Skip to main content
Ole Miss

More Than a Bat: Clement lauds Jones’ fit and fielding for Ole Miss baseball

Ben Garrettby: Ben Garrett07/23/25SpiritBen
GvN9k0VXsAA225T
Ole Miss has landed PRCC slugger Topher Jones (Photo credit: Topher Jones/X)

Ole Miss baseball moved quickly to replace Ethan Surowiec — a surprise, last-minute addition to the NCAA Transfer Portal. 

Surowiec left for Florida after a strong summer in the Northwoods League. The Rebels replaced him with Topher Jones, a slugging infielder from Pearl River Community College.

The 6-foot-2, 205-pound Jones was at one point committed to Louisiana Tech. Jones is originally from Hernando and hit .358 for Pearl River last season. He finished with a .459 on-base percentage and .608 slugging percentage. 

“Topher is a guy that’s obviously right up the road,” Ole Miss hitting coach Mike Clement said, in a one-on-one interview with Rebel Grove this week. “From Hernando High School, went to Mississippi State out of high school and then went down to Pearl River and had a great year.

“He has a ton of defensive versatility. He’s another guy we’ll probably run over there at shortstop, although I don’t anticipate that being his primary position. But can play any of the three infield positions and play them well.”

RELATED: Ole Miss expects full MLB Draft class to sign, embracing wide-open bullpen competition

Jones led Pearl River with 72 RBI. He totaled 62 runs, 29 walks, 16 doubles, 11 homers and two triples.

Jones set a single-game school record for RBI (8) in a game at Itawamba. He made eight errors in 131 total chances in the field.  Jones led Pearl River to an NJCAA World Series Runner-up finish. He was first-team All-MACCC, All-Region 23 and NJCAA third team All-America. He was ranked as Perfect Game’s 19th-best JUCO prospect as a freshman.

Jones was the ninth transfer added by the Rebels since the 2025 season came to a close. The Rebels are down to eight, however, after the MLB Draft. Grand Canyon left-hander Grant Richardson is off to join the Athletics organization. Richardson was taken in the sixth round.

Ole Miss won 43 games last season and hosted an NCAA Regional for the first time since 2021. The Rebels fell just one run shy of their first Super Regional host since 2009.

“He’s got a real feel to defend on the dirt,” Clement said of Jones. “That versatility was probably as important to us as the offense. He had a great offensive year and he’s got a chance to really hit, but we were super excited about him. 

“Much more versatile than what Suroweic was from a defensive profile standpoint and has always hit. Wanted to be here really badly. There’s something to be said about somebody who wants to put that uniform on and have the Ole Miss logo across his chest. A lot of times those guys will play above their skies a little bit just if that’s their desire.”

You may also like