Mississippi

Unpacking Mississippi State baseball vs. Evansville: Dakota Jordan’s hitting to David Mershon’s singing

Published

11 months ago

March 10, 2024

Unpacking Mississippi State baseball vs. Evansville: Dakota Jordan’s hitting to David Mershon’s singing

STARKVILLE — Replicating the 2021 season won’t be easy for Mississippi State baseball considering it’s when the Bulldogs secured their first national title. However, MSU reached a feat Sunday that hasn’t been accomplished since that memorable campaign.

After defeating Evansville 13-3 in eight innings, Mississippi State (12-4) has won nine straight games for the first time in three years.

The winning streak for coach Chris Lemonis’ squad started Feb. 25 when MSU won the rubber match against Georgia Southern. Since then, Mississippi State has beaten Jackson State, Mount St. Mary’s, Southern Miss and Evansville (7-8).

The Bulldogs won Friday’s series opener against the Purple Aces 5-2 before an 8-3 win Saturday.

Here’s what we learned about MSU after the series sweep.

Mississippi State pitching continues to be stellar

The most noteworthy improvement for MSU between the past two seasons and this year has been the production on the mound. Against Evansville, Mississippi State’s pitchers combined to allow only eight runs while striking out 29 batters and walking 10.

Nate Dohm set the tone Friday, allowing two runs in 6⅓ innings. Khal Stephen followed it up with six scoreless innings on Saturday before Jurrangelo Cijntje earned a quality start with three runs allowed in six innings Sunday.

“We all feed off each other,” Stephen said.

Mississippi State now has a team ERA of 3.57. Last season, it was 7.01.

Dakota Jordan stays hot at plate

There likely won’t be much debate in the SEC office about the upcoming SEC player of the week honors. Dakota Jordan went 9-for-13 with four home runs and 13 runs driven in across four games this week. He hit a home run in each four contests, including the game-winning blast Tuesday against Southern Miss.

After his two-run home run in the first inning of Sunday’s win, the Purple Aces decided they had enough. Jordan was intentionally walked three times in the series finale, including in the fourth inning when MSU had two runners on base with only one out.

Lemonis credited Jordan’s hot stretch to a mechanical change that was made with the sophomore outfielder’s hands.

“He doesn’t do a lot if you ever notice,” Lemonis said. “He’s not a strider. He just kind of sits in there. It’s the most amazing juice from a guy who doesn’t − a lot of kids leg kick or whatever. He doesn’t. He just sits in there, and it’s quiet.”

David Mershon displays talent on and off field

David Mershon’s return to the lineup, which was delayed until the second week of the season due to injury, has been a welcomed one for Mississippi State. After going 2-for-4 on Sunday, he’s hitting .442 with 14 RBIs.

Defensively, he provided a pair of stellar plays against the Purple Aces – making an impressive catch going into the bullpen on Saturday while making a sliding snag on a grounder Sunday to keep a pair of runs from scoring.

“He’s a good ball player,” Lemonis said. “He’s all over the ballpark.”

MEN’S HOOPS: Why battling uphill is an overarching theme for Mississippi State on NCAA Tournament bubble

Mershon’s most pressure-packed moment of the weekend came away from play, though. Prior to the series opener, Mershon performed the national anthem. It was a moment even his coach didn’t know was coming.

“David is a lot more than just a baseball player,” Lemonis said. “He’s got a lot of cool things about him. He comes from a neat family. He’s a great player. He’s a fun player. But it’s a neat personality. It’s a neat kid to have on your team.”

Stefan Krajisnik is the Mississippi State beat writer for the Clarion Ledger. Contact him at skrajisnik@gannett.com or follow him on the X platform, formerly known as Twitter, @skrajisnik3.

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Mississippi

Where Mississippi State women’s basketball stands in updated March Madness bracket predictions

Published

8 hours ago

January 28, 2025

Press Room

Where Mississippi State women’s basketball stands in updated March Madness bracket predictions

Mississippi State women’s basketball suffered a heartbreaking loss at the buzzer to Missouri on Tuesday night. Yet, it didn’t negatively impact its NCAA tournament projection.

The Bulldogs (16-6, 3-5 SEC) also won 96-56 against Auburn on Thursday, their largest SEC margin of victory in coach Sam Purcell’s three seasons.

MSU only has one game this week at LSU (21-1, 6-1) on Sunday (1 p.m., SEC Network).

Here’s where Mississippi State stands in the latest NCAA tournament predictions.

Mississippi State women’s basketball NCAA tournament projection

ESPN’s Charlie Creme kept Mississippi State as a No. 8 seed this week. He has the Bulldogs matched up against No. 9 Oregon. The winner would play either No. 1 UCLA or No. 16 seeds Texas Southern or North Carolina A&T.

Mississippi State women’s basketball NCAA tournament resume

Mississippi State’s NCAA NET ranking fell three spots to No. 34 after the Missouri loss. Missouri’s NET ranking is No. 74, becoming MSU’s worse loss of the season. MSU is now 14-1 in Quads 2-4.

The Bulldogs’ best wins are at home versus Oklahoma and against Utah on a neutral court.

The Sunday game at LSU will be Quad 1.

Mississippi State women’s basketball NCAA tournament history under Sam Purcell

MSU has reached the NCAA tournament once in coach Sam Purcell’s two completed seasons. In 2022-23, MSU won in the First Four and the first round before losing to Notre Dame in the second round.

The Bulldogs have made NCAA tournament appearances 12 times and have won at least one game 11 straight times.

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

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What Sam Purcell said of Mississippi State women’s basketball’s last-second loss at Missouri

Published

20 hours ago

January 27, 2025

Press Room

What Sam Purcell said of Mississippi State women’s basketball’s last-second loss at Missouri

Mississippi State women’s basketball had the ball in the hands of its 40-point scorer with 25.8 seconds remaining in Tuesday’s game.

The Bulldogs led by one point, but the shot clock showed 16 seconds. One more bucket to add to Jerkaila Jordan’s career high in points could seal the win against Missouri.

Mizzou forward Laniah Randle poked the ball away from Jordan with 13 seconds remaining and another Tigers player grabbed it and raced down the floor. Missouri didn’t call a timeout before Grace Slaughter hit a midrange baseline jump shot at the buzzer.

It dealt Mississippi State (16-6, 3-5 SEC) a 78-77 loss to the Tigers (12-10, 1-6) at Mizzou Arena.

“This one stings,” MSU coach Sam Purcell said in his postgame radio interview. “The kids are heartbroken in that locker room. They wanted this bad. I’m proud of the effort they gave, but at the end of the day, our defense was not good enough to get enough stops tonight.”

What Sam Purcell said went wrong on final play

Purcell called a timeout before Jordan’s turnover. As she began penetrating toward the hoop, center Madina Okot set a screen to the left, but Jordan drove right instead. Jordan then tried to cross back to her left when she began to lose control of the ball.

“I’m going to have to go back and watch it,” Purcell said. “Obviously I thought we had a great flat back screen. We called a timeout, even though we had the matchup earlier because we wanted to catch our breath. We still were able to get it back in our hands for the end of the game.

“You just got to tip your hat to Missouri. I think they got a deflection or a hand in there because she wasn’t able to be stopped. But for that possession, she was. And then they go down, and then obviously make a dagger there at the horn.”

Purcell pointed to two other aspects that went wrong in the game for Mississippi State, who played without backup point guard Destiney McPhaul because of illness.

One, he thought the Bulldogs allowed too many and-1 fouls. They also left points at the free-throw line, going just 14 of 24. Jordan, despite becoming the ninth player in program history to score at least 40 points in a game, was 9-for-17, with four misses in the fourth quarter.

MSU led for 22 minutes, 3 seconds of game time, including the entire third quarter, when it led by as many as nine points.

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

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Mississippi has 12 ties to the Super Bowl between Chiefs and Eagles. Here’s the list

Published

1 day ago

January 27, 2025

Press Room

Mississippi has 12 ties to the Super Bowl between Chiefs and Eagles. Here’s the list

The matchup is set for Super Bowl 59 between the Kansas City Chiefs and Philadelphia Eagles.

It’s a star-studded game featuring Patrick Mahomes, Travis Kelce, Jalen Hurts and probably singing star Taylor Swift, too. There are also a handful of Mississippi ties to the Super Bowl — 12 to be exact, including players and coaches.

Southern Miss has the most connections among the Mississippi colleges with four.

Here’s are the Mississippi ties to know for the Super Bowl.

Mississippi State’s Super Bowl connections

Chris Jones is back in the Super Bowl as Kansas City’s star defensive lineman. The six-time Pro Bowler and three-time All-Pro played at Mississippi State from 2013-15 and is a Houston, Mississippi, native. In 15 games this season, Jones has 37 tackles, five sacks and 20 quarterback hits. He’s played his entire career with the Chiefs and already won three Super Bowls.

Eagles cornerback Darius Slay played at Itawamba Community College from 2009-10 and Mississippi State from 2011-12. He was drafted by the Detroit Lions in the second round and was traded to Philadelphia in 2020. Slay is a six-time Pro Bowler and has 49 tackles, one forced fumble and one fumble recovery this season.

Ole Miss’ Super Bowl connections

Ole Miss’ connections are both on the Eagles.

AJ Brown, Philadelphia’s star wide receiver, played at Ole Miss from 2016-18. Brown was a second-round draft pick by the Tennessee Titans but was traded to the Eagles in 2022. He’s a three-time Pro Bowl selection and eclipsed 1,000 receiving yards for the fifth time out of six seasons. Brown is also a Starkville native.

Eagles assistant special teams coordinator Joe Pannunzio coached tight ends and special teams at Ole Miss from 1995-98.

Southern Miss’ Super Bowl connections

Linebacker Swayze Bozeman signed with the Chiefs as an undrafted free agent in the spring. He’s spent time on the practice squad and active roster this season, appearing in three games with three tackles. Bozeman is a Flora native, attended Tri-County Academy and played at Copiah-Lincoln Community College before Southern Miss from 2019-23.

Two other former Golden Eagles are on the Chiefs’ practice squad: cornerback Eric Scott Jr. and wide receiver Jason Brownlee.

Scott played at Southern Miss from 2020-22 and was a sixth-round draft pick by the Dallas Cowboys. He was cut by the Cowboys in August and signed by Kansas City on Sept. 3. Scott has not played in a game this season. Brownlee, a West Point native, played at East Mississippi Community College from 2018-19 and Southern Miss from 2020-22. He was signed as an undrafted free agent by the New York Jets and caught a touchdown as a rookie but was cut in January. The Chiefs signed him to the practice squad on Jan. 15.

Todd Pinkston is in his second season as the Chiefs running backs coach. The Forest native played wide receiver at Southern Miss from 1995-99 and was a second-round draft pick by the Eagles. Pinkston also coached at Petal High School.

Mississippi high school connections to the Super Bowl

There are four Mississippians who are participating in the Super Bowl but played college football out of the state:

Nakobe Dean, the Eagles linebacker, is a Horn Lake native. He’s a former five-star in the 2019 recruiting class and the No. 1 player in Mississippi, according to the 247Sports Composite Rankings. Dean went to Georgia and was drafted by Philadelphia in the third round.
Eagles running back Kenneth Gainwell is from Yazoo City. He played at Memphis and was a fifth-round draft pick in 2021. Gainwell, the backup to Saquon Barkley, suffered a concussion in the NFC Championship game and did not return.
Eagles defensive tackle Byron Young is from Laurel and went to West Jones. He played at Alabama before being drafted in the third round by the Las Vegas Raiders in 2022. Young has been on injured reserve since Oct. 26.
Defensive tackle Fabien Lovett Sr. signed with Chiefs as an undrafted free agent in the spring and has been on the practice squad. He’s an Olive Branch native, played at Mississippi State from 2018-19 before transferring to Florida State.

When is the Super Bowl?

Date: Sunday, Feb. 9, 2025
Location: New Orleans
Time: 5:30 p.m. CT

How to watch the Super Bowl

The Super Bowl will broadcast on FOX. Streaming is available via FuboTV, which offers a free trial to new subscribers.

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

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