Hattiesburg native Riley Davis won the Charles Schwab golf tournament this past weekend in Fort Worth. The former University of Alabama golfer outdistanced by five strokes both Scottie Scheffler and Keegan Bradley, for the $1.6 million prize money. Tupelo native and Missouri golfer Hayden Buckley, who was in second place after the second day of play, finished in a tie for fifth.
College Baseball
Southern Miss received an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament for winning the Sun Belt Tournament and will travel to the Knoxville Regionals. The Golden Eagles are making their eighth consecutive appearance in the tournament. USM will be a second seed in the Regionals and will meet Indiana (34-24-1) on Friday. Tennessee (50-11) is the top seed in the Regionals and Tournament. Northern Kentucky (35-22) is seeded fourth. Southern Miss won their second straight Sun Belt Conference baseball title with a perfect 4-0 run in the tournament played in Montgomery. The Golden Eagles (41-18) are now the only NCAA Division1 program to have won at least 40 games in eight consecutive full seasons.
Mississippi State received an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament and will travel to the Charlottesville Regional. Second seed MSU will meet third seed St. John’s (37-16-1) on Friday. Virginia (41-15) is the top seed and will meet fourth seed Penn (24-23). Mississippi State (38-21) downed Ole Miss and Texas A&M in the SEC Tournament before falling to Vanderbilt and eventual tournament champ Tennessee. This will make the Bulldogs' 40th appearance in school history and first since 2021.
Ole Miss (27-29) lost a heartbreaker to Mississippi State last week in the opening game of the SEC Tournament. Conner Hujsak blasted a two-run home run in the bottom of the ninth inning giving MSU a 2-1 victory and ending the Rebels' season. Ole Miss also stated coach Mike Bianco will return for his 25thseason.
Mississippi State’s Dakota Jordan won the 20th annual Ferris Trophy. The award is named after former Delta State baseball coach Boo Ferris. The other finalists were Ethan Ledge (Ole Miss), Dalton McIntyre (USM), Brett Sanchez (Belhaven) and R.J. Stinson (William Carey).
East Central Community College is the third seed this week in the NJCAA D-2 World Series in Oklahoma. The Warriors (51-7), who received an at-large bid this year, also represented Mississippi last year in Oklahoma.
The MHSAA crowned seven state champions for the first time in baseball this past week in Pearl. Brandon took home the first ever 7-A state title defeating Hernando. Other crowned champions were George County (6-A), Vancleave (5A), Sumrall (4A), East Webster (3A), St. Andrews (2A) and Taylorsville (1A).
The Mississippi Association of Coaches will host all-star games this week. The baseball all-stars will play at William Carey May 28-30. The 5A-7A North/South contest is scheduled for Tuesday and the 1A-2A game for Wednesday. The 3A/4A game is set for Thursday. All three games are scheduled for 6 p.m. starts. The Rising Stars Softball Games are set for Jones College in Ellisville, May 30-31, at 11 a.m. each day.
Softball
Belhaven is advancing to the NCAA D-3 World Series that begins this Thursday in Marshall, Texas. The Lady Blazers (42-7) defeated Berry College of Georgia twice in the Super Regionals to punch their ticket to the World Series.
Co-Lin made a deep run in the NJCAA D-2 World Series played in South Carolina last week. The 2023 National Champs went 5-2 over the course of the tournament before being eliminated. Jones College won one of three games while East Central lost both contests in South Carolina.
