Welcome to this week’s Sports Review! Let’s have what’s happening in the world of sports for the local area teams and athletes!
Basketball
Mississippi State’s and Ole Miss’ team were both eliminated from the men’s NCAA tournament in their first-round contests. So that means basketball sucks right? No, not necessarily. If you had been keeping up with the women’s tournament, you would know that Mississippi State is a 1 seed and one of the odds on favorites with UConn to go all the way. Well, was an odds on favorite… unfortunately the Lady Bulldogs, would fall to 2 seed Oregon today 88-84. Teaira McCowan had 19 points, 15 rebounds, and 2 assists in the loss and to close out State’s season.
So yes now basketball sucks.
But after strong seasons from Ben Howland and Vic Schaeffer in Starkville and Kermit Davis in Oxford, highly anticipate basketball to be a focus going forward and big things in the Magnolia State.
Baseball
For Baseball this week, Coach Mike Bianco and the “Road Rebs” continued their stretch of the season away from Swayze Field. To start things off in mid-week action Ole Miss faced off against Memphis at Auto Zone Park downtown. The hero of the game would be Chase Cockrell, who would celebrate his birthday with a victory and an MVP performance. Cockrell’s 3 for 5 performance with two doubles and two clutch 9th inning RBI, would lead the Rebels to a 9-6 victory. The weekend series took the Rebels to the land of flannel to face off against the Arkansas Razorbacks. Friday would be the last time the Rebels tasted defeat (3-5) as Bianco’s boys would fire back Saturday and Sunday to clinch the series win. Saturday, Ole Miss got something that has been much desired this year… a solid pitching performance. That was made into a reality by Doug Nikhazy (S), Austin Miller (R), and Parker Caracci (C) as all three would leave the day with a 4-3 victory. Sunday would bring the powder blues and a convincing series win 10-5. The offense did its thing but the pitching stayed on the straight and narrow. Zach Phillips was credited with the win and Tyler Myers would make the Save.
.@ughty_’s first career save for @OleMissBSB comes on the road against a top ten team to clinch the series 😱 We see you T-My! 🔥🔥🔥 pic.twitter.com/639Pyg7SKt
— OMSP (@OleMissVideo) April 1, 2019
Looking Forward the Rebels will return home this week and host North Alabama on Tuesday and the weekend series will bring in the Florida Gators.
Mid-week action for Mississippi State would have the Bulldogs host Mississippi Valley State. We’ll cut this short, State is a lot better than Valley State and beat them 18-5. Now to the weekend series. The Tigers of Louisiana State (LSU) would travel to Starkville for a three-game series that would run Thursday through Saturday. Game one was tightly contested, but the Bulldogs got the “W” with a final of 6-5. Sophomore Justin Foscue was a force to be reckoned with as he went 2 for 4 with 4 RBIs. The Tigers would claim Friday by the final score of 10-5. Saturday, the rubber match, would also be dropped by the Bulldogs by the final of 11-2.
Coach Lemonis meets with the media following game three.#HailState🐶 pic.twitter.com/3pVoqp33XX
— Mississippi State Baseball (@HailStateBB) March 30, 2019
After the losses to LSU, State sets at 24-5 on the season. Wednesday ULM will travel into Starkville, then for the weekend will travel to “Rocky Top” to face off against Tennessee.
Football
The Birmingham Iron played their final home game of the regular season in the inaugural season of the Alliance of American Football. Birmingham won the game 17-9 and with that victory punched their ticket to the 4 team playoffs to determine the first AAF Champion.
For Memphis, The Express was in control most of the game until when it matters most….. the end. Orlando has been one of the hottest teams in this league since it started so this could have been a big momentum booster for Mike Singletary’s team. But there comes that “Could’ve, Should’ve, Would’ve” situation. The Express wasn’t able to stave off the Orlando offense and would drop to the final 31-34. Memphis will travel to San Antonio next week.
For Ole Miss and Mississippi State, we have spring games upcoming! This Saturday will be the Grove Bowl for Ole Miss. Admission is free at Vaught Hemmingway Stadium.
1️⃣ WEEK AWAY from now, it's the @Nissan Grove Bowl! #HottyToddy | #GroveBowl pic.twitter.com/XKlW1X2FYN
— Ole Miss Athletics (@OleMissSports) March 30, 2019
That’s all for this week! Thanks for checking in and stay tuned to Our Tupelo for everything that is happening with your favorite teams!
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