If Mississippi ever decides to move away from from its official nickname – The Magnolia State – here’s a suggestion: The Diamond State.
No, we don’t produce diamonds – not the gemstone kind. We lack the ancient volcanic structures required to form and bring natural diamonds to the surface. We do specialize in diamonds, the baseball and softball kind. Our diamonds produce terrific baseball and softball players and therefore teams that often go elsewhere and win championships.
Banner season for baseball
This has been a banner spring. I am going to try not to leave out anyone, but probably will. There’s so much. Herewith a recounting:
Rick Cleveland Look at the national Division I baseball rankings heading into this weekend’s NCAA regionals. All three of the state’s largest universities are ranked in the D1 Baseball top 20 with Southern Miss at No.7, Mississippi State at No. 17 and Ole Miss at No. 18. No other state has that many. Only Texas and Florida, with much larger populations and far more colleges, have as many as two. Ole Miss and State already have won national championships this decade and Southern Miss has now been to 10 straight NCAA Tournaments. Only Florida (18) has been to more. Special mention here to Southern Miss, which recently won both the Sun Belt regular season and tournament championships and now has a record of 44-15, marking the 10th straight season the Golden Eagles have won at least 40 games. No other NCAA Division I baseball program in the country has done that. And USM does it with less. Of the 16 college teams hosting regionals, 15 have athletic budgets of more than $100 million – most much, much more. Southern Miss operates on about $30 million a year. Special mention also Hattiesburg, which is home to two outstanding college baseball programs: USM and William Carey University (41-18), one of only two undefeated teams remaining in the NAIA World Series being played at Lewiston, Idaho. The Crusaders have won their first three World Series games and play Taylor University (Indiana) Thursday night. Little wonder, Hattiesburg has two nicknames now: the Hub City and Baseburg. Mississippi’s baseball excellence is not limited to four-year schools. Pearl River Community College, down in Poplarville, is fast becoming the Los Angeles Dodgers of junior college baseball. The Wildcats (48-11), down 4-1 after seven innings, rallied for a 6-5 victory over Madison College (Wisconsin) Wednesday night. The Wildcats have now won their first two games of the DII Junior College World Series at Enid, Oklahoma. Pearl River, under Coach Mike Avalon, won the national championship in 2022.Success in softball
It’s not just baseball, either. Mississippi’s softball excellence has become a thing. Witness:
Mississippi State has come seemingly out of nowhere in this postseason to win an NCAA Regional in Oregon and a Super Regional at Oklahoma. The Bulldogs are playing Thursday in the NCAA Softball World Series at Oklahoma City. Ole Miss’ softball team advanced to to the finals an NCAA Regional this season, finally losing to Texas Tech, the powerhouse team State plays first. Belhaven University plays Trine University (Indiana) today in the NCAA D-III World Series at Salem University at 3 p.m. Thursday after winning a Super Regional last week in Jackson. The Blazers (42-10) are making their second World Series appearance over the past three seasons. William Carey plays softball, too, and plays it very well. The Crusaders finished the season 41-14 with a roster chock-full of Mississippi natives. They won the Southern States Conference and made it to the championship game of the NAIA opening round tournament, losing by one run. Pearl River plays softball, too. Boy, do they play softball. Pearl River won the junior college national championship at Boiling Springs, North Carolina, on Monday night, defeating Des Moines Area Community College 2-1 in the championship game. The Wildcats won five straight games in the national tournament under Coach Christie Meeks. Anna Grace Garcia, the winning pitcher in four of those five victories, was the World Series MVP.Hence then, the article about mississippi the diamond state with wins in baseball and softball at all levels was published today ( ) and is available on Mississippi Today ( Middle East ) The editorial team at PressBee has edited and verified it, and it may have been modified, fully republished, or quoted. You can read and follow the updates of this news or article from its original source.
Read More Details
Finally We wish PressBee provided you with enough information of ( Mississippi: The Diamond State, with wins in baseball and softball at all levels )
Also on site :
- Researchers let AI models run a simulated society. Claude was the safest—and Grok committed 180 crimes and went extinct within 4 days
- ‘We are not your piggy bank’ – US lawmaker to Zelensky
- Walmart's ‘Cute’ $12 Swim Shorts Are Stretchy, ‘Flattering,’ and Available in 19 Colors Ahead of Summer