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Magnolia State baseball fans know well the traditional hardball success of the three largest universities, a tradition that continues in the spring of 2025. Three hundred teams play NCAA Division I baseball. Ole Miss, Southern Miss and Mississippi State all seem likely to make the elite 64-team NCAA Championship Tournament field.
But Mississippi’s college baseball prowess does not end there. Delta State and Mississippi College have both made the NCAA Division II Tournament and will compete in regionals in Florida later this week. Millsaps College, under the leadership of Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame coach Jim Page, has made the NCAA Division III Tournament for the first time since 2015. Belhaven University lost in the finals of its conference tournament but takes a 31-13 record into its first-ever NCAA Division III Championship Tournament. William Carey University finished its season ranked No. 10 in all of NAIA baseball with a 38-14 record. The Crusaders hosted an NAIA Regional but lost their first two games Monday and Tuesday.
What follows is a breakdown of what each of those Mississippi teams faces in postseason play:
- Mississippi College enters NCAA tournament play for the first time since 2018, having won seven or its last nine games, including four consecutive victories over arch-rival Delta State. The Choctaws will face Lynn University (30-16) in the opening round Thursday at 4 p.m. The regional will be hosted by the University of Tampa. Host Tampa (43-7) will play Albany State (30-20) in the other first round game.
- Tradition-rich Delta State (32-18), making its 37th NCAA Tournament appearance, plays West Florida (33-19) in a first round game Thursday at 2 p.m at Lakeland, Fla., where Florida Southern is the host school. Florida Southern (36-13) plays West Alabama (32-23) in the other first round game. Coach Rodney Batts’ DSU Statesmen badly need a return to form entering national tournament play. They have lost five straight games, including a three-game series to Mississippi College and then two straight in the Gulf South Conference tournament. Delta State played a three-game series at West Florida in early March, losing two of three.
- A quick look at Millsaps’ baseball history might have foreshadowed that the Majors would return to postseason play in 2025. Page’s teams have made the tournament in 1995, 2005, 2015 and now 2025. This will be the Majors’ ninth NCAA appearance overall, all under Page. The Majors (29-13) travel to Marshall, Texas, for the East Texas Baptist Regional and will face East Texas Baptist (28-14) in the first round Friday at 2:30 p.m. Top-seeded Trinity (36-7) will play Huntingdon (22-19) in the other first round game Friday at 11 a.m.
- Belhaven, which lost to Huntingdon 3-1 in its conference championship game, faces Rhodes College (27-16) in the first round of the Edwardsville, Ill. Regional Friday at 2:30. Host Webster (36-7) plays Milwaukee School of Engineering (27-16) in the other first round game. Belhaven is making its first postseason appearance since Mississippi Sports Hall of Famer Hill Denson took them to the NAIA World Series in 2011.
Southern Miss produced two of the five finalists for the Boo Ferriss Trophy, which will be awarded Monday at a luncheon Monday at Pearl River Resort. The five finalists in alphabetical order:
- Drake Fontenot (Delta State pitcher): A senior right-hander from Bossier City, La., Fontenot was the Gulf South Conference Pitcher of the Year, sporting a 9-2 record, a 2.23 earned run average, 84 strikeouts and 23 walks.
- Luke Hill (Ole Miss third baseman): The Arizona State transfer from Baton Rouge hit .342 with eight home runs and 32 runs batted in.
- JB Middleton (Southern Miss pitcher): A former Benton Academy standout from Yahoo City, Middleton likely will be the Sun Belt Pitcher of the Year after producing a 9-1 record, with a 2.0 ERA and 98 strikeouts compared to 22 walks. Middleton is the highest rated MLB prospect among Mississippi college players.
- Nick Monstere (Southern Miss second baseman): The former Northwest Rankin standout and Mississippi High School Player of the Year hit .330 with 17 home runs and 61 RBI.
- Ace Reese (Mississippi State third baseman): A sophomore transfer from Houston, Reese hit .351 with 17 home runs and 60 RBI.
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