BULLDOG BITS

With help of junior Alyssa Loza's perfect game performance in the circle, No. 24 Mississippi State softball continued to roll through the Bulldog Kickoff Classic field, picking up two victories over Valparaiso Saturday at Nusz Park.

Sophomore catcher Mia Davidson slugged the first grand slam of her career to help Mississippi State to an 8-3 victory over the Crusaders to open Saturday's slate. In her first career start, Loza tossed just the third perfect game in Mississippi State softball history as State blanked Valparaiso 10-0 in five innings.

Junior left fielder Fa Leilua turned in another impressive day at the plate for MSU as she recorded five RBI and slugged two home runs against the Crusaders. Senior centerfielder Kat Moore tallying three hits Saturday, including two triples, and scored two runs and collected three RBI.

After working out of a jam in the top of the first inning of game one, MSU responded in the home half of the inning. After Davidson got aboard via a hit by pitch and Leilua walked, senior first baseman Sarai Niu singled through the right side to plate the first run of the game.

State broke through in the bottom of the second, leading off the inning with three straight singles by the bottom of the order to load the bases for Mia Davidson. The younger Davidson sister did miss the opportunity slugging the first grand slam of her career with a bomb to left field to push MSU'S lead to 5-0. Her sister, redshirt sophomore Montana Davidson knocked an RBI single to left to cap State's five-run second inning.

Valparaiso capitalized on three Mississippi State errors in the third inning to plate two unearned runs, cutting the margin to 6-2. The score held until the bottom of the sixth with an RBI single by Moore and a sacrifice fly by Leilua.

Baseball

In six days the Mississippi State baseball program will open arguably the finest facility in college baseball when the new Dudy Noble Field opens its gates for the first series of the 2019 season.

The weekend will feature a bevy of special promotions, dedications and recognitions, with a complete list provided below to help the Diamond Dawg faithful plan for the historic weekend.

The largest on-campus facility in college baseball, the rebuilt Dudy Noble Field features a 360-degree view of the playing surface with 130,000-square feet of space along the concourse and berm areas. The three-year baseball facility project totaling $68 million is set to open against Youngstown State. The project includes 96 Left Field Lounge rigs, 20 suites, 12 Left Field Loft units, three unique fan areas – Farm Bureau Triple Crown Club, Charlie and Dana Stevenson Omaha Club and The Rooftop Club – along with double the concession points of sale.

Boasting 33-straight seasons of selling out the reserved seating areas, Dudy Noble Field owns 17 of the top 20 largest on-campus crowds in college baseball history and the top four on-campus NCAA Super Regional attendances.

Former Diamond Dawgs are invited to join the program for the historic opening weekend, with each former student-athlete receiving two complimentary tickets to each game. Tickets must be claimed in advance via Hailstate.com/ tickets using the promo code received in alumni email. If there are questions, or alumni emails were not received, please visit Hailstate.com/openingweekend for more information.

General admission tickets

The Crusaders loaded the bases with no outs in the top of the seven with help of two walks and a single. A bases-loaded walk cut the Bulldog lead to 8-3, but sophomore Emily Williams responded with a strikeout and line out to secure the win.

Junior Candace Denis earned her first victory of the season. She allowed two unearned runs off three hits and a walk, while striking out three. Williams picked up the save, pitching the final three innings of the contest. Williams allowed one run off one hit and four walks, while striking out six.

MSU'S flexed its offense during the second game against the Crusaders. The Bulldogs took control in the first inning, playing an unearned run off an error, but it was the second inning that State's bats came alive.

After a single by junior outfielder Christian Quinn and a double by Heimberger, senior shortstop Bevia Robinson cleared the bases with a perfectly placed double in deep left field. Mia Davidson drew a walk to put two on for Moore, who cleared the bases once more with a triple to deep center. Leilua put the Bulldogs up 7-0 with a two-run homer to center.

The Bulldogs added three runs in the bottom of the third with a sacrifice squeeze by Moore and Leilua's second homer of the contest to extend MSU'S lead to 10-0.

In her first Bulldog start, Loza retired 15 consecutive batters to record the perfect game. She struck out four in the outing and forced eight groundouts and three fly outs. The win and shutout were the firsts of her State career.

The Bulldogs return to the field today at 1:30 p.m. to face the winner of No. 2 seed Stephen F. Austin and No. 3 Middle Tennessee for the Bulldog Kickoff Classic Championship. The contest will be aired on the SEC Network +. are available for purchase via Hailstate.com/tickets for $5 per game.

Men's Tennis

LUBBOCK, Texas – After having to move indoors and play two hours later than originally scheduled due to cold temperatures, the No. 3 Mississippi State men's tennis team was unfazed, ultimately taking a tough 4-2 victory at Texas Tech Friday night.

The Bulldogs (5-0) continued to showcase strong doubles play to down the Red Raiders (5-3), but also posted three tough singles wins to earn the win. State is 5-0 for the first time since 2014 and now leads the series with the Red Raiders 5-2.

“What a match from both teams tonight,” MSU head coach Matt Roberts said. “We dealt with the adversity very well and I'm so proud of the boys for sticking together and battling through it. Texas Tech started very strong in doubles and put a lot of pressure on us early and throughout singles. They served and returned very well indoors, and we had to make more adjustments than we are used to. That's why I'm so proud of these resilient young men.”

The Red Raiders earned an early advantage in doubles when 14th-ranked Bjorn Thomson and Parker Wynn topped State's No. 34 Nuno Borges and Strahinja Rakic on court 1 in a tight 6-4 decision.

However, the Bulldogs hung tough once again on courts 2 and 3. The undefeated MSU tandem of Trevor Foshey and Gregor Ramskogler emerged victorious once more, claiming a gritty 7-5 victory against Texas Tech's Artem Kapshuk and Matheus Leite to move to 9-0 on the year and put all eyes on court 2.

There, State's sixth-ranked

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duo of Niclas Braun and Giovanni Oradini held off the Red Raider pair of Jackson Cobb and Tommy Mylnikov for a 7-5 win that extended MSU'S doubles point win streak to 16 matches and gave the Bulldogs a valuable 1-0 lead going into singles.

The fifth-ranked Borges pushed MSU'S lead to 2-0 rather quickly, taking a 6-2, 6-3 victory over 78th-ranked Red Raider Mylnikov at the top spot in the lineup. Borges' doubles partner, Rakic, then gave the Bulldogs a commanding 3-0 advantage with a solid 7-6(3), 6-2 win over Texas Tech's Thomson at No. 3.

The homestanding Red Raiders would not go away quietly, cutting MSU'S lead to 3-2 with back-to-back wins. Ilgiz Valiev upset 98th-ranked Foshey of the Bulldogs in a tight 7-6(7), 6-3 decision on court 4 before Wynn upended State's 66th-ranked Oradini in three sets - 6-4, 3-6, 6-1 – at the No. 2 spot.

With Bulldogs Florian Broska and Ramskogler playing the day's final two matches to decide the match, Broska emerged victorious in a 6-4, 6-4 victory over the Red Raiders' Kapshuk at the No. 5 position. Ramskogler was up a set on court 6 at the time of Broska's clincher.

CLEMSON, S.C./NASHVILLE, Tenn. – A national record by Marco Arop on Saturday led 19 Mississippi State track and field athletes who set personal-best marks for the weekend at the Tiger Paw Invitational and Music City Challenge.

Arop ran 1:45.90 to win the 800 meters at Clemson on Saturday to not only break his home country's record, but also break the school record in the event. The sophomore currently ranks third in the world in the event and seventh all-time in NCAA indoor history. With Arop's record, four current or former MSU athletes hold national records (Anderson Peters – Grenada, javelin; Marta Freitas – Portugal, mile; Brandon Mcbride – Canada, outdoor 800 meters).

“We had a slew of personal-bests and season-bests this weekend,” MSU interim head coach Chris Woods said. “Two historic records were broken, and several individuals put themselves in position to score at the conference meet. When we travel to Arkansas, we have to bring the same energy and momentum that we showed this weekend. We have the opportunity to do some good things but we have to intelligently put in the work over the next two weeks so we can be competing at our highest levels when it counts the most.”

Of the 19 individuals, a total of 21 personal bests were set, with 17 occurring on Saturday.

Peyton Mickelson became the first MSU woman to ever clear 4.00 meters or higher in the women's pole vault, indoor and outdoor combined, with a personal-best clearance of 4.03 meters (13-2.5) that bested her school-record mark. Emma Hunt continued to improve on her mark, which ranks fourth all-time in program history, clearing 3.73 meters (12-2.75).

Terryon Conwell etched his name in the MSU indoor record books, running a personal-best 20.99 to finish second at Clemson and move into fifth all-time in the men's 200 meters.

In the 3000 meters, Carly Terp ran a personal-best 10:10.38, while men ran personal-best times in their event, including Benjamin Craw, John Dalton Rohr, Lake Spradling, Chandler Underwood, Zach Weaver and Luke Zacharias.

Giacomo Deluca and Quintin Reiser both broke personal bests in the mile, running 4:17.78 4:18.17, respectively.

A day after running a personal best in the 60m, Faith Gilbert achieved her best mark in the women's 200 meters at Clemson, running 24.65.

In the men's 800 meters at Vanderbilt, Freddie Jackson III and Slater Richardson both set personal bests, running 1:53.85 and 1:56.06, respectively.

Madelyn Lee threw a personal-best 13.78 meters (452.5) in the shot put, while Alexis Farley jumped 12.86 meters (42-2.25) to set a personal best in the triple jump.

Women's Tennis

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For the second Saturday in a row, Mississippi State's women's tennis team (6-2) posted a doubleheader sweep.

Despite frigid morning temperatures, the Bulldogs bested Alabama State 7-0 in the opening match and 4-0 in the sequel at the A.J. Pitts Tennis Centre.

“We've been doing good things in practice the last couple weeks and making some adjustments,” MSU head coach Daryl Greenan said. “I felt like we were going to get a bigger challenge than last weekend, and we did. I like the way the girls handled it. I think we handled it well overall, and we played pretty solid.”

In a match that featured an inspired finish, State swept the Hornets in a decision to open Saturday's twinbill. Magda Adaloglou and Tamara Racine clinched the doubles point for State by downing Alabama State's Worthy Goldman and Chloe Kabamba 6-1 on court 1. The Bulldogs also bested Alabama State's on courts 2 and 3 to make MSU 9-0 in doubles matches in the last three contests.

In singles, the Bulldogs found success on all six courts, improving to outscore opponents 18-0 at home in 2019. The rookie Emma Antonaki finished swiftly on court 2 with a 6-1, 6-0 decision over Alabama State's Kabamba. Sara Lizariturry cruised past Urska Velec 6-1, 6-0 at No. 5. Clinching the match for the Bulldogs, Racine bested Alabama State's Gabriela Lackova 6-3, 6-3 in the fourth position.

Senior captain Anastasia Rentouli defeated Lea Krajcovicova 6-4, 6-2 on court 3 to extended her win streak to seven contests. Fellow senior Janina Braun then completed a hardfought 7-6(5), 6-3 triumph over Alabama State's Worthy Goldman at No. 6.

On the top court, State's 98th-ranked Adaloglou quickly took the first set 6-3, then dropped the second 6-4 to force a 10-point tiebreak to decide her match with Hornet Reka Szentes. After falling behind 9-5 in the tiebreak, the sophomore dug deep to win seven of the final eight points to take the match 6-3, 4-6, 1-0(10). Adaloglou's come-from-behind triumph solidified the Bulldogs' 7-0 sweep of the Hornets.

The second match of Saturday's doubleheader started with singles and doubles was not contested. The Bulldogs downed the Hornets 4-0 to earn the program's 34th straight non-conference win in Starkville.

State's Adaloglou burned through Kabamba 6-1, 6-0 on court 1 in the opening singles match to quickly put MSU up 1-0. Rentouli then downed Velec 6-1, 6-1 at No. 3, while Lizariturry toppled Marija Blazevich impressively with her second 6-1, 6-0 decision of the day on court 5. The Bulldogs' Antonaki then clinched the match via a 6-1, 6-3 decision over Alabama State's Szentes on court 2.

The remaining matches were suspended at the clincher. All seven Bulldogs now how multimatch, active win streaks.

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