Bahamas star Russell doing it all for Jackson State Tigers

Jackson, MS - Desmond Russell arrived in Jackson from his homeland of the Bahamas in August 2009, toward the end of Mississippi's sweltering summer. In his first trip to the Deep South, a couple of things surprised the Jackson State pitcher.

One: "It was kind of cold. It will be cold one moment, and it will be hot right away." Two: "There's no conch."

Born and raised on a tropical island, Russell had to get accustomed to Mississippi's sporadic temperature drops - even in the summer - and its lack of the popular Bahamian sea snail dish. But, Russell seems to be fitting in quite nicely here.

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JSU Baseball Opens 2011 Campaign with Home Tournament

JSU Tournament Schedule

Fri., Feb. 18 Jackson State vs. Florida A&M - 12 p.m.
Fri., Feb. 18 University Arkansas-Pine Bluff vs. FAMU - 3 p.m.
Fri., Feb. 18 JSU vs. UAPB 6 p.m.
Sat., Feb. 19 FAMU vs. Prairie View A&M - 12 p.m.
Sat., Feb. 19 UAPB vs. FAMU - 3 p.m.
Sat., Feb. 19 JSU vs. PVAM - 6 p.m.
Sun., Feb. 20 JSU vs. PVAM - 12 p.m.
Sun., Feb. 20 UAPB vs. PVAM - 3 p.m.

Jackson State, under the direction of fifth-year head coach Omar Johnson, will open its 2011 season with its annual JSU Tournament from Friday, Feb. 18-20 at Robert "Bob" Braddy Field.

On Friday the Tigers will play FAMU at noon, followed by a nightcap against the University of Arkansas-Pine Bluff at 6 p.m. On Saturday, the Tigers will face Prairie View A&M at 6 p.m., followed by a single-game on Sunday to close the weekend at noon against a second game against Prairie View A&M.

Click here to read the 2011 JSU Baseball outlook.

FAMU begins new era of Rattlers' baseball

During the wee hours of Thursday morning, sleep finally began to settle in for David Duncan. The thought of being the pitcher who would start the Brett Richardson era at Florida A&M kept Duncan awake several hours past his normal bedtime. He will be making his first start 23 months after he suffered an injury to his pitching arm that required Tommy John surgery.

"I'm trying to stay cool about it but last night I was just thinking about it for hours," Duncan said. "I probably stayed up until about 2. "It's just exciting. I can't wait and I'm ready to go out there and give it all I've got."

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