BOONEVILLE, Miss. - A pair of former award-winning alumni of the Northeast Mississippi Community College baseball program are finishing their 2025 seasons on the Road to Omaha.
Jackson McCoy and Jackson Owen have helped Murray State (Ky.) University and Mississippi State University, respectively, qualify for the NCAA Division I Baseball Championship.
McCoy was part of a historic turnaround for the Racers, which snapped a 22-year drought between NCAA appearances by capturing their inaugural Missouri Valley Conference (MVC) Tournament title with a victory against Missouri State University.
The Booneville product has participated in 35 of Murray State's 52 total games with 25 starts. He has the third most hit by pitches on the team with 11 along with three home runs, nine RBIs and 18 runs scored.
McCoy proved his versatility as a Tiger after transitioning from first base to the outfield as a sophomore. He obtained honorable mention all-conference accolades following his freshman campaign.
He played in 96 games at Northeast with career figures including a .318 batting average, .400 on-base percentage, 72 runs scored, 23 doubles, 11 home runs and 87 RBIs. McCoy even made 11 relief stints on the mound and amassed a 3-3 record with one save.
The left-handed power hitter was recognized as the Mississippi Association of Community Colleges Conference (MACCC) Player of the Week in April 2022 after belting three homers over four contests, including two in a road win at rival Itawamba Community College.
Owen's Bulldogs concluded the regular season as one of the hottest teams in the rugged Southeastern Conference (SEC) with three straight series wins and 10 triumphs overall in their last 12 games.
The Starkville native officially debuted for his hometown club on February 14th in an opening day victory versus Manhattan (N.Y.) University at historic Dudy Noble Field. He has been errorless behind the plate so far for Mississippi State.
That should come as no surprise considering Owen was a Rawlings Gold Glove Award® recipient and the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) Division II Defensive Player of the Year as a freshman with the Tigers.
Owen caught 15 opponents attempting to steal and committed only two errors that season. He had cumulative .988 fielding and .304 runners caught stealing percentages throughout his tenure at Northeast.
Both McCoy and Owen were members of Northeast's special 2022 team that tied the program record for most wins in a single season and advanced to the double elimination portion of the NJCAA Region 23 Tournament with a first round playoff series victory at The Plex.
McCoy returns to the Magnolia State as four-seed Murray State meets the University of Mississippi (Ole Miss) in the Oxford Regional while Owen and three-seed Mississippi State battle Northeastern (Mass.) University at the Tallahassee Regional. Both sites begin on Friday, May 30 with live coverage on ESPN+.