Three extra-base hits in four trips to the plate earned Mississippi State softball standout Mia Davidson SEC Co-Player of the Week honors along with Florida's Kendyl Lindaman, the league office announced on Tuesday
The award marks the first Player of the Week honor of Davidson's career. She won the league's Freshman of the Week award three times in 2018. Davidson's selection, combined with that of Chloe Malau'ulu on March 2, marks the first time since 2012 that the Bulldogs have earned multiple Player of the Week awards in the same season.
In a 7-2 victory at Southern Miss last week, Davidson drove in or scored five of State's runs. She came just a triple shy of hitting for the cycle and had a chance to do so in her fourth at-bat. Instead, she hit her second two-run homer to right center field. Davidson was a perfect 4-for-4, with her two home runs and a double. Her career-high four hits are tied for third in program history and one shy of matching the MSU single-game record. It was her second multi-home run game of the year and seventh of her career.
The Hillsborough, North Carolina, native raised her season batting average to .330 with the performance. She has scored 26 runs, which ranks second on the team, and driven in 21 more, which is third for the Maroon and White.
Davidson holds the MSU school record with 52 career home runs, which ranks eighth among active players nationally. She now ranks eighth in school history in both total bases (351) and runs batted in (133). For her career, she has slugged .787, which is also eighth among active players.
— Brian Ogden
OLE MISS DUO TOPS IN SEC
Tyler Keenan and Hayden Dunhurst each added Southeastern Conference honors, making it a perfect 5-for-5 for No. 5 Ole Miss baseball through five weeks of the 2020 season.
Keenan was unstoppable at the plate in two games on the road at ULM to earn his second consecutive SEC Player of the Week honor. The junior out of Clayton, North Carolina, was 5-for-7 (.714/.778/2.143) with five runs scored, a double, three home runs and nine RBI.
Keenan homered in his first at-bat against ULM at Warhawk field, a three-run bomb that sparked the Rebels' 6-3 Tuesday win.
The Preseason All-American third baseman followed that up with a 4-for-5 performance on Wednesday, highlighted by two home runs, six RBIs and four runs scored. Keenan's second career two-homer day gave him seven on the season, good for first on the team, second in the SEC and seventh in the country. His 9 RBIs over two days moved him to 33 on the season, the most in the SEC and the second-most in the nation.
Dunhurst got a well-deserved night off on Tuesday after starting the previous 11 straight games behind the plate. The freshman out of Carriere, Mississippi, more than made up for lost time, going 4-for-5 (.800) on Wednesday with his first career multi-homer game.
The Buster Posey Award watch lister added a double, drove in three runs, scored four more and led the team in OBP (.800) and slugging (2.200) over two games at ULM. Dunhurst moved into a tie for second on the team with five homers on the year.
— School Reports
ALL-STAR HOOPS POSTPONED
The Mississippi Sports Medicine All-Star North/South Girls and Boys Basketball Games which were scheduled to be played Saturday at the A. E. Wood Coliseum, Mike Jones Court, on the campus of Mississippi College in Clinton, were postponed to a date to be determined. The postponement is a result of the circumstances created by the COVID-19 pandemic.
For more information, contact the MAC at (601) 924-3020 or www.mscoaches.com.
— Glenn Waddell
NJCAA, MACJC END SEASONS
Both the National Junior College Athletic Association and the Mississippi Association of Community and Junior Colleges made the decision Monday to cancel all upcoming basketball championships as well as spring competition, effective immediately, after the recent release of recommendations from the Center for Disease Control and Prevention.
"In light of the progressive evolvement of the COVID-19 situation, the NJCAA has decided to end all competition for the remainder of the academic year," stated Dr. Christopher Parker, NJCAA President & CEO. "As an association, the NJCAA exhausted all possible avenues to potentially postpone competition for both upcoming basketball championships and spring sport competition. We believe following the recommendations of the CDC is in the best interest of our member colleges and our student-athletes."
Spring competition includes all practices, regular season, postseason, and national championship play.
Regarding eligibility for spring sports, no spring sport student-athlete who was enrolled at a member college in 2020 will be charged a year of participation.
Along with the cancellation of competition, all on and off-campus recruiting for all sports will be halted until April 15 with further evaluation to be assessed at that point in time.
— Special Reports
HOUSTON CLAIMS MACJC SOFTBALL HONOR
East Central Community College sophomore outfielder Olivia Houston today was named the MACJC Softball Player of the Week for March 9-15 after an explosive outing at the plate in a sweep over Marion Military Institute (Ala.) March 10 at the Softball Park in Decatur.
Houston, a product of Northwest Rankin High School in Flowood, was 7-for-10 at the plate in the two games, with three home runs and 12 RBI.
She had a walk-off single to help the Lady Warriors win the nightcap 8-7, along with a two-run homer in that game. She had a three-run homer, three-run triple, and solo home run in the 18-14 opening game win. Houston also scored five runs and stole a base in the two games.
For the 18-game season, she hit .550 with 37 RBI, seven doubles, three triples, and five home runs.
— Bill Wagnon
MSU’S PRICE HONORED
After grabbing a pair of saves to help the Mississippi State baseball program to a sweep of a two-game series against No. 2 Texas Tech, graduate Spencer Price was tabbed as the Southeastern Conference Pitcher of the Week, as announced by the conference office on Monday.
In two appearances last week, Price did not allow a base runner and threw just 23 pitches in nailing down a pair of saves over consensus top-five opponent Texas Tech in a pair of neutral site midweek victories. In the first game, Price entered and bookended a pair of strikeouts with a fly out to earn his first save since April 20, 2017.
He followed that up by moving into a tie for No. 7 on the career saves chart with a 10-pitch save. Price got a fly out, strikeout and lineout to preserve the one-run lead. His second save in as many days moved his career total to 16. His career saves total equals that of Bryan Hardwich (16; 1979-80, 82) and former teammate Cole Gordon (16; 2016-19) on State's all-time list.
— School Reports
HOLMES SWEEPS DOUBLEHEADER
The Holmes Community College Bulldogs took two games from Crowley's Ridge JV, 21-3 and 14-7, in Goodman in their last outings. With the wins, the Bulldogs improved to 9-5 overall.
In game one, Dalton Massingill picked up the win. He went five innings and gave up three runs on five hits with five strikeouts and one walk. Cole Drake and Jonathan Evans had three hits each with each having a double. Austin Telano and Peyton Rehm each had two hits with each having a double. Tommy Easley had a three-run homerun in the second inning. Jaylen Armstrong, Kenneth Moore, Bailey Rademacher and Garin Ward each added a double.
In game two, Chris Guthrie got the start. Alex Frillman relieved him in the first and went 4 2/3 innings and gave up one run on two hits with 10 strikeouts and five walks. Cade Johnson went 1 1/3 innings and gave up one hit with one strikeout and one walk. Landon Herbert went one inning and had three strikeouts to end the game.
Drake, Telano, Dalton Luke, Ward and Easley each had two hits. Drake had a three-run homerun while Ward added a triple and Kenneth Moore and Telano each added a double.
— Steve Diffey
