pitching her differently and she has not shown consistency in her adjustments.
The conference tournament is also a homecoming of sorts for Jessie Blaine, who transferred from Auburn last offseason and is batting .328 with a .543 slugging percentage in her first year as a Bulldog.
“She’s such a great team player, and she’s all in for the matchups and for doing whatever she can to help the team,” head coach Samantha Ricketts said. “Just another one who fits so well in our culture when she got here. It feels like she’s been here for three years. We’re excited to have her, taking her back to her original field, but I know she’s proud to be here in the maroon and white.”
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Despite scoring 33 runs in its final three-game series, Mississippi State baseball didn’t leave College Station, Texas, with a series victory.
No. 10 Texas A&M beat the visiting No. 12 Bulldogs 7-6 on May 16. It was the rubber match of the three-game series. MSU (39-16, 16-14 SEC) won the first game 18-11 and Texas A&M (39-13, 18-11) took the second game 11-9.
The Bulldogs are still entering the postseason in good position. MSU will be anywhere between the No. 8 and No. 10 seed in the SEC Tournament and has a case to be awarded a top-16 overall seed in the NCAA Tournament.
MSU can hit and does it well. The Bulldogs entered May 16 with the No. 2 batting average in the SEC (.314) and the third-most runs (471). Pitching was more hit-or-miss.
Here’s what stood out regarding MSU’s pitching in the regular season finale as the Bulldogs head into the postseason.
Ryan McPherson is back, but can he find peak form?
Getting star sophomore Ryan McPherson back in any capacity is big for MSU, but the Bulldogs need him to look like his old self to have their best chance at a deep postseason run.
McPherson started Game 3 against Alabama. He pitched 2⅓ innings, allowing one earned run on 44 pitches. He got into some trouble in the third inning and was pulled.
McPherson has only pitched one other time since March 20, when he suffered a forearm strain against Vanderbilt. That was on May 9 vs Auburn, but he only threw 1⅓ innings before he injured his ankle after tripping behind home plate while backing up a potential throw in the second inning.
At his best, McPherson has lights-out stuff that can win a postseason game. He was 5-1 with a 2.45 ERA before getting injured.
Ben Davis quietly shined in bullpen
The MSU bullpen got plenty of action against Texas A&M. Senior reliever Ben Davis pitched all three days.
Davis threw one inning in the first game, 2⅓ in the second game and 1⅓ in the finale. Across the 4⅔-inning span, Davis allowed four hits and no earned runs. He struck out three.
It’s the first time this season Davis pitched three consecutive days.
Walks, not hits, cost Mississippi State the series
The Bulldogs outhit the Aggies 11-7 in Game 3, but the discrepancy in walks was too much to overcome.
MSU walked 13 batters and drew just one.
Four of the walks went on McPherson’s ledger, but the bullpen struggled with control as well. Five of the six relievers who pitched after McPherson walked at least one batter. Only 96 of the 176 pitches MSU threw were in the strike zone.
Sam Hutchens covers Ole Miss for the Clarion Ledger. Email him at Shutchens@gannett.com or reach him on X at @Sam_Hutchens_
Easy ways to identify snakes
Depending on where you are, snakes are inevitable. Here’s how to identify if the snake is venomous or not.
Can you kill a snake in your yard in Mississippi? As the weather heats up and people spend time outdoors, run-ins with snakes are increasingly likely.
It is legal to kill most snakes found in Mississippi. But there are rules about when you need a license. Some species have federal protection.
Mississippi is home to more than 50 types of snakes. A small number are venomous.
Most snake-related interactions can be avoided by just walking away or letting them slither to safety. Still, there are times when you might need to keep kids and pets safe.
Here’s what we know about the rules protecting wildlife, venomous snakes that live in Mississippi and which species are protected.
Can you kill a snake in your yard in Mississippi?
Yes, Mississippi residents can kill a snake in their yard. Mississippi landowners, or people who live on the property, can kill a snake on their property, whether it’s venomous or not.
It’s one of a few specific exceptions when the Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks allows killing a snake without a hunting or fishing license.
Nongame snakes and animals that have come inside a resident’s building, damage plants and yards or hurt pets or livestock can be killed. Nonresidents are allowed to kill wildlife that enters a building they lease or rent.
If a venomous snake poses “a reasonable danger to human life,” MDWFP regulations allow people to kill it.
In any of these cases, the animal’s body has to be disposed of or allowed to decay in nature. You can’t keep it as a trophy or sell it.
Mississippi landowners, or people who live on a property, can kill a snake on their property, whether it’s venomous or not.
When you need a license to kill a snake
The Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks oversees regulations for hunting and the management of nongame species in the state.
Everyone needs the appropriate hunting/fishing license to harvest snakes for personal use, according to MDWFP information. No more than 20 nongame snakes and lizards can be taken a year. No more than four specimens of a species or subspecies should be taken from the wild in a year.
Venomous snakes found in Mississippi
The Mississippi Poison Control Center via the University of Mississippi Medical Center lists venomous snakes and other animals, like spiders, stingrays and jellyfish.
The list of dangerous snakes includes:
- Timber rattlesnakes
- Pygmy rattlesnakes
- Eastern diamondback rattlesnakes
- Water moccasins (also called Cottonmouths)
- Coral snakes
- Copperheads
Snake Snap lists eight snakes with venom. The site includes specific variations of some species: Western Cottonmouth and Northern Cottonmouth, along with the Dusky and Western variations of Pygmy Rattlesnakes.
Snakes you cannot legally kill
The Endangered Species Act helps protect native wildlife and plants from dying off entirely. The MDWFP lists several animals that are protected, including the black bear, Florida Panther and gopher tortoise. All sea turtles, sawback turtles and two kinds of bat are also protected.
These snakes are protected because they’re listed as an endangered species:
- Black pine snake
- Eastern indigo snake
- Rainbow snake
- Southern hognose snake
The Eastern Indigo Snake hasn’t been seen in decades in Mississippi. It’s now considered rare in the state or extirpated, meaning locally extinct.
Bonnie Bolden is the Deep South Connect reporter for Mississippi with USA TODAY Network. Email her at bbolden@gannett.com.
It will be a beautiful start to the weekend with sunny skies and highs in the 80s. Here’s your statewide forecast from the National Weather Service.
Northern Mississippi
It will be a sunny Friday with highs in the mid-80s. Friday night will be mostly cloudy and warmer with lows in the mid to upper 60s.
Central Mississippi
Friday will be sunny with highs in the mid to upper 80s. Friday night will be mostly cloudy, with lows in the mid-60s.
Southern Mississippi
It will be a sunny Friday with highs in the mid-80s. Friday night will be partly cloudy with lows in the lower 60s.
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