Spanning the globe on a Tuesday morning. ...

The three finalists for the C Spire Ferriss Award have been named, and junior second baseman Alex Yarbrough is in the group.

Ole Miss junior second baseman Alex Yarbrough has been named one of three finalists for the C Spire Ferriss Award which is presented annually to the top collegiate baseball player in Mississippi, the Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame and Museum announced on Monday.

The trophy is named in honor of the legendary Boo Ferriss, who played for Mississippi State and the Boston Red Sox and was the long-time baseball coach at Delta State. One of the three finalists will be presented the trophy at a C Spire Wireless-sponsored luncheon Monday, May 14, at the Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame and Museum.



Yarbrough has also been named to the Golden Spikes Award midseason watch list, honoring the top college baseball player in the nation.

Yarbrough is currently second in the league in hitting with a .407 average and also ranks among the SEC leaders in slugging percentage (9 th - .557), on base percentage (6 th - .453), hits (2 nd – 79), RBI (8 th – 40), doubles (4 th – 16) and total bases (5 th – 108).

As the dust settles on the LSU weekend, the Rebels (11-13 SEC) are fourth in the West but still sport an RPI of 20. Tennessee comes in this weekend. It's rare to face an SEC opponent where losses can do damage to the RPI, but the Vols are No. 97 in that category.

Vanderbilt, which Ole Miss faces on the road next week in the final SEC series, just won two of three against the Vols. Vandy, 11-13 in the league like Ole Miss, may be peaking right now but still has a lot of work to do to become eligible for the NCAA tournament and has LSU this weekend.

Elsewhere ...

Southern Miss RB Jamal Woodyard has been arrested and charged with second-degree robbery. New USM coach Ellis Johnson says he is aware of the incident and is gathering facts before taking action.

Not long after Memphis became the neighborhood's entry into the Big East, the league's commissoner, John Marinatto, has resigned, and its future, very unstable amid the shifting landscape of college football, becomes even more unstable now. Here's The Commercial Appeal's take on the Big East. ...

From College Station, as Texas A&M athletics director, Bill Byrne led the Aggies to the SEC, but as word of his retirement spreads, he may not lead the Aggies across the line and into the SEC.