Ole Miss, Mississippi State Pledge Help For JSU Baseball After Bus Fire

Hours after destroyed its bus, the Jackson State baseball team got some good news on Tuesday night. Ole Miss and Mississippi State have pledged to donate equipment to their fellow in-state school. 

The Rebels are sending extra equipment of their own, including catchers gear, fungo bats and buckets. Their team sponsor, Easton Sports, also mailed out eight game bats and six batting helmets Tuesday morning.

“I know going into their conference tournament, that’s always a special time of the year,” said Andrew Case, Ole Miss’ director of operations for baseball. “It’s never a good time for that to happen, and this is a tough time of the year for that to happen.”

Case said he received an email from associate athletic director Stephen Ponder late Monday asking if there was any way they could help. Case then spoke with Ole Miss baseball coach Mike Bianco how they should move forward as far as donating their own items, and Bianco also suggested contacting Easton.

“I was told (Jackson State) was packed for a seven-day road trip and (almost) everything that was packed was lost,” Case said. “It’s a bad situation for the student athletes, and that’s what we’re all ultimately in (this for) is providing the best experience as possible for them.”

Very nice gesture by those two SEC schools.