Mississippi
What we learned from Mississippi State baseball, Justin Parker’s SEC series sweep vs Kentucky
STARKVILLE — The start of Justin Parker as interim Mississippi State baseball coach couldn’t have gone much better.
The Bulldogs (29-19, 10-14 SEC) are 4-0 since firing coach Chris Lemonis on April 28. They swept Kentucky (25-20, 10-14) at Dudy Noble Field, MSU’s first SEC series sweep of the season.
MSU run-ruled the Wildcats 14-4 in Game 1 and won with a Joe Powell walk-off single in Game 2 after the May 2 game was postponed. It won again on May 4, 6-1, to clinch the sweep.
“We’ve been through a lot,” Parker said. “It’s a tough and resilient group. They’re proving it.”
Here’s what we learned from the series.
Mississippi State baseball is playing with new energy under Justin Parker
Parker said he didn’t notice a difference in Mississippi State’s demeanor in the four games following Lemonis’ firing, but it’s hard to deny something has changed.
The energy, the motivation, the confidence, the urgency all felt elevated in the four games at Dudy Noble Field. The in-game coaching decisions paid off. So many of them this season under Lemonis backfired.
“It’s not a completely different club, and there’s not a whole lot of different moves being made,” Parker said. “We’re fairly consistent as a staff. I think it was just guys believing in themselves and getting a little bit of wake-up call and responding to it.”
It’s not uncommon in sports for a team to play with some extra juice shortly after a coach is fired. Will it sustain? That’s the big question.
But for now, Mississippi State deserves credit for not folding. The Bulldogs have said all along that the NCAA tournament is still the goal. They did a lot to keep those hopes alive by sweeping Kentucky.
Mississippi State’s bullpen responded against Kentucky
MSU’s bullpen was a strength of the team early in the season but ran into trouble the last two series.
Against Kentucky, the Mississippi State bullpen didn’t allow a run in 15 innings.
“You don’t just overnight lose your bullpen,” said Parker, who’s also the MSU pitching coach. “There’s good arms in there, there’s good competitors and there’s really good stuff. It was just a matter of going back out there and believing in it and competing.”
Two relievers, Ben Davis and Luke Dotson, pitched twice. Dotson earned the win in Game 2 and Davis got the win in Game 3 after three scoreless innings. The Bulldogs got two important long relief outings in Game 2 from Ryan McPherson and Nate Williams, combining for 6⅓ innings with one hit, three walks and no runs.
“We got to get ahead for strike one,” Dotson said. “And then, we just can’t waste any pitches.”
Bryce Chance is playing a great center field
Center fielder Bryce Chance got two ovations from the Mississippi State crowd during the series.
The first one came after a sliding catch in left-center field in the fifth inning of Game 1. The game was close at the time, with MSU leading 5-4 and two runners on base. The difficult catch likely prevented two runs from scoring, and Chance received a standing ovation while running back to the dugout.
One inning later, Mississippi State scored eight runs for the comfortable lead on Kentucky.
In Game 3, Chance made a leaping catch at the wall in the first inning to perhaps save a home run or at least prevent the runner at third base from scoring. The out ended the inning, and Chance once again got an ovation.
Chance scored the winning run in Game 2 and hasn’t committed an error in 45 starts this season.
Joe Powell is turning into a clutch hitter
Powell started all three games of the series at catcher and played well in the field and at the plate.
In Game 1, he batted 3-for-3 with a home run, a walk, three RBIs and three runs. He had only one hit in Game 2, but it was the big one, a walk-off single in the 11th inning. Powell provided another clutch hit on May 4, punching a two-run single in the sixth inning for a 4-1 lead.
In the field, Powell threw out a runner attempting to steal a base in Game 3 and limited Kentucky, which leads the SEC in stolen bases, to just two in the series.
Sam Sklar is the Mississippi State beat reporter for the Clarion Ledger. Email him at ssklar@gannett.com and follow him on X @sklarsam_.
Here’s the nominees for Clarion Ledger girls Athlete of the Week for May 4-9
Here’s the five nominees for the Clarion Ledger girls Mississippi high school Athlete of the Week for May 4-9.
There were several top performers across the state in girls high school sports, but only one can be voted as the Clarion Ledger athlete of the week for May 4-9.
Fans may vote in the poll BELOW one time per hour per device. The poll closes at noon on Friday.
To nominate a future athlete of the week, email mchavez@gannett.com or message him on X, formerly Twitter, @MikeSChavez.
To submit high school scores, statistics, records, leaders and other items at any time, email mchavez@gannett.com.
Nominations
Kara Applewhite, Sumrall: Applewhite had four hits with a home run and five RBIs in Sumrall’s 10-0 win against East Central.
Caydance Brumfield, West Marion: Brumfield produced four hits and five RBIs in West Marion’s two wins against Pisgah.
Addison Collum, West Union: Collum pitched eight innings and recorded seven strikeouts and only two earned runs in West Union’s wins against Smithville.
Addison Cornish, West Lauderdale: Cornish recorded five hits and a home run in West Lauderdale’s wins against Choctaw Central.
Addison Davis, George County: Davis pitched nine innings with 20 strikeouts and recorded two home runs and four RBIs in George County’s wins against Pearl River Central.
Michael Chavez covers high school sports for the Clarion Ledger. Email him at mchavez@gannett.com or reach out to him on X, formerly Twitter @MikeSChavez.
‘We’re doing this to decrease the pressure we get early in the season. We’re trying to move that pressure on into later in the season.’
Bobcat stalks and strikes at Wisconsin turkey hunter
Turkey hunter Carson Bender of Wisconsin Rapids recorded a video of a bobcat that stalked and lunged at him as he hunted April 18, 2026 near Nekoosa, Wis.
Carson Bender
If a proposal made in the April meeting of the Mississippi Commission on Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks is finalized, nonresident turkey hunters will see big changes in the 2027 spring turkey season.
“We’re doing this in a way to impact how hunting pressure occurs and how the harvest happens in the early season,” said Caleb Hinton, Wild Turkey Program coordinator for the Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks. “We’re doing this to decrease the pressure we get early in the season. We’re trying to move that pressure on into later in the season.”
Turkey hunters enjoy a three-bird bag limit and a little more than six weeks of hunting in spring, which is similar to some other states. What is at issue is when it opens. March 15 is the typical opening date for the regular season, making it one of the earliest in the nation.
That early opening date combined with a growing trend among turkey hunters is where the problem lies.
Mississippi is a destination for early season, nonresident hunters
Possibly more than any other group of hunters, turkey hunters like to travel. For some, it may be a matter of seeing a different landscape and hunting birds under condions they don’t encounter in their home state. For others it may be a quest to harvest each of the subspecies in North America.
For yet another group, it’s the challenge of harvesting a gobbler in each of the 49 states that have turkeys.
“It seems to be getting more and more popular every year,” Hinton said.
Regardless of why a turkey hunter chooses to travel, it puts a target on Mississippi’s back because for the first few weeks of the season, it’s almost the only game in town, so hunters flock to the state.
In an effort to curb the amount of hunting pressure in those first weeks of turkey season, MDWFP proposed limiting nonresident hunters to two legal gobblers per season and only one of those can be harvested before April 1.
“Hopefully, it will help curb the massive influx of pressure we get the first week or two of the season,” Hinton said.
When will turkey season changes for nonresidents be voted on?
The proposed changes aren’t the first that have been geared toward alleviating pressure on turkeys in the early part of the season by nonresidents. In 2022, the commission passed a rule requiring nonresident hunters to enter a drawing for a hunt on public land during the first two weeks of turkey season. Currently, the number of hunters drawn is limited to 800.
Like that change, the current proposal will pass or fail by a vote of the wildlife commission. In the April commission meeting, the proposal passed an initial vote. It is now in a 30-day public comment period and a final vote will be taken in the May meeting.
Public comments may be submitted at https://www.mdwfp.com/proposed-rules-regulations.
A lifelong outdoorsman and wildlife enthusiast, Brian Broom has been writing about hunting, fishing and Mississippi’s outdoors for the Clarion Ledger for more than 14 years. He can be reached at 601-961-7225 or bbroom@gannett.com.
Mississippi
Mississippi high school addresses social media post, says it won’t tolerate racism or harassment
LAUDERDALE COUNTY, Miss. (WLBT) – A Mississippi high school has made a statement after a social media post involving a student surfaced.
Northeast Lauderdale High School officials say they’re reviewing a social media post involving a student.
In a statement, the school said administrators are aware of the post and are “reviewing the situation.”
The school said it is committed to maintaining a safe, orderly and respectful environment for students and staff.
“Neither our district nor our school accept or condone racism, discrimination, harassment, or behavior that is inconsistent with the expectations of our school community,” the statement said.
Officials said they are working with the appropriate parties and will address the matter in accordance with district policies and procedures.
The school added that it cannot share additional details because of student privacy laws.
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