The defending National Champion Mississippi State Bulldogs will open their 2022 season on Friday afternoon by hosting Long Beach State in the first game of a three-game series. The Bulldogs are one of six SEC teams ranked in the Top 10 preseason polls. The Dogs were selected to finish second in the SEC West behind Arkansas in preseason polls. MSU lost three starting pitchers from the 2021 championship team in Will Bednar, Christian MacLeod and Houston Harding. Landon Sims will lead this year’s staff as he is set to make the move from the bullpen into the weekend pitching rotation. Juniors Preston Jackson, Parker Stinnett and K.C. Hunt along with sophomores Cade Smith and Jackson Fristoe will be fighting for the final two weekend spots in the rotation. Sims and catcher Logan Tanner were named to the first team All-SEC preseason team while Luke Hancock was named to the second team. The Bulldog fans are definitely ready as the MSU baseball program set a season ticket record with over 13,000 sold.
Ole Miss will open this Friday as they host Charleston Southern in the first game of a three-game set. The Rebels, who return all their offensive starters from last year’s team, were picked to finish in a second place tie in the SEC West this year with MSU. The Rebels also were selected by the same SEC coaches to win the SEC Championship. So try and figure that out. The national 2021 Freshman of the Year shortstop Jacob Gonzalez was named to the All-SEC first team preseason poll. Second team selections were catcher Hayden Dunhurst, first baseman Tim Elko, second baseman Peyton Chatagnier and outfielder Kevin Graham.
One of the top C-USA teams every season, Southern Mississippi will open their home baseball season on Friday against North Alabama. The Golden Eagles have recorded six straight 40-win seasons under Scott Berry. They did lose their most productive hitter in Reed Trimble to the MLB draft but do return eight everyday starters led by shortstop Dustin Dickerson, outfielder Gabe Montenegro and infielders Will McGillis, Danny Lynch and Charlie Fischer. The Eagles also lost three mainstays in the pitching rotation in Walker Powell, Hunter Stanley and Ryan Och but return Drew Boyd and Ben Ethridge to fill those gaps.
SWAC
Jackson State was picked to finish first in the preseason East Division while Mississippi Valley was picked sixth in the poll by the league head coaches and sports information directors. Southern led the Western Division while Alcorn was predicted to finish sixth. JSU will take part in the Andre Dawson Classic in New Orleans beginning on Friday. Valley will host Rust on Saturday while Alcorn will open at McNeese State on February 25.
Short Notes
Mississippi State upset No. 25 Ole Miss, 70-59, Sunday. The Lady Bulldogs (15-8, 6-5) dominated the Lady Rebels (18-6, 6-5) from start to finish.
Southern Mississippi athletics announced this week that they will move up their departure date from C-USA to June 30, 2022. The announcement did not say whether it would join the Sun Belt this fall or operate as an independent for a year.
Jackson Suber of Ole Miss is the top ranked golfer in the NCAA player rankings.
The New Orleans Saints have promoted defensive coordinator Dennis Allen to head coach. Allen has led the Saints defense – one of the elite units in the NFL – the previous two years. His first order of business will be the quarterback position.
Former New Orleans Saints linebacker Sam Mills is of one eight former NFL players who will be inducted into the 2022 Pro Football Hall of Fame.
Germantown High School running back Branson Robinson is also talented in the weight room. The Georgia commit has had career lifts this year of 415 pounds on the bench. He squatted 615 pounds and dead lifted 725 pounds in MHSAA competition this season.
Dale has been writing sports in Mississippi since 1973. Listen to Dale’s Brouhaha Sports Show with Marshall Wood on Tuesday at 6 p.m. on WABO FM 105.5 in the Waynesboro area. This week’s guest is former Southern Cal and L.A. Rams head football coach John Robinson. We will have another special guest on February 22 as former South Carolina All-American and New Orleans running back George Rogers will visit with us. To listen to the broadcast on your computer or smart phone anywhere in the world, go to Google Chrome, go to wabo105.com and click listen live. You may also go to The Brouhaha on YouTube. Please visit us on our Brouhaha Facebook page and like us.
