OurTupelo

A new poll says a majority of Mississippi voters not only want the Legislature to create a medical marijuana program like the one the state Supreme Court nullified, but they favor allowing recreational use of pot.

Nathan Shrader, chair of government and politics and director of American studies at Millsaps, said the poll shows a vast divide between Mississippi voters and politicians on marijuana and other issues.

The latest State of the State survey by Millsaps College and pollster Chism Strategies reports that 63% of those polled want the Legislature to enact something “mirroring” Initiative 65 — a medical marijuana constitutional amendment that voters passed overwhelmingly last year but the state high court shot down. It reported that 52% of those polled support recreational marijuana legalization, with 37% opposed.

READ MORE: Medical marijuana protesters call on Mississippi politicians to ‘stop the steal’

The poll reported that 20% said legalizing medical marijuana is the most important issue in how they’ll vote in the next statewide election.

The poll also reported that 52% of Mississippians support expanding Medicaid to cover roughly 200,000 working poor Mississippians. A move to put this before voters was also derailed by the recent Supreme Court ruling that declared the state’s ballot initiative process constitutionally flawed because of outdated signature gathering rules.

Despite years of debate and fizzled attempts, lawmakers have balked at allowing medical use of marijuana or at accepting federal dollars to expand Medicaid despite growing movements to do both. The divide has typically fallen along partisan lines, with the supermajority GOP leadership thwarting both efforts.

READ MORE: ‘Human issue, not political’: Medicaid expansion ballot drive begins

“Mississippi voters overwhelmingly support legalizing medicinal marijuana, which was actually done by the electorate last November,” Shrader said. “They also favor legalizing marijuana for recreational purposes and expanding Medicaid by healthy margins. If
you look closely at what the voters are expressing in terms of their policy preferences, you will see they do not appear to be anywhere near the same ideological positions as the majority of the state’s elected officials. The coming months, including the 2022 legislative session, will be a test of how long the state’s elected leaders can hold positions that are greatly at odds with the majority of Mississippi’s voters.”

The poll, part of a continuing quarterly survey since 2017, was conducted May 26-28 with a sample size of 659 via cell phone and landline, weighted to reflect voter turnout in 2020 elections. The margin of error is reported at 3.82%.

The poll also reported:

• 38% of voters believe the state is heading in the wrong direction, while 34% think the state is moving in the right direction. Just over 28% are unsure.

• A 28-point gap exists between those who approve and disapprove of the state Legislature’s performance, with 49% disapproving and 21% approving of their work. 30% are unsure.

• 48% disapprove of the performance of Gov. Tate Reeves, while 35% approve and 17% are undecided.

• 64% of voters who favor expanding Medicaid do so because they believe too many Mississippians are unable to get access to the healthcare coverage they need.

• Opponents of Medicaid expansion are almost evenly split between their concern of
  becoming overly dependent on Washington, D.C., and those who think expansion is too
  expensive for taxpayers.

• 55% support Gov. Reeves’ decision to opt out of federal unemployment benefits that
  provided an additional $300 to help Mississippians who lost their jobs due to the pandemic. 35% oppose the decision, while 10% are unsure.

• Less than a quarter of those who have not already received the COVID-19 vaccination say
  they are likely to get vaccinated, while 61% of those who are unvaccinated say there is
  nothing that will convince them to get the vaccine.

• Nearly 40% of voters want the census-driven congressional and legislative redistricting
  process this year to be conducted by a non-partisan commission of citizens and experts.
  24% would like a hybrid panel of citizens and elected officials, 15% think redistricting
  should continue to be handled by the state legislature, and 22% are unsure.

• 60% support the job police are doing in their local communities, and nearly 75% believe police should have pay raises.

The post Poll: Mississippians and politicians at odds over marijuana, Medicaid appeared first on Mississippi Today.

OXFORD — Tim Elko (AKA, the legend) did it again. And again. The big dude with one fewer ACLs than most every human being needs to compete launched two more towering home runs, including another grand slam. He scored three runs, knocked in five runs and lifted his Ole Miss Rebels to a 12-9 slugfest victory over Southern Miss Monday.

The win sends Ole Miss to next weekend’s Super Regional round of the NCAA tournament.

“The legend continues,” Ole Miss coach Mike Bianco. “Holy cow. It’s legendary. What looked like it could be a tragedy (when Elko suffered a torn ACL in his right knee) in April has turned into one of the biggest legends that will be talked about around here for decades.”

Yes, and people will be talking about the last two games of the Oxford Regional for years as well. Two in-state rivals, who because of COVID did not meet during the regular season, played two epic games.

After coming back from a 4-0 deficit to defeat Ole Miss 10-7 Sunday night, the pitching-depleted Golden Eagles fell behind 9-0 in the second inning Monday. They fought back to make a serious game of it and keep Ole Miss faithful on the edge of their seats. Consider this: Southern Miss hit six home runs Monday. And lost.

They lost because of Elko’s heroics. They lost because All-American Doug Nikhazy came back to pitch in relief after only two days of rest to get the biggest out of the game with a bases-loaded strikeout in the sixth inning. And the Eagles lost because Ole Miss closer Taylor Broadway came on to finally silence their bats with a two-inning save.

Sound familiar? Elko, Nikhazy and Broadway have been the three most crucial elements in this 44-20 Ole Miss season. All three are at their best when it matters most — and it never mattered more than Monday.

Elko was voted the tournament’s Most Outstanding Player, and Nikhazy and Broadway were the two pitchers selected for the all-tournament team. But this will tell you much about this Oxford Regional: The 12-player all-tourney team consisted six Rebels and six Golden Eagles. They were that evenly matched.

READ MORE: Fairy tale continues for bionic Tim Elko, who provides grand slam moment

Consider, again: Southern Miss switch-hitting centerfielder Reed Trimble, in four regional games, hit safely in 14 of 25 at bats, slammed three home runs and two doubles, scored eight runs and drove in 14 more. 

Said Southern Miss coach Scott Berry of Trimble: “He’s probably going to play in the big leagues some day. He’s a five-tool guy, an electric ball player.”

There was a lot of gushing by both coaches in post-game media sessions — about their own teams and their opponents. 

USM’s Scott Berry on Ole Miss: “They are such a high quality club. They play with so much energy.”

Bianco on the Golden Eagles: “Congratulations to Southern Miss. What a tremendous season, tremendous team. … This wasn’t easy.”

There were so many heroic efforts in the error-less finale. Pitchers on both teams — Nikhazy and Derek Diamond for Ole Miss and Hunter Stanley and Walker Powell for Southern Miss— valiantly pitched on short rest. Jack Dougherty, normally a reliever, gave the Rebels four solid innings to begin the game. Stanley and Powell, two senior starters, covered a combined five innings or the game might still be going.

Besides Trimble, Reece Ewing, Danny Lynch, Will McGillis and Blake Johnson all homered for Southern Miss. McGillis homered in each of USM’s four tournament games. Besides Elko, Peyton Chatagnier, Justin Bench and Calvin Harris all hit homers for the Rebels. 

Southern Miss finishes 40-21 with plenty promise for the future. Ole Miss advances at 44-20, and keep in mind that the Rebels lost their Friday night starter Gunner Hoglund in early May. They lost Max Cioffi, who was going to be a key bullpen ingredient, in the first two weeks of the season. They were without the legend (Elko) while the swelling in his wrecked knee subsided.

“Every time we faced adversity this season, we have bounced back,” Elko said. “That’s a good trait.”

Bouncing back is a fine trait for anyone who competes. And it is a trait both Mississippi teams showed a lot of in this Oxford Regional. It takes one terrific college baseball team to win an NCAA Regional. It takes two to make it memorable.

The post The legend of Tim Elko leads Ole Miss to a super regional appeared first on Mississippi Today.

Due to the low demand for COVID-19 vaccines in Mississippi, the state has returned 871,950 of the doses it was allocated to the federal vaccine pool, sent them to other states or rejected the federal allotment.

This startling figure underscores the problem facing health officials and vaccine advocates across the state: getting people to take the shots that are now widely available for anyone 12 and older. 

Mississippi continues to rank last in the nation in the share of its population that has been vaccinated. Less than 30% of Mississippians have been fully vaccinated despite significant gains made in recent months in vaccinating the most vulnerable and making vaccine access more equitable. 

The issues of vaccine access that existed during the early stages of the vaccine rollout have largely been eliminated over the past few months. The Mississippi State Department of Health will now come directly to the homes of people who want to get vaccinated but don’t have reliable transportation. They’re also offering this option to businesses or other local organizations that want to host vaccination drives. People are simply declining to take the shots and that’s keeping the state’s vaccination rate low. 

Over the past two weeks, only 26,710 Mississippians got their first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine. The 15,073 shots given last week represent a decrease of over 88% from February’s peak. 

Beyond the doses that have been returned to the federal government, just because a dose stays in Mississippi doesn’t mean it will be used. A total of 7,850 doses have been wasted because a vaccination site couldn’t get enough people to get vaccinated before the remainder of an open vial expired. A majority of this dose wastage has occurred in smaller clinics, vitally important to the states vaccination efforts, but also at a higher risk of leaving allocated doses unused. 

Mississippi is also the state furthest behind in reaching President Joe Biden’s goal of getting at least one COVID-19 shot into the arms of 70% of adults by July 4. If trends hold, only 46% of Mississippi adults will have received a shot by then. If vaccination rates don’t improve significantly, the state wouldn’t reach that 70% threshold for well over a year.

The Department of Health reported on Monday that 1,043,030 people in Mississippi — over 35% of the state’s population — have received at least their first dose of COVID-19 vaccine. More than 911,00 people have been fully inoculated since the state began distributing vaccines in December.

The post Mississippi has returned or rejected nearly 872,000 COVID-19 vaccines due to low demand appeared first on Mississippi Today.

If the Mississippi Legislature does set the date for a special election this year to reinstate the ballot initiative process that was invalidated last month by the Supreme Court, it would cost the state or local governments and perhaps both.

In a statement to Mississippi Today, a spokesperson for Secretary of State Michael Watson, whose office oversees elections on a statewide basis, said she could not provide an estimate of the cost because it is normally borne by local governments. But in an interview last month on SuperTalk Radio, Watson estimated the cost statewide between $1 million and $1.5 million.

After contacting multiple local circuit clerks, Mississippi Today estimated an average cost of $20,000 each for the state’s 82 counties to conduct a special election for the sole purpose of voting to fix the ballot initiative process.

That would be an estimated total of $1.64 million or, if one million people voted in the special election, about $1.65 per voter.

The Mississippi Constitution and precedent confirm that a vote to reinstate the initiative would not have to be delayed until the next statewide general election in November 2022 as some have maintained. But it would be less expensive to delay the vote until the next regularly scheduled general election.

READ MORE: Lawmakers can set special election for ballot initiative fix at any date

In November 2022, Mississippi already has elections scheduled to vote on judicial candidates and on the state’s four U.S. House members. So the cost to add a constitutional amendment to reinstate the initiative process should not add much — if any — to the cost of the election.

There would be a cost, of course, to schedule an election this year just to vote on a fix for the ballot initiative.

Even after Watson’s comments on the radio two weeks ago, the Secretary of State’s office said it could not provide an estimate statewide of a special election cost.

“Since Mississippi is a bottom-up state where the counties are in charge of administering elections, county election officials would be the best resource in determining an estimated cost for a potential statewide special election,” said Kendra James, a spokesperson for Secretary of State Michael Watson. “Our office cannot speculate on an estimated cost, and we do not have the necessary information available to provide an accurate cost estimate.”

Mississippi has 82 counties. The cost would vary, of course, depending on the size of the county. Through a spokesperson, Harrison County Circuit Clerk Connie Ladner estimated the special election would cost about $50,000 in the Gulf Coast county — the second most populous in the state.

Wayne County Circuit Clerk Rose Bingham estimated the cost at $20,000 in her rural southeast Mississippi county that has 22 precincts.

Prentiss County Circuit Clerk Michael Kelley in rural northeast Mississippi and Washington County Circuit Clerk Barbara Esters-Parker in the Delta both estimated the election would cost their counties about $10,000.

“There would not be a lot of workers with just one issue on the ballot,” said Esters-Parker. The main cost for the counties would be the poll workers.

Kelly said Prentiss County has 14 precincts and it is mandated that each precinct has three poll workers, though he said having four was more realistic. The poll workers normally make $100 or $125 per day.

The proposal to fix the ballot initiative process would be an amendment to the state Constitution. Since voters approved the initiative process in 1992, there had been two methods of amending Mississippi’s 1890s Constitution.

The first is the traditional method, where legislators approve a proposal amendment by a two-thirds vote of the House and Senate. It then must be approved by voters in a statewide election. This is the method that would have to be used to fix the initiative process.

The governor plays no official role in amending the Constitution, though he would have to call a special session for the initiative fix to be considered this year, In 2022, legislators could take up the issue as part of the regular session.

Before the Supreme Court ruled in May that the initiative language process in the Constitution was unconstitutional, the Constitution could be amended by gathering the mandated number of signatures to place an issue on the ballot for the voters to decide.

READ MORE: Mississippi Supreme Court overturns medical marijuana Initiative 65

In a lawsuit filed to thwart the medical marijuana initiative approved by voters in November, Madison Mayor Mary Hawkins Butler argued the initiative language in the Constitution should be struck down. The language requires the initiative signatures to be gathered equally from five congressional districts. The state now has four districts, losing one based on the 2000 Census.

The Supreme Court in a 6-3 landmark decision agreed with Hawkins Butler’s argument.

In 1991 the Legislature set a date for a special election on whether to keep the 1890s flag that included the Confederate battle emblem in its design or to adopt a new banner. The election, held in April, was not to amend the Constitution but to potentially change state law. The Legislature provided $724,144 in state funds to help with the cost of the election where the only item on the ballot was the flag.

And then in 2020, the Legislature appropriated $250,000 for a vote where people had the option to adopt or reject a flag design proposed by a specially appointed commission. The Legislature had earlier in the year retired the 1890s flag. The flag election was part of the regularly scheduled November election where multiple items, including the presidential candidates, were on the ballot. The $250,000 was appropriated because the flag issue required the ballots to contain color, which added to the cost of printing.

The flag election in 2020, like in 2001, was to change state law, not the Constitution.

The post Special election to address ballot initiative can happen this year, but it will cost appeared first on Mississippi Today.

Mississippi Today’s Editor-in-Chief Adam Ganucheau discusses the newsroom’s latest project to dig into why young people are leaving Mississippi in droves or are stuck here wanting to leave. He joined WJTV’s Byron Brown on their Sunday political show “Mississippi Insight” to explain the rationale behind the new project.

Stream the episode here.

The post Podcast: Here’s why we launched NextGen Mississippi appeared first on Mississippi Today.

OXFORD — Trailing Florida State 4-1 Sunday afternoon in the third inning of an elimination game, their season on the brink, the Southern Miss Golden Eagles needed some relief — and, man oh man, did they get it.

Then, trailing Ole Miss 4-0 in the first inning and facing elimination again, the Golden Eagles needed still more relief. They got it — in spades — again.

The bullpen delivered for the Golden Eagles in a 7-4 victory over Florida State and then a 10-7 victory over Ole Miss. Thus, the Golden Eagles and Rebels will play again Monday at noon with the Oxford Regional Championship and an NCAA Super Regional berth at stake.

For one Mississippi team, the road to Omaha will reach a dead end Monday.

Last weekend, in the Conference USA Tournament, the bullpen failed Southern Miss. Otherwise, they would have hosted a regional this weekend instead of playing on the road. But first Ryan Och and then true freshman Tanner Hall provided two of the best long relief performances you will ever see Sunday. This is no exaggeration.

Och, a hard-throwing sophomore lefty, struck out 11 Florida State Seminoles in 4.2 innings of one-hit, shutout relief to get the win and move to 8-0 on the season. As his record and a 1.47 earned run average will attest, this was nothing new.

But then came Hall, seemingly out of nowhere, when the Eagles needed him most. Hall pitched five innings of one-hit, shutout baseball, striking out five Rebels to pick up a five-inning save. You just don’t see many of those.

So, if you’re keeping score, Och and Hall pitched a combined 9.2 innings of scoreless baseball, striking out 16 batters. Throw in fireballing right-hander Hurston Waldrep, who closed out the FSU game, the Eagles got 11.1 innings of shutout relief from pitchers who fanned 18 batters.That’s impeccable relief work.

And that was the story of the day, even when Southern Miss batters pounded out 12 hits against Florida State and then 13 against Ole Miss.

Said Ole Miss coach Mike Bianco, “Man, they were on fire offensively, especially early. We ran into a buzzsaw. Give them credit. It was a long day for them and they played incredibly.”

The Southern Miss pitching plan against Ole Miss was to throw several guys, an inning or two at a time. Hall changed that plan when he took over to start the fifth. Understand, Ole Miss had already roughed up three previous pitchers for seven runs on six hits. Hall not only stopped the bleeding, he stitched the wound. He did it mostly with a two-seam fastball that moved all over the place.

Southern Miss centerfielder Reed Trimble had a great view from behind. “It’s fun to watch 90 and 91 mile per hour fastballs that are moving a foot,” Trimble said.

Hall’s performance had more value than numbers. Said Berry, “What he did was keep us from having to use a lot of fresh arms in our bullpen.”

That might prove critical.

What Hall also did was keep the huge Ole Miss crowd from ever getting into the game the way it had the night before against Florida State. You can’t put a value on that.

Neither Bianco or Berry wanted to discuss their pitching plans for Monday night. I’m guessing that Ben Ethridge, normally the Golden Eagles’ No. 3 starter, figures prominently in Berry’s plan. He threw 40 pitches in a Friday loss to Florida State. Two days rest after 40 pitches should be plenty.

Cody Adcock (0-0, 5.12 ERA), a freshman right-hander, would appear the most likely starter for Ole Miss. He pitched well against Arkansas at the SEC Tournament last week.

But here’s the deal: Win, you advance. Lose, the season’s over. It’s all hands on deck.

The momentum would appear to be with Southern Miss, which has scored 38 runs in three straight victories. The home field advantage, of course, goes to the Rebels.

Said Ole Miss catcher Hayden Dunhurst: “We’ll get it going and we’ll win tomorrow. There’s no doubt in my mind about that.”

The post How do you spell relief? If you are USM, it’s O-c-h and H-a-l-l appeared first on Mississippi Today.

Gov. Tate Reeves, House Speaker Philip Gunn and others who tout eliminating Mississippi’s personal income tax as a way to reverse the state’s population loss must explain DeSoto County.

They cite growing states with no income tax like Texas, Florida and even Tennessee as what can happen if Mississippi would only eliminate its income tax.

“Mississippi needs to make a bold move to attract new business and residents,” Reeves said late last year in proposing the phase out of the income tax.

But the question of DeSoto County remains. DeSoto County is unique in that it has gone head-to-head against an area with no income tax on wages and has won in terms of population growth.

DeSoto has been one of the fastest growing counties in the state for decades. At one point, it was the state’s fastest growing county and for a sizable portion of time earlier this century was one of the fastest growing counties in the nation.

Yet, DeSoto County in the extreme northwest section of Mississippi borders Tennessee where there is no income tax. To be precise, during much of DeSoto’s growth, Tennessee did tax some dividends and interest, but did not levy a tax on wages. And that tax on dividends and interest has been phased out recently.

DeSoto’s growth has far outpaced its neighbor across the border to the north in Tennessee.

It has been well documented that much of the growth in DeSoto County has come from an exodus of people from across the state line in Memphis — people moving from a state with no income tax on wages to a state with an income tax.

Between 2010 and April 2019, DeSoto County grew by 14.7%, according to the Census Bureau, while Shelby County, Tenn., home of Memphis, grew by 1%.

Between 2000 and 2010, DeSoto County grew 50.4%.

People were not exactly scared away from DeSoto County because of its income tax rate. No, according to most accounts, people were attracted to DeSoto County because of its good schools, affordable housing and overall quality of life.

Many have argued that schools, health care and other services that the government plays a role in providing are more important to most than a tax rate as long as that rate is reasonable. And, it should be pointed out, while Mississippi does have an income tax like 40 other states, it is one of the lowest in the country.

Overall, Mississippi was one of three states nationally to lose population during the past decade. The other two— West Virginia and Illinois — like Mississippi, have an income tax. The governor in West Virginia, like in Mississippi, is proposing eliminating the income tax as a method to attract residents to his state. West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice said eliminating the income tax could result in an amusement park — the next Disney — locating in his state.

Mississippi’s tax system already is set up to lure retirees to the state. Most retirement income, including Social Security, is not taxed by the state, and on the local level people age 65 and over also get a sizable break on the taxes they pay on their residence.

Reeves proposed late last year phasing out Mississippi’s income tax, which accounts for about one-third of the state’s general fund revenue. Speaker Gunn, who often has touted the elimination of the income tax, proposed a far-reaching restructuring plan during the 2021 legislative session that entailed increasing Mississippi’s already high sales tax rate while reducing the tax on groceries and eliminating the income tax.

Gunn has been traveling the state since the 2021 session ended in April touting his proposal. Some observers believe that Gunn as he travels the state also is lining up to be a potential challenger to Reeves in the 2023 Republican primary for governor.

Lt. Gov. Delbert Hosemann, who presides over the Senate, has said in theory he supports reducing taxes, but has only committed to the Senate Finance Committee studying the state’s tax structure before the 2022 session begins.

As part of that study, lawmakers should look at the history of DeSoto County, one of the few Mississippi counties to experience population growth during the past decade.

And for those who will contend that much of the movement from Memphis to DeSoto County was white flight: That’s too simplistic an answer. Between 2010 and 2019, DeSoto County’s Black population grew from 21% to 30%. In 2019, DeSoto County elected its first African American to the Legislature.

People of all races have been leaving a state with no income tax on wages to a state with an income tax. Perhaps DeSoto County spoils the claim that cutting the income tax is the answer to population loss.

The post Will eliminating the income tax grow Mississippi? DeSoto trends suggest no. appeared first on Mississippi Today.

OXFORD — In a game dripping with drama – until, and even after the last out – Ole Miss defeated Florida State 4-3 Saturday night to take a huge step toward the championship of the Oxford regional.

It wasn’t over until it was over and then, well, it wasn’t over. Umpires needed a lengthy review of a bang-bang play at first base for the last out to go into the record book. The game had it all: marvelous defensive plays (mostly by Ole Miss), long home runs (by Florida State) and uncommonly good pitching.

Mostly, it had Ole Miss pitchers Doug Nikhazy and then Taylor Broadway. Nikhazy, the Rebels’ All-American left-hander, was heroic, striking out 16 Seminoles over seven innings before handing over a 4-3 lead to closer Broadway, who retired six straight Seminoles, including the last three on strikeouts.

So Ole Miss pitching combined for 19 strikeouts of the free-swinging, feast-or-famine Seminoles who take all-or-nothing swings in each at bat. 

Ole Miss now waits to see who wins Sunday’s 1 p.m. rematch of Florida State and Southern Miss. The Rebels will play the winner at 6 p.m. Should Ole Miss lose that one, a winner-take-all championship game will be played Monday at 6 p.m.

Whatever happens Sunday and Monday, it will be difficult to match Saturday night’s suspense. With a packed house of 10,830 often standing, shouting and clapping in unison, both Nikhazy and then Broadway delivered clutch pitch after clutch pitch under high pressure.

Nikhazy threw 119 pitches, but seemed as strong after seven innings as he had in the first.

“When the game is on the line, he can take it to another gear,” coach Mike Bianco said of Nikhazy. “Some pitchers hit a wall at 90 to 95 pitches, but with the game on the line, Doug can always reach back and get a little extra.”

Someone asked Bianco if it might have been Nikhazy’s best performance as a Rebel. Bianco smiled. “I’m not going to go out on that line because he has pitched a ton of great games,” he said. “But we needed every bit of it tonight.”

Nikhazy, who pitches with his emotions on his sleeve, often was ready to pitch before the batter even stepped into the box. For the most part, he had the Seminoles off kilter. If a batter was looking for a fastball, he got a nasty curve. If the batter looked for curve, he got a 90 mph fastball in on his hands. He was masterful.

Nikhazy made only two mistakes, both in the fifth inning. Logan Lacey deposited the first deep into the left field bleachers for a solo home run. Two batters later, Isaiah Perry ripped a two-run homer over the left centerfield fence.

“It was a kick in the gut,” Bianco said.

But the Rebels responded two innings later, taking advantage of a Florida State throwing error to score two and take the 4-3 lead. You’d never guess who hit the ball that led to the error. Oh, you did: Tim Elko.

Really, when you get right down to it, that was the difference. Florida State pitched well, too. Both teams managed only four hits. But Ole Miss played better defense. Three of the four Rebels runs were the result of three FSU errors and were unearned. 

Nikhazy and Broadway had a little help from their friends. Freshman shortstop Jacob Gonzalez, the latest in a long line of amazing Rebel shortstops, made one sensational play in the eighth inning when he charged in to barehand a ball that went off Broadway’s leg, scooped the ball and threw in one motion to nail the diving runner at first. Gonzalez also scored two of the four Rebel runs.

“What an incredible college baseball game,” Bianco said. “It was one of those games where it comes down to a couple of plays and we made a couple more plays than them.”

They did. And the Rebels also had Nikhazy and Broadway, who were a one-two punch FSU could not overcome.

The post Nikhazy, Broadway propel Rebels into the championship round appeared first on Mississippi Today.

OXFORD — Score three or four runs for Southern Miss pitcher Walker Powell, he will almost always win. Score 21, which the Golden Eagles did Saturday against Southeast Missouri, Powell’s day will be like a stroll in the park.

And it was on a rainy afternoon at Swayze Field when Southern Miss pounded out 24 hits, 12 extra base hits and six home runs in a 21-0 thrashing of the Redhawks. The only detriment for Powell was an 80-minute rain delay that ended his day early after six innings of a typical Walker Powell performance.

In what possibly could have been the last performance of his Golden Eagle career, Powell allowed four hits and no runs over six innings. He struck out four and walked zero, which is nothing new. Some guys are throwers and some are pitchers. Powell is a pitcher. He commanded five pitches — a fastball, a cutter, a slider, a curve and a changeup — using both sides of the plate. 

The odds are against Powell ever pitching again in a Southern Miss uniform. Even after Saturday’s cakewalk, the Golden Eagles still must win three straight games over two days against Ole Miss and Florida State. It’s not impossible, but it’s a chore times three.

If it was Powell’s last game in gold, it was a fitting end for a guy who has overcome so many obstacles to become one of college baseball’s best pitchers. He is, you know — a second-team All-American, Conference USA Pitcher of the Year and the winningest active pitcher in Division I baseball.

Obstacles?

Well, let’s start with not one but two Tommy John surgeries. Powell was a senior in high school in Fayetteville, Ark., when he suffered his first severe elbow injury. He had already committed to play at Southern Miss.

Said Scott Berry, “I’ll never forget his dad calling me and telling me about it and then asking me if we were still going to honor his scholarship.”

Berry told him that of course he would. And, man, is he ever glad he did. But that wasn’t the end of Powell’s arm woes. Near the end of his freshman season, after becoming the Eagles’ Sunday starter, he tore the elbow ligament again. That required another Tommy John surgery. That was the spring of 2016. He had to sit out all of 2017, mending and rehabbing.

Not sure what the percentage is of pitchers who come back from two Tommy John surgeries to pitch again. It is not high. Powell did it. Man, did he do it.

If Saturday was Powell’s last game, these will be his career stats: 30 victories, 10 defeats, a .750 winning percentage, 272 strikeouts and just 55 walks over 338 innings. He is the second winningest pitcher in Southern Miss history, trailing only the great Todd McInnis, who had 33.

“Walker is just a remarkable young man,” Berry said. “His record speaks for itself but then when you consider all that he has had to overcome. He’s special and he’s been a great model for our young pitchers.”

He has been a terrific student, too. He graduated with honors over a year ago. He is one credit short of a master’s degree now.

When someone reminded Powell that Saturday might have been his last college performance and how it felt, he didn’t hesitate. “I can’t put it into words,” he said. “It’s been such a blessing for me and my family to play for these coaches and with these guys. It’s just been incredible. I couldn’t ask for a better place to play.”

Saturday, he couldn’t have asked for better support. Highlights: Chris Sargent slammed three home runs. Both Gabe Montenagro and Reed Trimble, the two guys at the top of the USM order, pounded out five hits apiece. Both had a pair of doubles. Danny Lynch, Will McGillis and Dustin Dickerson also homered.

You can bet Berry would love to be able to parse some of those hits and runs over a subsequent game or games.

You can also bet he wishes he had a rested Walker Powell to pitch again Sunday or possibly Monday.

The post If this was end for USM’s Powell, he went out in style with his 30th win appeared first on Mississippi Today.