Stewart solid in Eagles' loss to Ole Miss
By By Richard Dark/The Meridian Star
April 12, 2001
Southern Miss Golden Eagle starting pitcher Daniel Stewart struck out seven and gave up six hits in his nearly five-inning appearance against Ole Miss Wednesday night.
Unfortunately, it wasn't nearly enough, as the Rebels pounded Stewart and USM early, then braced for the furious comeback in winning 11-9.
The crowd of 3,632 fans at Pete Taylor Park mostly went away unhappy, but it was the largest number to ever see the Rebels play in the Hub City and it turned out to be the seventh-largest crowd in PTP history.
As if things weren't bad enough lately for the Golden Eagles, USM head coach Corky Palmer announced late last week that second baseman and shortstop Stephen Flood (6-0, 170) has left the team.
The native of Claimore, Okla. cited a need to concentrate on academics. Flood played in 17 games, starting 12. At the time of his departure, he was batting .250, with three home runs and a triple in 40 plate appearances.
The Golden Eagles did make some headway in the Conference USA standings this past week with a series win over St. Louis. Corky Palmer's bunch will have to put the losses to the Rebels aside as they travel to Memphis, Tenn., for a weekend C-USA series against the Tigers on Friday.
Ole Miss hangin' on in polls: Despite a weekend series loss at Arkansas, Ole Miss still finds itself ranked in all three of this week's major college baseball polls.
Ole Miss is as high as No. 18 in the Baseball America Top 25, down two spots from last week. In the Collegiate Baseball Top 30, the Rebels also fell two notches from No. 20 to No. 22, and Ole Miss is also No. 22 in the Baseball Weekly/ESPN Coaches Top 25, falling six places from No. 16.
It is the fourth consecutive week the Rebels have been ranked in all three polls.
The Rebels are 26-10-1 overall, including 10-5 in the Southeastern Conference. Ole Miss is tied with LSU for the overall conference lead, and for first place in the SEC Western Division.
This may be the weekend that tells the tale in the West, as the Rebels and Tigers are scheduled to open a three-game conference series Friday night at 7 p.m. against Skip Bertman's defending national champions at Alex Box Stadium in Baton Rouge, La.
State adds games to offset rain: Mississippi State University has added three home games on two dates to its baseball schedule to replace contests rained out earlier in the season.
MSU will meet Mississippi Valley State Monday, April 16 at 6:30 p.m. and again Tuesday, April 24 at 6:30 p.m. in the second half of a day/night doubleheader at Dudy Noble Field.
In a 3 p.m. game April 24 the Bulldogs will also test the Alcorn State Braves.
The schedule additions replace games cancelled due to weather during the first two months of the season. MSU has had eight rainouts this spring.
Season ticket holders can use the Feb. 27 MSU-Austin Peay (Game 5) ticket for admission to the April 16 game with Mississippi Valley State and the April 4 MSU-Troy State (Game 21) ticket for admission to the April 24 day/night doubleheader with Alcorn State and Mississippi Valley State.
This gives Pat McMahon's bunch a 13-game homestand heading into the final months of the 2001 baseball season.
The Bulldogs (19-13, 9-6 in SEC), who are coming off a series split with 13th-ranked South Alabama, will return to league play Friday at 6:30 p.m. when they play host to defending conference champ South Carolina in the three-game set.
Alcorn climbing to top: The Alcorn State Braves enter the weekend at 20-10 and 17-5 mark, good for first place in the Southwestern Athletic Conference's Eastern Division.
They will face off against the Mississippi Valley State Delta Devils in a three-game series with the Friday game taking place at Braves Field at 12:30 p.m.
The venue switches on Saturday as the doubleheader will be in Itta Bena.
Greenville native Jamar Rodgers made school history this past weekend, when he hurled a gem against Alabama A&M.
He became the first player in school history to ever record a perfect game.
West Alabama still has battles left: The Tigers are still fighting hard to make it into the Gulf South Conference postseason tournament.
UWA (22-14, 8-4) travels to No. 22 Lincoln Memorial for a pivotal three-game set this week. Last week, the Tigers recorded their first-ever sweep of North Alabama…the league currently has six teams ranked in the Division II poll, highlighted by No. 5 Delta State, who stretched its win streak to eight games with the unbelievable 44-11 win over Union, Tenn. Wednesday.
Richard Dark is a sports writer for The Meridian Star. E-mail him at rdark@themeridianstar.com.