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_.
BILOXI, Miss. (WLOX) — Gas prices along the Mississippi Gulf Coast have jumped to nearly $3 a gallon, up from $2.41 just two days ago, according to AAA.
AAA said the increase is driven by two factors: the U.S.-Iran conflict, which has shut down a key Middle East oil route and prompted attacks on refineries, and a seasonal fuel blend switch that adds up to 15 cents a gallon on its own.
Uber Eats driver James Adams said he noticed the increase immediately.
“It actually jumped like 50 to 60 cents in one day,” Adams said.
Adams said the higher cost to fill his tank cuts directly into his delivery earnings.
“We’re working basically for pennies on the dollar already — and once you factor that in with traffic and the mileage you have to go — the gas is outrageous,” Adams said.
DoorDash driver Daniel Yelle said the spike will strain his weekly budget.
“I fill up about twice a week going to and from work and DoorDash — and that’s going to hurt my budget,” Yelle said.
FedEx driver Cecil Banks said there is little that workers can do about the rise in prices.
“As long as there is wars — the price of gas is going to go up for everybody — so it’s just an unfortunate situation,” Banks said.
Banks noted that even though Mississippi’s prices remain below the national average, not driving is not an option for working families.
“What can you do? A lot of people have families — they have to go get their kids — they have to go back and forth to work,” Banks said.
Yelle echoed that sentiment.
“They don’t pay us enough for the higher gas prices,” Yelle said.
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Mississippi
It’s 2,350 miles long, spans 31 US states and is home to a 100kg animal with a tongue that looks like a worm | Discover Wildlife
The Mississippi River flows for around 2,350 miles through the heart of the US. It drains an area of 1.2 million square miles – that’s roughly 40% of the country – and at certain points is 11 miles wide. It is North America’s second longest river, behind the Missouri River.
Rising from Lake Itasca in Minnesota, the Mississippi winds southwards through a range of environments, draining water from 31 US states before reaching its delta at the Gulf of Mexico in Louisiana.
The sheer size of the river and the diversity of habitats it passes through make it a refuge for a huge range of animal species, including more than 260 fish, 326 birds, 50 mammals and at least 145 amphibians and reptiles, according to the National Park Service.
There are many weird and wonderful animals living within the Mississippi’s vast waters, but surely one of the strangest is the alligator snapping turtle.
This prehistoric-looking reptile is massive. It can weigh up to 100kg and males can grow well over half a metre long, making it the largest freshwater turtle in North America.
And as if its size wasn’t enough, the alligator snapper has a host of other characteristics that make it one of the Mississippi’s most striking creatures, including a dark, spiky shell (known as carapace), a brick-like head and a sharp, hooked beak. With such a formidable appearance, it’s easy to see how the turtle got its ‘alligator’ name.
But perhaps the turtle’s most curious feature is a worm-like appendage found on its tongue, which it uses as a lure to catch prey, such as fish, amphibians and invertebrates. Alligator snappers are also quite happy scavenging for food.
More amazing wildlife stories from around the world
NIL money comes with a price. More specifically, a tax bill.
The Mississippi legislature is trying to reduce that burden for college athletes who play there.
Via Bea Anhuci of the Mississippi Clarion Ledger, the Mississippi House of Representatives has passed a bill that would exempt NIL earnings from state income tax.
It’s a recruiting tool for Ole Miss and Mississippi State, one that would put the Mississippi schools on equal footing with other states that host SEC universities. Florida, Tennessee, and Texas have no state income tax, and Arkansas carved out NIL earnings from the state’s income tax burden in 2025.
Mississippi currently charges a four-percent tax on anyone making more than $10,000 per year.
NIL earnings remain subject to federal income tax.
The bill will have to also pass the Mississippi Senate, and the governor would then be required to sign it into law.
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