BULLDOG BITS
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 are available for purchase via Hailstate.com/tickets for $5 per game.
MSU opens the season on Friday against Youngstown State at 4 p.m.
Track and Field
With Marco Arop's record-breaking time on Saturday at the Tiger Paw Invitational, Mississippi State's men's 800-meter group has moved up to second in the nation in USTFCCCA'S latest #Eventsquad rankings.
Arop posted a blistering mark of 1:45.90, which broke both the school and Canadian national record in the indoor 800 meters. Additionally, his time was the best in the nation last week and currently ranks second in the NCAA and fourth in the world. Arop's mark ranks No. 7 all-time in NCAA indoor history.
In addition to Arop, Dejon Devroe (1:49.46), Daniel Nixon (1:49.69) and Kenya Small (1:52.20) combined for an average mark of 1:49.31. Nixon's season-best mark came Saturday at Clemson as well, where he finished fourth behind Arop and Devroe, who placed third.
State's men's 200-meter group jumped six spots in the rankings to No. 12 with an average time of 21.30 after Terryon Conwell ran a personal-best 20.99 at Clemson to move into fifth all-time in MSU indoor history. Karson Kowalchuk nearly matched his personal-best on Saturday as well, running a season-best 21.21 in the 200-meter Invitational. Okheme Moore remained one of MSU'S top four 200-meter sprinters, while Cameron Crump joins the fold as the fourth-best Bulldog in the event with a run of 21.57 at Clemson.
The Bulldogs' men's 60-meter squad improved two spots, sitting at No. 22 in the nation this week with an average of 6.84. Kowalchuk again leads the pack after running a season-best 6.75 at Clemson on Friday. Moore (6.82), Crump (6.86) and Lawrence Crawford (6.93) round out MSU'S top four 60m sprinters.
MSU will be back in action Feb. 22-23 at the 2019 SEC Indoor Championships, held at the Randal Tyson Track Center in Fayetteville, Arkansas.
Women's Golf
SHOAL CREEK, Ala. – In its opening competition of the spring, the Mississippi State women's golf team placed second in the Shootout at Shoal Creek held at the Shoal Creek Golf Course right outside Birmingham.
The Bulldogs posted 19 birdies in the opening round of the year, which led head coach Ginger Brown-lemm's squad to their 3-over par, 291 second-place finish. Auburn claimed the team title, while Ole Miss finished third.
Lemm-brown was excited to see her team's offseason work pay off on a tough course in a competitive field.
Freshman Hannah Levi led MSU, tying for third. She fired five birdies, three of those being on the back nine, and finished 1-under par.
Sophomore Aubree Jones, along with teammate Blair Stockett, tied for ninth shooting a 1-over par 73.