something in maroon

Mississippi State — present, future and past — is making headlines today. The current Bulldogs are 2-0 in the Starkville Regional and could wrap up the championship tonight. The hero of Saturday night’s 6-2 win over South Alabama was sophomore Ross Mitchell, who tossed 5 1/3 scoreless innings out of the bullpen. The left-handed reliever has had a profound if somewhat unheralded impact on State’s season. Mitchell is now 12-0, with every win coming in relief. (He is the first Bulldogs pitcher to reach 12 wins since Bobby Reed won 15, as a starter, in 1990.) Mitchell has worked 83 innings in 30 appearances and has a 1.41 ERA. … Also on Saturday, State signee Reid Humphreys of Northwest Rankin took Most Valuable Offensive Player honors in one of the D.M. Howie high school all-star games at Smith-Wills Stadium in Jackson. Humphreys, the brother of former State star and current big leaguer Tyler Moore, is also the state’s Gatorade Player of the Year. … In Atlanta today, ex-Bulldogs ace Paul Maholm (a 27-game winner in maroon from 2001-03) starts for the Braves against Washington (Tyler Moore’s club). Maholm is 6-4 with a 3.74 ERA for first-place Atlanta, which is 5.5 games up on the Nationals in the National League East.