From Pearl River to Oxford: Topher Jones commits to Ole Miss after Surowiec exit
Ole Miss baseball had a sudden need for a corner infielder following the abrupt departure of second-year slugger Ethan Surowiec.
Surowiec was a last-minute addition to the NCAA Transfer Portal last week. He landed at SEC rival Florida on Sunday.
Later in the day the Rebels secured his potential replacement. Ole Miss picked up a commitment from Pearl River Community College third baseman Topher Jones, a former Mississippi State signee.
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.
Ole Miss initially didn’t offer. However, as the Ole Miss Spirit reported last week, Jones was trending towards likely joining the class. He made the call following a visit over the weekend.
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 just 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 is the ninth transfer added by the Rebels since the 2025 season came to a close. Ole Miss won 43 games 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.
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Jones is the first from junior college, though. The others are Dom Decker (second baseman, Murray State), Grant Richardson (LHP, Grand Canyon), Tristan Bissetta (outfielder, Clemson), Daniel Pacella (outfielder, Illinois State), Wil Libbert (LHP, Missouri), Marko Sipila (RHP, San Diego State), Owen Kelly (RHP, Saint Louis) and Landon Koenig (RHP, North Dakota State).
“We’ve checked the boxes or filled the spots that had huge need for us,” Ole Miss hitting coach Mike Clement said in a previous interview with the Ole Miss Spirit. “With that said, we’re probably not done. We’d probably take one more position player and one more arm. The nice thing about being where we’re at is we’d like best available.
“We feel we have a chance to get best available if he’s out there. I would guess we’re probably not done yet, but we’re really happy with where our roster currently sits. But you never know.”
Next on the agenda is the 2025 MLB Draft, which runs July 13-14.
Ole Miss is monitoring, among others, Luke Hill, Mason Morris, Hunter Elliott, Judd Utermark, Pacella and Richardson. Richardson and Libbert, in particular, are candidates for the weekend rotation.
“The biggest left-handed pitcher we could get back is one that was on our staff a year ago,” Clement said of Elliott. “We’re hoping for that one. The draft is so fickle it’s really hard to know. It’s going to have to be right for him to sign.”
