Ole Miss baseball's Kemp Alderman wins 2023 Ferriss Trophy
The top college baseball player in Mississippi resides in Oxford, according to the Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame. On Monday it was announced that Kemp Alderman won the 2023 Ferriss Trophy award.
The honor goes to the top collegiate baseball player in the state and Alderman is the sixth Ole Miss player to win the award since its inception in 2004.
Alderman led Ole Miss in nearly every offensive category, hitting .376 with a slugging percentage of .709 and on-base percentage of .440. He had 80 hits with 61 RBI, 19 home runs, and 151 total bases. He also led the team in two-out RBI (23) and batting average with runners on base (.393).
The 80 hits and 151 total bases were the fourth highest in the SEC during the regular season. Alderman’s batting average and RBIs were the seventh-highest, and his slugging percentage the eighth-highest. Alderman finished the regular season ranked 25th in the country in total bases, 35th in home runs, and 51st in hits.
Alderman also started at catcher in four games and made two appearances on the mound.
“It’s a honor,” Alderman said during the ceremony on Tuesday. “Thank you to coach ‘B’ for recruiting me out of high school and giving me a chance to play at my dream school.”
The Ole Miss outfielder beat out Mississippi State’s Hunter Hines, Jackson State’s Ty Hill and Southern Mississippi’s Tanner Hall and Slade Wilks. Hall was looking to become the first back-to-back Ferriss Trophy winner after claiming the 2022 trophy.
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Alderman snaps a seven-year drought between Ole Miss players winning the Ferriss Trophy.
Not since Auston Bousfield won it in 2014 has an Ole Miss player been named a winner until Alderman on Monday.
Ole Miss won the first two Ferriss Trophies with pitching great Stephen Head taking it home in its inaugural year and Brian Pettway winning it in 2005.
Other Ole Miss winners include Scott Bittle in 2008 and Drew Pomeranz in 2010.
“So much is said about Kemp, about the power,” said Ole Miss head coach Mike Bianco. “He hits it as hard and as far as anybody that I’ve ever seen. But he’s such a complete hitter. He’s a guy who can hit it foul pole to foul pole. …One of the greatest years in Ole Miss baseball.”
Alderman was the 22nd finalist Ole Miss has had in the near-20 years of the trophy’s existence.
