Mississippi State baseball has lost a third straight SEC series to begin the 2025 season.

The Bulldogs (16-12, 1-8 SEC) were swept at No. 6 LSU (26-3, 7-2) this weekend. They lost 8-6 on Thursday, 2-1 on Friday and 17-8 on Saturday. It is tied for the worst start to SEC play in coach Chris Lemonis’ seven seasons. 

Here’s what we learned about MSU from the series.

Mississippi State baseball is not an elite SEC team

The Bulldogs have had three tests against top SEC teams and failed all of them. They were swept at home by No. 7 Texas, lost two of three games at No. 9 Oklahoma and now were swept again.

The expectation is for Mississippi State to compete at that level, but it hasn’t since the 2021 national championship. The Bulldogs are 1-11 in Quad 1 games this season with only three wins against opponents with a .500 or better record as of Sunday.

The schedule lightens up next weekend with unranked South Carolina (17-11, 1-7) visiting Dudy Noble Field. That will be a test of how low Mississippi State is in the SEC.

Pico Kohn can’t solve all of Mississippi State’s problems

Pico Kohn has been the bright spot for Mississippi State. He gives MSU a chance to win each game he pitches, but isn’t getting enough help.

The reigning SEC Pitcher of the Week was sharp again on Friday, pitching five innings with two earned runs, eight strikeouts, five hits and no walks. His 2.66 ERA ranks sixth in the SEC among qualifying pitchers, and he’s tied for the conference lead with 40.2 innings pitched.

Mississippi State is 12th in the SEC in runs scored, ninth in runs allowed and 14th in fielding percentage. Mississippi State doesn’t have a solid second starting pitcher.

On Thursday, MSU’s bullpen blew a 6-2 lead. MSU struck out 18 times in Friday’s game. On Saturday, starting pitcher Karson Ligon couldn’t make it out of the first inning as the Bulldogs fell behind 8-0. 

Mississippi State is 4-10 in games decided by three runs or less. 

Hunter Hines has improved since benching

Starting first baseman Hunter Hines was benched for two games of the Astros Foundation College Classic one month ago because of his cold bat. Since then, he’s been significantly better.

MORE: Mississippi State didn’t try to injure JuJu Watkins, USC coach Lindsay Gottlieb says

He’s on a team-best seven-game hitting streak. Hines batted 4-for-8 with five walks, two home runs, two RBIs and four runs against LSU. He’s now one home run away from tying Will Clark for the second most career home runs in program history. 

Hines’ batting average has risen from .211 on March 2 to .306 after Saturday.

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

Updates on governor vetoes, bills becoming law

As the 2025 session draws near to its April 6 conclusion, lawmakers will have dozens of opportunities to restore voting rights to some of Mississippi’s citizens.

As of March 28, about 60 or so bills had been filed with the Legislature requesting restoration of individual voting rights.

The process to file such bills with the Legislature is tedious and often unknown to many people who want to have their voting rights restored after being disenfranchised for committing certain felonies.

First, a disenfranchised person must request a lawmaker, typically from their district, to file a bill with the Legislature. Then, if approved, that bill would be put through the legislative process, including passing several committees, both chambers and by the governor, who has the option to veto a restoration bill.

There was effort early in the session to restore voting rights to certain nonviolent felony holders who had served their sentencing terms, but it died on the House calendar after House Constitution Chairman Price Wallace, R-Mendenhall, said he was given no indication the Senate would take the idea seriously.

Tax cut bill signed: Mississippi governor signs income tax elimination bill. How are you affected?

Disenfranchisement has its roots deep in the soil of Jim Crow. During the 1890 constitutional convention in Mississippi, the practice was adopted to prevent Black voters from reaching the polls, according to Clarion Ledger records and reporting.

“There is no use to equivocate or lie about the matter. Mississippi’s constitutional convention of 1890 was held for no other purpose than to eliminate the (explicative) from politics,” Former Gov. James K. Vardaman said of the decision years later. Other Southern states soon followed with similar laws, as reported by the Clarion Ledger.

Today, about 68,000 people are disenfranchised in Mississippi, according to the Sentencing Project, a nonprofit. Of them, more than 50,000 committed nonviolent felonies, which would have been the primary focus of the disenfranchisement legislation.

Governor vetoes Medicaid tech bill

Last week, Republican Gov. Tate Reeves vetoed his second bill of the legislative session, a piece of legislation meant to make changes mostly to a supplemental payment program for hospitals participating in the state’s Medicaid program.

Referred to as the Medicaid Tech bill, it typically addresses making changes to the state’s Medicaid program and also makes sure the state’s Medicaid program falls in compliance with federal guidelines.

This year’s bill would, among other things, have expanded some funding for hospitals in that program, Reeves said, and allowed for some out-of-state hospitals to participate in the program, which he said was impossible.

Medicaid: As Mississippi session passes halfway point, Medicaid expansion looks unlikely. See why

After the veto was read to the Senate on Friday, Senate Medicaid Chairman Kevin Blackwell, R-Southaven, recommitted the bill to committee for further work, which gives lawmaker an opportunity to send the bill back to Reeves with various amendments.

Happenings at the legislature last week

While Reeves has now vetoed two bills this session, plenty of others have made it past his desk and onto the books as new law.

This week alone, Reeves allowed a bill to establish presumed Medicaid eligibility for pregnant women pass without his signature. Reeves also signed a bill into law that established paid parental leave for primary care givers working in government.

Reeves also signed the Safe Solicitation Act, a bill that requires panhandlers to obtain a $25 permit to solicit donations at specific locations from 9 a.m. to sundown.

The bill had seen some debate in the legislature between Republicans and Democrats. Advocates of the bill have said the legislation would help to address safety concerns with homeless people soliciting donations on roadways.

homeless bills this session: Anti-homeless bills pass MS House. See what they would do

Opponents have said the bill would do nothing to address helping people who are homeless but only punish them for being so.

If anyone who panhandles violated the provisions in the law, they could be convicted of a misdemeanor that carries a fine of up to $500 or be imprisoned at a county jail for no longer than six weeks.

Grant McLaughlin covers the Legislature and state government for the Clarion Ledger. He can be reached at gmclaughlin@gannett.com or 972-571-2335.

WEST POINT, Miss. (WTVA) — A grandmother faces charges after someone found a toddler walking down a busy road in Clay County, Mississippi.

Deputies arrested Marie Kelley, 79, Thursday afternoon on child abuse and contributing to the delinquency of a minor charges.

Clay County Sheriff Eddie Scott said a motorist saw Kelley’s grandson walking down the road and called 911.

The 2-year-old ran away after Kelley allegedly struck him multiple times with a switch, the sheriff explained.

Scott said the child received numerous marks and welts on his body, including his head.

This resulted in the felony child abuse charge.

Scott said the child is in Child Protection Services’ custody.

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