Friday, May 14, 2021   
 
MSU University Television Center Wins Regional Edward R. Murrow Award
Mississippi State University's University Television Center was among the broadcast winners of the 2021 Regional Edward R. Murrow Awards and received 12 nominations for the 2021 Southeast Emmy Awards. The Radio Television Digital News Association -- a professional organization devoted to broadcast and digital journalism -- presents the Regional Murrow Awards, which recognize "extraordinary journalism that brought clarity and context to 2020's biggest news stories," a release from MSU says. The University Television Center was a Region 9 winner of the Best News Documentary award in the small market television category for the documentary "The Last Supermarket." RTDNA's Region 9 includes Alabama, Arkansas, Louisiana and Mississippi. UTC filmed "The Last Supermarket" in Clarksdale in 2019 and 2020. The 30-minute documentary examines the impact to the Mississippi Delta community when its only full-service supermarket closed, leaving residents in a food desert with fewer options for nutritious food, MSU's release says. The documentary also serves as the pilot episode of "The Hungriest State," a multi-part series scheduled to debut in fall 2021 that will investigate food insecurity in Mississippi. "The Hungriest State" is a project of MSU Films, the TV Center's high-end short film production initiative, which is a partnership with MSU's Office of Public Affairs.
 
Starkville man accused of buying home, Tesla in alleged PPP scam of more than $6 million
A 45-year-old Starkville man is accused of purchasing a variety of luxury items, including a house and a car, using money he received through the federal Paycheck Protection Program (PPP). The Department of Justice (DOJ) said in a news release Thursday that Christopher Paul Lick had been arrested by FBI agents after being indicted by a federal grand jury on criminal charges related to his alleged fraud scheme of more than $6 million in PPP funds. According to the DOJ, Lick allegedly used the funds to purchase various luxurious items, including a home valued at more than $1 million and a Tesla valued at $100,000. He also allegedly used the funds to invest in the stock market. Court documents stated Lick arranged a scheme to defraud and obtained the funds by filing false and fraudulent loan applications with banks providing loans as part of the PPP, including Customers Bank and Cross River Bank. Lick allegedly overstated the number of employees and payroll expenses of his businesses to receive the money. Lick was charged with four counts of wire fraud, one count of issuing false statements to financial institution, and 11 counts of money laundering. He made will make his initial court appearance Thursday before U.S. Magistrate Judge David A. Sanders.
 
State health officer Dr. Thomas Dobbs touts vaccines for children 12 to 15
The coronavirus vaccine is now available for children ages 12 to 15 in Mississippi for the first time, a development the state's top health official told residents he hopes will "shake us out of our complacency" in battling COVID-19. "I want us all to really sit back and realize that you're likely either to get the COVID vaccine, or the COVID virus," State Health Officer Dr. Thomas Dobbs said Thursday during a virtual briefing with the Department of Health. "And under every circumstance, under every conceivable scenario, you are a thousand-fold, if not a million-fold better off getting the vaccine than contracting COVID." The announcement means more than 160,000 residents between the ages of 12 and 15 are now eligible for shots. The vaccine will be available for adolescents under 16 at sites that administer Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine. The state is starting their vaccinations of that age group Friday, and some private doctor's offices are already offering shots to children. Parents must accompany minors to the vaccination site and sign a consent form to allow their child to get a shot.
 
'Great day for America': Vaccinated can largely ditch masks
In a major step toward returning to pre-pandemic life, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention eased mask-wearing guidance for fully vaccinated people on Thursday, allowing them to stop wearing masks outdoors in crowds and in most indoor settings. "Today is a great day for America," President Joe Biden said during a Rose Garden address heralding the new guidance, an event where he and his staff went without masks. Hours earlier in the Oval Office, where Biden was meeting with vaccinated Republican lawmakers, he led the group in removing their masks when the guidance was announced. "If you are fully vaccinated, you no longer need to wear a mask," he said, summarizing the new guidance and encouraging more Americans to roll up their sleeves. "Get vaccinated -- or wear a mask until you do." The guidance still calls for wearing masks in crowded indoor settings like buses, planes, hospitals, prisons and homeless shelters, but it will help clear the way for reopening workplaces, schools and other venues -- even removing the need for social distancing for those who are fully vaccinated.
 
Democratic National Committee to invest in Mississippi, other red-state parties
The Democratic National Committee and Democratic state parties have reached a four-year agreement to guarantee more investment in state political infrastructure, including a "Red State Fund" for GOP-controlled states such as Mississippi. Mississippi Democratic leaders and candidates have for years decried a lack of investment of money and manpower by the national party in Mississippi races and party infrastructure as the state has grown more solidly Republican up and down the ballot. Former Democratic U.S. Rep. Mike Espy, who lost back-to-back Mississippi U.S. Senate races to Republican Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith in 2018 and 2020, is one of those candidates. He welcomed Thursday's announcement from the Democratic National Committee. "I am thrilled to see this happening," Espy said. "There is a new day in the national Democratic Party and I think I would attribute some of that to the new chairman (Jaime Harrison) being from South Carolina and just having lost in a red state. We're friends and have spoken about the need for something like this. I'm thrilled to see that in his first month at the helm something like this is happening. This work means candidates such as I was can focus on having a winning campaign, messaging and outreach and not spend three-fourths of our time raising money and trying to build party infrastructure for the state."
 
ACA sign-ups increase 223% during President Biden's special enrollment period
The number of Mississippians enrolling in health care coverage through the healhgare.gov marketplace is surging this year thanks to an expanded enrollment period and the expansion of premium tax credits that make the plans much more affordable. The premium tax credit (PTC) is the Affordable Care Act's main insurance subsidy that radically reduces the premium costs for those eligible to receive it. A provision of the American Rescue Plan, the stimulus package Congress passed earlier this year, increased the tax credit amount for those who are eligible and makes individuals with incomes above 400% of the federal poverty line eligible for the first time. This provision represents the first major expansion of the health care reform law since its passage. For those who were eligible for a tax credit prior to the passage of ARP, the share of their income enrollees are expected to pay for premiums on a benchmark silver plan has been cut in half or removed completely. Expanding the PTC has already had a major impact on the number of enrollees in Mississippi. In 2020, 4,341 Mississippians enrolled in health insurance plans through the marketplace from Feb. 15-April 30. This year saw 14,040 people enroll in the same period -- a 223% increase.
 
Lawmakers happily embrace return of earmarks to highway bill
The last time Rep. Don Young was able to request earmarks in a surface transportation bill, it was 2005 and he was asking for at least $557 million in earmarks, including money for what critics would later call "the Bridge to Nowhere." That proposed bridge to replace the ferry connecting Ketchikan, Alaska, to its airport on Gravina Island launched criticism that contributed to the eventual ban on earmarks in 2011. Young, then the chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, was one of the top requesters of earmarks for that year's surface transportation law, according to the Eno Center for Transportation. This year, with earmarks scheduled to return in limited form, the Alaska Republican is not even close to the top, according to a CQ Roll Call analysis of requests to the Transportation panel. Young requested $105.5 million for this year's surface transportation reauthorization bill, including $19.2 million to construct a gravel road linking the Kotzebue Electric Association Wind Farm to Cape Blossom so up to 100 cars or commercial vehicles could use the road daily. Seventeen Democrats and four Republicans asked for even more money than Young did. Rep. Garret Graves, R-La., who led other Republicans in requests, asked for nearly $955.7 million in earmarks, including three for one project: building a new bridge across the Mississippi River to connect two highways in Baton Rouge. Graves requested nearly $946 million for full federal funding for construction, as well as $1.6 million for an environmental evaluation and $8 million for pre-engineering design.
 
Jackson State graduating class of 1970 to march for the first time
Members of the graduating class of 1970 at Jackson State will march for the first time this weekend. Fifty-one years ago a deadly police involved shooting on campus cut the spring semester short and postponed commencement. May 1970 was a time of racial unrest on some college campuses. Fifty-one years ago this week, two African-American men were killed and at least a dozen other people were injured after law enforcement officers, dressed in full riot gear, fired shots into a crowd of students at then Jackson State College. It's not clear why officers came to campus, but gunfire that lasted nearly 30 seconds led to the deaths of 21-year old Phillip Gibbs and 17-year old James Earl Green. "I can forgive, but I'll never forget that night... never," said James "Lap" Baker. A native of Picayune, he was a graduating senior at the time of the shooting. He says he happened to be on campus, standing near where Green was shot and killed. "I was crawling and pulling grass to try to get out from the fire that was going over my head and everybody else's head," said Baker. "And all you could hear were students hollering." University officials decided to cancel remaining events on campus including graduation and mailed graduating seniors their degrees. Tomorrow, more than 70 members of the class are expected to march across the Gibbs-Green plaza, in cap and gown, for the first time. "I'm just thrilled that I will be able to see some of the classmates who I hadn't seen in nearly fifty years," said Baker. " It would bring back memories to me because we used to have a lot of fun for four years. That's how close we were."
 
Millsaps College Names Megan James, 2004 Alumna of the College, as New Dean of Students
Megan James, a Millsaps College alumna who currently serves as an alumni engagement associate at the University of Mississippi Medical Center and international fraternity president of Delta Delta Delta, has accepted the position of dean of students at Millsaps College, effective June 21. James served as the college's assistant dean of students for campus life for eight years prior to joining UMMC in 2015. "I have committed my career to supporting and engaging students as they enter college, through their defining years and ultimately becoming engaged alumni," said James. "I am aware of the special place Millsaps holds in the hearts of so many, including my own, and am honored by the opportunity to join Dr. (Robert) Pearigen's team at this important time in the college's history." A 2004 Millsaps College graduate with a bachelor of arts in psychology, James received her master of education in higher education administration from North Carolina State University. During her tenure at Millsaps, she served on the strategic planning steering committee and the core curriculum review committee. James replaces Demi Brown, who has accepted a position as associate vice president for student life and dean of students at Trinity University in San Antonio, Texas.
 
In South Carolina, a Presidency Never Gets Over Its Tainted Start
Submitting his resignation as president of the University of South Carolina on Wednesday, Lt. Gen. Robert L. Caslen Jr. brought to an abrupt and discordant conclusion a short-lived leadership tenure. The former military commander's presidency had been marred from the start by political meddling during his appointment, and undone with Caslen's startling acknowledgement that he had, in a recent commencement speech, plagiarized one by retired Adm. William H. McRaven. In his unceremonious resignation, which became effective on Thursday, Caslen acknowledged that he had lost the trust of the university and irrevocably compromised his ability to lead it. With Caslen's resignation, the spotlight shines again on the university's Board of Trustees, whose members are largely elected by the South Carolina General Assembly. An expected presidential search to replace Caslen will test the board, which was widely criticized for buckling under political pressure with the Caslen hire. Meanwhile, the board has said it will turn to Caslen's predecessor, Harris Pastides, to serve as interim president. If the board is looking to restore public confidence in its governance acumen, the group's handling of what seemed Calsen's slow-motion resignation process probably didn't help.
 
Governor lauds USC President Caslen after his resignation: 'I think he did a splendid job'
Gov. Henry McMaster, one of retired Army general Bob Caslen's biggest backers, said the former University of South Carolina president will be remembered for expanding the school's influence in fields such as cybersecurity. "I think he did a splendid job," McMaster told reporters May 13, a day after Caslen resigned amid a plagiarism scandal. "I'm sorry to see him go." The governor said that he spoke with Caslen after he chose to resign May 12, days after he failed to cite the source on two paragraphs in a commencement speech. The governor cited Caslen's work in building relationships with the Army Cyber Commands in Georgia. "He expanded the influence of the university," McMaster said. "I think he's done great work for the people of our state through that university. I am very appreciative for what he did in, in two short years, and I think as the university continues to grow, particularly in some of these new areas, we'll realize more and more how important the efforts he launched are and will be to our state." McMaster did not question USC accepting Caslen's resignation."I presumed that they made the decision that they thought was the right one," the governor said. "And I think now we need to look to the future."
 
U. of Florida study finds surgeons of color still hit academic glass ceiling
People of color, and especially women of color, are severely underrepresented in leadership positions for academic surgeons and have been for years across the U.S., a new University of Florida study showed. After tracking thousands of U.S. surgery faculty from 2013-2019, it found just one Black woman and one Latina woman reportedly became department chairs, up from none prior to 2015. And the percentage of all Black or Latinx surgeons working as full professors or chairs stayed in the single digits during the same time period. "We weren't surprised," said study collaborator Dr. Jose Trevino, a former UF associate professor and current chair of surgical oncology and associate professor of surgery at the Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine. "We thought it was a topic worth exploring especially in today's world." The research was published May 5 in JAMA Surgery, a peer-reviewed journal from the American Medical Association, and led by Dr. Andrea Riner, a surgical resident at the UF College of Medicine, with Trevino. Compared with the general U.S. Census population demographics, where Black people make up 13.4% and Latinx people comprise 18.5%, the assessed academic surgical leaders lag far behind with little to no progress. And that's not good, Riner said. Better representation is crucial for a number of reasons, like personal and professional growth for faculty, attracting diverse students and helping patients feel comfortable.
 
Southern Association of Colleges and Schools flags Florida State search
The Florida Board of Governors could jeopardize Florida State University's accreditation if it considers Richard Corcoran for the university's president while Corcoran remains a member of the state university system's governing board. Belle Wheelan, president of Florida State's accreditor, the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges, sent a letter Thursday to Sydney Kitson, chair of the Florida Board of Governors, outlining a potential conflict of interest for Corcoran. Corcoran -- who currently serves as Florida's education commissioner and is the former speaker of the state House of Representatives -- cannot be considered for the presidency while he remains on the state board without violating SACSCOC's rules, according to Wheelan. "I'm concerned that if he doesn't step down from his position on the Board while he is a candidate for the position, since it is the Board of Governors that will be hiring the President, the SACSCOC Board of Trustees will find the institution out of compliance," Wheelan wrote. Wheelan also said that the news of Corcoran's consideration for the role triggers an automatic inquiry from the accreditor. "Anything that is reported in the media that suggests that the institution might be out of compliance with any of our Principles of Accreditation (Principles) triggers our Unsolicited Information Policy and an inquiry from the Commission," she wrote.
 
'Theft At A Scale That Is Unprecedented': Behind The Underfunding Of HBCUs
Tennessee could owe a historically Black university more than a half-billion dollars after it withheld funding for decades. A bipartisan legislative committee determined last month that the state failed to adequately fund Tennessee State University in matched land grants going all the way back to the 1950s, costing the public university between $150 million and $544 million. When the school was founded, the federal government designated it a land-grant institution, as it did with the University of Tennessee. Under the program, the state of Tennessee was required to match the federal money sent to the schools each year. "In TSU's case, the state did not match the funds dollar-for-dollar for decades," stated a news release from the legislative committee. Tennessee State isn't the only historically Black college or university missing out on state funds. Maryland recently finalized a $577 million settlement to resolve a lawsuit alleging the state had underfunded its four HBCUs. Andre Perry, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution who has written about Maryland's battle with inequality in public higher education, blames institutional racism for what he believes is a pervasive lack of funding at HBCUs. Calling the recent findings at TSU "theft at a scale that is unprecedented," Perry says funding should be scrutinized across the U.S., at every HBCU.
 
President Biden Nominates Former Education Dept. Official Known for Aggressive Title IX Enforcement
The former Education Department official who pressured colleges to make sweeping reforms on campus sexual assault during the Obama administration has been nominated to hold that same post once again. The Biden administration on Thursday nominated Catherine E. Lhamon as assistant secretary for civil rights, which oversees the enforcement of Title IX, the gender-equity law. Lhamon led the civil-rights office from 2013 to 2017, a time when the Education Department made combating campus rape a top priority. If the Senate confirms Lhamon, she'll assume the top civil-rights role as the Biden administration begins weighing changes in the Title IX regulations championed by the former education secretary Betsy DeVos. Those regulations sought to protect the rights of students accused of sexual assault, many of whom believed they'd been unfairly punished because of the Obama administration's push for colleges to take sexual assault seriously. Suzanne B. Goldberg, a Columbia University law professor and former administrator, has been serving as acting assistant secretary for civil rights since January. She will continue to serve as a deputy assistant secretary in the civil-rights office.


SPORTS
 
Egg Bowl Moved to Thanksgiving in Primetime
The Southeastern Conference announced Thursday that the annual Battle for the Golden Egg between Mississippi State and Ole Miss will be played on Thanksgiving night for both the 2021 and 2022 seasons. This season's game will be played on Thursday, November 25, in Starkville with a 6:30 p.m. CT kickoff on ESPN. The annual rivalry has been played on Thanksgiving night 23 times previously, including 2017-2019. The winner of the annual matchup has been awarded the "Golden Egg Trophy" each year since 1927. State and Ole Miss last played on Thanksgiving night in 2019, a 21-20 Bulldog win. The Bulldogs and Rebels have met 117 times previously and is the second-most played rivalry game in the SEC, with the first game taking place in 1901. The game is the 10th longest uninterrupted series in college football and has been played each year since 1944.
 
Scotty Dubrule's go-ahead hit leads No. 3 Mississippi State past Missouri
Scotty Dubrule found himself as the hero on Thursday night. No. 3 Mississippi State came from behind late in the game and beat Missouri, 5-4, to open the weekend series at Dudy Noble Field. Scotty Dubrule stepped up to the plate with the bases loaded and two outs in the seventh inning, down 4-3, and hit the ball up the middle. The ball never left the infield, but Dubrule beat the throw from the shortstop and two runs came across to score as Mississippi State took its final lead of the night. Dubrule's hit gave head coach Chris Lemonis his 100th career win at Mississippi State. He is the fastest coach to reach the milestone in school history, only taking 130 games. "I am comfortable in any count and I'm going to get my pitch," Dubrule said of the at-bat. "I knew he didn't want to walk me there in the bases-loaded position so I could expect something over the plate and I got a decent swing off. Things went well."
 
Seventh-inning rally leads No. 3 Mississippi State baseball over Missouri in SEC series opener
Scotty Dubrule didn't hit it hard. It wasn't a solid line drive scorching its way up the middle of the diamond at Dudy Noble Field with the bases loaded and two out in the bottom of the seventh inning. It was only a chopper, deadened on the green grass of the infield, that snuck its way behind second base. Dubrule sprinted to first safely as two runs came in to score. The infield hit, which put the Bulldogs (36-11, 17-8 Southeastern Conference) ahead for good in a 5-4 home win over Missouri (12-33, 5-20), summed up Thursday's game aptly: Mississippi State didn't play its best, and the Bulldogs still proved they're good enough for that not to matter. "An ugly win is better than a good-looking loss, I guess," coach Chris Lemonis said. Indeed, it was ugly at times --- even at home, even against the SEC's worst team. Errors and poor pitches knocked out reigning SEC pitcher of the week Christian MacLeod after three innings as the Tigers took a 3-2 lead and added to it in the fifth. But Mississippi State brought the 7,447 fans inside Dudy Noble to life with a seventh-inning rally typical of the 2021 edition of the Bulldogs -- and all with two outs. After Tanner Allen was robbed of a tying two-run home run at the right-field wall, Kamren James legged out an infield single before Brayland Skinner came home on a wild pitch to cut the lead to a run.
 
No. 3 Mississippi State baseball comes back to beat Missouri in Game 1
Mississippi State trailed for much of the night Thursday at Dudy Noble Field, but in the end all the Bulldogs needed was one inning to get back on top and beat Missouri. The No. 3 Bulldogs scored three runs in the seventh to beat the Tigers 5-4. MSU starting pitcher Christian MacLeod left the mound in the third with a 3-2 deficit, and reliever Brandon Smith gave up another in the fifth. Mississippi State still found a way to win. "An ugly win is better than a good-looking loss," said MSU coach Chris Lemonis, who passed Ron Polk as the fastest coach to reach 100 career MSU victories with the win. Mississippi State (36-11, 17-8 SEC) – a team still vying for a regular season SEC Championship – was trailing Missouri (12-33, 5-20) – a team at the bottom of the conference standings – in the latter stages of the game. Nobody wearing maroon and white never wavered. "Eventually, you just can't stop us," senior second baseman Scotty Dubrule said. "One through nine, we're strong. We're going to barrel it up. Things will happen." "When we don't play well, we still have an opportunity to win because of the way we pitch," Lemonis said. "Our kids stay invested. We usually find a way to get something going late, and we did again tonight."
 
High hopes turn into crushing defeat for Missouri baseball
It was fun while it lasted for Missouri baseball. The Tigers led No. 3 Mississippi State for nearly four innings, but the Bulldogs blasted their way into the lead in the seventh, eventually winning 5-4 on Thursday in Starkville, Mississippi. That disastrous seventh inning started with a four-pitch walk issued by reliever Lukas Veinbergs to State's nine-hole hitter, a foreboding way to start the inning that put Missouri's 4-2 lead in jeopardy. Veinbergs managed to strike out the next batter, but on the first pitch of his at-bat, Tanner Allen crushed a ball out to right, appearing to tie the game up. But Tiger right fielder Andrew Keefer wasn't ready to give the lead up that easily. Keefer leapt up and robbed Allen of the homer, preserving the lead and getting the second out of the inning. Veinbergs' struggles continued after the miraculous grab, however. Maybe his nerves were rattled because of the long out, or maybe the thunderous crowd at Dudy Noble Field got into his head, because the next four batters could not have gone worse for the grad student. Veinbergs gave up a single and an error, advancing the Bulldogs' Kamren James to third. A wild pitch scored James and kicked off a string of nine consecutive balls thrown by Veinbergs. One more single scored two runs and Mississippi State took the lead. Finally, Missouri manager Steve Bieser had seen enough and brought in Spencer Miles, who retired Clark on one pitch.
 
Mississippi State women's golf season ends with canceled Regional due to poor weather conditions
The Mississippi State women's golf team's season ended in heartbreak Wednesday afternoon. After more than seven inches of rain caused the Baton Rouge Regional to be postponed on Monday and later Tuesday, NCAA officials told all qualified teams the University Club course was "playable but not at a championship caliber," which in turn canceled the regional and ended MSU's season prematurely. As a result, the top six teams from the regional advanced to the NCAA Championships. The Bulldogs were the No. 12 seed in the field. A video circulated on Twitter of NCAA officials telling players and coaches of their decisions, sparking outrage and pleas from voices in the crowd to let the regional go on. Once players and coaches voiced displeasure with the decision, the NCAA officials turned their back to the crowd and entered the clubhouse. "The NCAA Division I Women's Golf Committee regrets that the 2021 NCAA Division I Women's Golf Championships regional in Baton Rouge could not be conducted as scheduled this week," the NCAA said in a statement. "The Committee, NCAA staff and the Games Committee in Baton Rouge have been in constant communication throughout the past several days about the course conditions that have led to this unprecedented and most difficult decision." MSU's final meet of the season ended up being the SEC championships, where it finished second after besting a pair of top-five teams during match play. It was the program's best finish ever in the event, and it earned MSU its 10th NCAA appearance.
 
Mississippi State softball has eight-game win streak snapped by top-seeded Florida in SEC tournament
Samantha Ricketts knew two runs wouldn't be enough. When the Mississippi State softball team pulled ahead of top-seeded Florida 2-0 in the second inning of Thursday's Southeastern Conference tournament quarterfinal, the Bulldogs coach doubted her team could survive against the powerhouse Gators without any more scoring. Florida soon proved Ricketts right. The Gators' Kendyl Lindaman hit a go-ahead three-run home run in the fifth inning, Charla Echols added insurance with a three-run bomb of her own in the sixth, and Florida (41-8, 19-5 SEC) snapped Mississippi State's eight-game winning streak with a 6-2 victory Thursday in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. "We ran into a great team, and I thought we competed well with them," Ricketts said. The ninth-seeded Bulldogs (33-23, 8-16 SEC) await their NCAA Regional assignment during Sunday's 8 p.m. selection show. And despite Thursday's loss, a Mississippi State team that almost certainly would have missed the postseason altogether three weeks ago feels optimistic. "We still feel really good about where we're at right now," Ricketts said. "Eight and one in the month of May is a really big turnaround for us, and I think we're still playing our best ball at the right time."
 
Top-seeded Florida Gators rally past Mississippi State Bulldogs at SEC softball tourney
Florida's comeback kids did it again Thursday in the quarterfinals of the SEC Softball Tournament at Rhoads Stadium. Down 2-0 through four innings against nine seed Mississippi State, the Gators (41-8) completed their 11th comeback of the season, and fifth in the last seven games, when Kendyl Lindaman and Charla Echols each hit three-run home runs to power top-seeded Florida to a 6-2 win and a spot in the semifinals. "Coach (Tim) Walton always says we have 21 outs and as long as we have one left, we have a chance," Lindaman said of the comeback win to the SEC Network. "We keep fighting hard and if we have outs left, we're still in it." Mississippi State (33-23) took a 2-0 lead in the top of the second inning when Jackie McKenna hit a two-out, two-run double following a walk and a single off pitcher Elizabeth Hightower. This time, the Gators didn't wait to the final inning to begin a rally. After an out in the fifth inning, Emily Wilkie was hit by a pitch and Echols singled to set the stage for Lindaman, who hit a three-run home run to put UF up 3-2. It's her seventh home run of the season. Echols added insurance runs in the sixth with another three-run home run, her 14th, to put the Gators up 6-2. Cheyenne Lindsey and Hannah Adams had singled before Echols' blast that ended the Bulldogs' winning streak at eight.
 
Southern Miss Director of Athletics Jeremy McClain gives statement on softball program: 'We are aware of some issues'
Southern Miss Director of Athletics Jeremy McClain has issued a statement to Pine Belt Sports regarding the numerous players that have left the softball program. In total, 11 softball players have either entered the transfer portal or left the program. "We are aware of some issues and concerns regarding the softball program," McClain said. "As we often do in these types of scenarios, as the season concludes we have been and will be visiting with as many people as possible around the program to help us fully understand. These conversations will inform us, and allow us to address concerns, and help us develop a path for continuing to improve moving forward." Earlier this week, Karsen Pierce and Kaley Fruge left the program after Southern Miss completed its season. Nine players chose to leave the program midseason. The Golden Eagles finished the year with a 22-31 overall record and a 4-16 mark in conference play. The program's roster now totals 15 players and would return just one pitcher from this past season.
 
Arkansas to fully reopen baseball stadium to fans
Arkansas will allow full capacity at its final baseball series of the regular season next week against Florida. The three-game series between the No. 1 Razorbacks and No. 7 Gators is scheduled to begin next Thursday at Baum-Walker Stadium. Remaining tickets for the series will go on sale Friday at 9 a.m. It will be the first time any stadium on the University of Arkansas campus will be fully reopened to fans since the covid-19 outbreak shut down college athletics for nearly six months beginning in March 2020. Arkansas officials have gradually reopened the baseball stadium in recent months, increasing capacity from 4,218 at the beginning of the season to 7,645 for the first four games in May. The stadium's listed capacity is 11,531. UA athletics director Yurachek said during an April 20 radio interview that full capacity would not be allowed this season, but on Thursday, Yurachek said recent events helped change his views on the subject. He and UA chancellor Joseph Steinmetz agreed to return to full capacity during a meeting Thursday morning.
 
Pac-12 commissioner search ends in unlikely place (which was entirely predictable): With an MGM Resorts executive
The Pac-12 has gone outside the box in order to get back on track, hiring MGM executive George Kliavkoff as commissioner of the struggling conference. Kliavkoff, 54, oversees MGM's sports and entertainment division and has partnered with the Pac-12 on events in Las Vegas. He is also a board member at BetMGM. While working for Major League Baseball in the early 2000s, he oversaw the development of Baseball Advanced Media (BAM), the highly successful internet arm of MLB. "One of the most creative thinkers I know," a conference source said of Kliavkoff. "He has a great media background and is partner-oriented in his approach." Added another source: "It's a really intriguing decision. It's certainly on the higher end of the risk spectrum, but how do you assess the risk of a move that would just cement the status quo?" Kliavkoff signed a five-year contract. Terms were not disclosed. The decision is sure to generate intense reaction from Pac-12 fans and skepticism within the college sports world, for Kliavkoff has no experience working on college campuses or a background in college football. But the Pac-12 presidents were no doubt attracted to Kliavkoff's success in business development and innovation and reputation for collaboration.



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