Hall hauls Ferriss Trophy home to Southern Miss

(The following press release and photo are from The Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame.)

Pitcher Tanner Hall of the University of Southern Mississippi became the first pitcher since 2018 to win the coveted Ferriss Trophy presented by the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians and the Pearl River Resort. Southern’s Nick Sandlin was the last pitcher to win the award, and four years later he is in the Major Leagues with the Cleveland Guardians.

Hall put together a 7-2 record for the Golden Eagles who begin Conference USA play in Hattiesburg this Wednesday. In 87.1 innings Hall only allowed 76 hits, striking out 120 and walking only 10 batters. The strike thrower had a batting average against of .227. He becomes the 18th Mississippi college player to receive the award named for former Major League star and Delta State coach, Dave “Boo” Ferriss.

Hall won over four other finalists including Tim Elko of Ole Miss, R.J. Yeager of MSU, Harrison Haley of Delta State and Brett Sanchez of Belhaven. He is the fourth Southern Mississippi player to take home the Ferriss Trophy.

The Ferriss Trophy is part of the Outstanding College Player Award Series which also includes the C Spire Conerly Trophy for football and the Howell and Gillom trophies presented by MBCI and Pearl River Resort for men’s and women’s basketball. Mississippi Band of Choctaws Indians and the Pearl River Resort sponsored the Howell, Gillom, and Ferriss Trophies for the first time this year.