BULLDOG BITS
Men’s Golf
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – No. 22 Mississippi State men's golf completed the first two rounds of the Seminole Intercollegiate on Monday.
The Bulldog effort was led by a strong performance from Drew Wilson. In just his third tournament this year, and second individual performance, the redshirt freshman shot a 2-under 70 in both rounds on Monday. Overall, Wilson collected 10 birdies for the day and finished 4-under overall, just five strokes back from the individual lead.
As a team, MSU shot a combined 19-over 595. The Bulldogs now stand in 10th place in the field.
In the first round, MSU shot a combined 14-over 302, before besting that total with a 5-over 293 in the second round of the day.
Elsewhere, the other five competing Bulldogs combined for 13 birdies during the two rounds. Garrett Endicott started strong, carding three birdies on the front nine in round one, before shooting 2-over on the back nine to even out his round. He currently stands 2-over and in a tie for 21st.
Josep Serra carded a strong second round for MSU, going bogey-free on the last 18 holes of the day. His two-under second round brought his score to 4-over on the day and landed him in a tie for 28th.
Hunter Logan carded an eagle on the par-5 No. 11 hole in round one and is currently the fourth-highest placing Bulldog in the field. He stands at 5-over overall and is tied for 37th.
Harrison Davis and Alejandro Fierro both picked up three birdies a piece and are tied for 66th.
The Bulldogs were scheduled to tee off Tuesday from the No. 10 tee to start the final round.
Men’s Tennis
BATON ROUGE, La. – Although senior Nemanja Malesevic and freshman Radomir Tomic are at opposite ends of the experience spectrum in their collegiate careers, both came up clutch for No. 22 Mississippi State on Sunday.
The Bulldogs were trailing 19th-ranked LSU 3-2 and needed Malesevic and Tomic to each pull through in their third sets of singles. Fortunately for MSU, both Balkans did just that as the
Bulldogs rallied for a 4-3 victory on the road.
"I'm extremely proud of 'Rade' (Tomic) on Court 6 for us," said MSU head coach Matt Roberts. "He came through against a very solid spot for LSU today, then coming down to 'Memo' (Malesevic) on Court 1, it was a great moment for him. It's never an easy match in the conference, especially on the road."
Tomic knotted the match following a polarizing battle with Julien Penzlin. Tomic took the first set 6-1 but dropped the second by the same score. The rookie from Bosnia and Herzegovina rallied, however, and took the third set 6-2 leaving the match up to the top of the respective lineups to decide the overall winner.
Malesevic dropped his opening set to Stefan Latinovic 5-7 but bounced back to win the second and third sets by 6-4 scores to give the Bulldogs (10-4, 2-1 SEC) their third ranked win of the season and second in conference play.
It was the 20th time Malesevic has clinched a match for Mississippi State in his career and his team-leading fourth this season.
No. 34 Petar Jovanovic and Benito Sanchez Martinez picked up a ranked doubles win for the Bulldogs by beating 51st-ranked Latinovic and Aleksi Lofman 6-3, but it was LSU that gained the early momentum by winning the doubles point after taking the other two courts.
The Tigers pressed their advantage more at the start of singles as Lofman upset No. 27 Jovanovic 6-3, 6-3. Dusan Milanovic got MSU on the board by downing Chen Dong in straight sets 6-1, 6-4 before No. 121 Carles Hernandez evened things up with his 6-2, 6-4 victory over George Stoupe.
Rudy Ceccon put LSU back out in front briefly following his 7-5, 6-4 win over Sanchez Martinez and set the stage for Tomic and Malesevic's heroics.
"I'm very proud of the fight we showed today across the board," Roberts said. "After a tough doubles point, we managed to stay resilient and hang around to give ourselves a chance."
The Bulldogs return home next weekend hosting Vanderbilt on Friday at 3 p.m. and Kentucky on Sunday at 1 p.m.
Softball
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – Mississippi State's Salen
Hawkins introduced herself to the Southeastern Conference in a big way, and the Phoenix, Arizona, native was selected the league's Co-Freshman of the Week for her efforts.
Hawkins led all players with at least four at-bats in conference play with a .625 batting average this past weekend at Ole Miss. She helped lead the Bulldogs to a series victory on the road to open conference play for the first time since 2018 and was instrumental in both MSU victories.
The second baseman drove in two runs in the Bulldogs' 5-1 victory on Friday night while turning two double plays, including a game-ending, unassisted twin killing. On Saturday, she doubled home a run and hit a sacrifice fly, for her sixth multi-RBI game of the year. In Sunday's series finale, she posted her team-leading seventh multihit game with a pair of singles. She walked twice and scored twice in the series.
Hawkins now leads MSU with a .390 batting average that ranks third among SEC freshmen this season. Her eight double plays turned also rank third in the SEC.
It is Hawkins' first career weekly honor and the second of the season for the Bulldogs.
She is MSU's first Freshman of the Week honoree since March 21, 2023.
The Bulldogs host UL Monroe today at 6 p.m.
Track and Field
Mississippi State track and field senior Rosealee Cooper finished eighth in the 60-meter hurdles finals at the NCAA Indoor Championships in Boston, Mass on Saturday.
With her eighth-place finish Cooper earned her first first-team All-American Award to conclude the 2024 indoor season.
Cooper, who competed in her third consecutive NCAA Indoor Championships, competed in her first NCAA Indoor Championships finals race after posting a personal record in the semi-finals on Friday with a time of 8.05.
She completes the season with the 10th-best time performance time in the nation while also ranking second on MSU's all-time top-five performance list.
The Barbican native completed her indoor season with eight top-six finishes and four Bulldog all-time top-five performances that include the 60 meters, 200 meters, 60 meters and the 4x400 meter relay.