Mississippi State (17-16, 4-8) won two of three from Ole Miss (27-6, 7-5) over the weekend in SEC play. It was the Bulldogs' third straight year to claim the regular season series from the Rebels. Ole Miss fell to second place in the SEC West as they trail Arkansas by a half game in the standings. State is still in last place in the SEC West. MSU travels to Auburn this weekend while Ole Miss heads to Vanderbilt. USM (22-9, 8-3) won two of three from Western Kentucky over the weekend but fell to second place in CUSA play. The Golden Eagles head to Miami this weekend to play Florida International.
REBS PLAY
SPRING GAME
The Ole Miss football team played its spring game this past Saturday. Bassfield native C.J. Moore was honored as he was named the Chucky Mullins Courage Award winner and will wear number 38 this fall. Moore led the Rebels with 51 tackles and three interceptions last year from this free safety position. Octavious Cooley was named the winner of the Eli Manning Award as the Most Improved Player during the spring. Mississippi State and Southern Mississippi will play their spring games on April 21.
REED TAKES
MASTERS WIN
Patrick Reed won the 2018 Masters this past Sunday. Reed held off Rickie Fowler and Jordan Speith to win his first major championship. Reed shot a 15-under 273 to win by one stroke over Fowler. Tiger Woods playing in his first Masters since 2015 shot a 3-under 69 on Sunday and finished 1 over for the tournament.
LADY REBS
MAKE HIRE
The Ole Miss Lady Rebels has hired Yolett McPhee-McCuin to take over the basketball coaching reigns. She comes to Ole Miss from Jacksonville where she was 69-29 in the previous three seasons and 94-63 overall. The Lady Rebels have not been to the NCAA tournament since 2007.
UT HONORS
NELL FORTNER
Former Laurel resident Nell Fortner was inducted into the Texas Sports Hall of Fame this past weekend. Fortner is a former two-sport, four year letter winner at the University of Texas in both basketball and volleyball. She is still the fourth leading basketball scorer in school history. She was head coach of the 2000 U.S. Olympic team and an assistant on the 1996 team. Today, she is a basketball and volleyball broadcaster on the SEC and ESPN networks.
BRAVES OFF
TO FAST START
The Atlanta Braves are off to a fast start as they entered the week at 6-3. Freddie Freeman has to be one of the top players in all of major league baseball. The Braves have young talent in Dansby Swanson, Ozzie Albies and Ronald Acuna to go with Freeman, Julio Teheran and Nick Markakis. Should be a great summer of baseball for Braves fans.
SPURRIER SET
TO RETURN
The ol' ball coach Steve Spurrier will return to coach in the Alliance of American Football, a new spring pro football league that will begin next February. Spurrier, who will turn 73 later this month, will coach the Orlando team. The AAF will have eight teams and 50-man rosters. The teams will play a 10-game schedule with a championship game in April.
THE SEC RULES BASEBALL
Major League baseball opened recently, and the SEC is well represented with 75 former baseball players from the conference on the opening day 25-man rosters.
Former Ole Miss players are Zack Cozart (Angels), Braxton Lee (Marlins), Lance Lynn (Twins), Mike Mayers (Cardinals), Anthony Alford (Blue Jays), and Drew Pomeranz (Red Sox). Former MSU Bulldogs are Adam Frazier (Pirates), Kendall Graveman (A’s) Jonathan Holder (Yankees), Mitch Moreland (Red Sox), Hunter Renfroe (Padres), Chris Stratton (Giants), and Brandon Woodruff (Brewers).
Richton’s JaCoby Jones is playing with the Detroit Tigers. Jones recently had two hits against the Pirates. Former USM baseball star Brian Dozier hit two home runs for Minnesota recently in a win over Baltimore.
Dale McKee is a longtime sports writer in Mississippi and currently lives in Waynesboro. He can be reached by e-mail at
ddmckee18@yahoo.com
