BULLDOG BITS
Athletics
With a busy weekend on campus ahead, Mississippi State has announced important fan information for the upcoming Bulldog Invitational at Nusz Park on March 9-12. The included parking and shuttle information also applies for fans attending baseball and men's tennis this weekend.
Softball is a non-ticketed sport at MSU and tickets are not required to attend the Bulldog Invitational. However, a limited number of seats will be reserved behind each dugout for that team's parents and fans that are included on their pass list. These seats will be cleared between each game to allow the next team's fans to use them.
Tickets are required and remain available for baseball's series with Lipscomb on March 1012. Admission to all home tennis matches, including the men's matches on March 9 and March 11, is free.
The baseball parking map will be in effect on March 10-11 with some modifications to accommodate the Bulldog Invitational and men's tennis. Additional parking for softball is available in the Zacharias Village lot with a shuttle available.
The new North Garage will be available for fans of all three events on March 10-11 only. Fans can purchase parking in advance for $5 or can pay upon arrival if spaces remain. The fourth and fifth level of the garage will be reserved for ADA parking only, with a shuttle to the ballparks provided.
Shuttle buses for fans will stop at Zacharias Village, Nusz Park (for both softball and tennis), Dudy Noble Field (center field gate) and the North Garage. ADA golf carts will also be operational from Nusz Park and from the home plate, right field and center field gates of Nusz Park. All fans who parked at Zacharias Village, including those needing an ADA shuttle, are asked to utilize the shuttle bus as golf carts will not transport to Zacharias Village.
Shuttle service begins at 4 p.m. on Friday and 11 a.m. on Saturday. The buses will run for 30 minutes following the final game of the day across all three sports.
A talented field, including No. 1 Oklahoma, awaits Mississippi State softball at this weekend's Bulldog Invitational.
State will play five games in four days today through Sunday. The Bulldogs only doubleheader will come on Saturday against the Sooners and Omaha.
MSU (16-5) open the event today night against Southeastern Louisiana in the only game of the day.that day is also MSU'S Greek Attendance Challenge for members of fraternities and sororities on campus. The Bulldogs are 8-1 all-time against the Lions. Southeastern played Wednesday night before coming to Starkville.
MSU then meets the No. 1 Sooners (17-1) for the third and fourth times under head coach Samantha Ricketts who played in Norman from 2006-09 and was a two-time All-american. The Friday night game features a bucket hat giveaway that is limited to students. Saturday's game is a nationally-televised matchup on the SEC Network, and fans in attendance will receive free rally towels.
Also on Saturday, MSU meets Omaha (10-5) for the first time since 2018 and just the third time in school history. On Sunday, the Bulldogs will play East Tennessee State) which wrapped up a doubleheader on Wednesday night before traveling to Starkville for the tournament. The Bulldogs are 3-0 alltime against the Buccaneers with the last meeting coming in 2010.
All MSU games will be streamed on SEC Network+. Admission to all games at Nusz Park is free.
Men’s Tennis
For the second straight week,
No. 18 Mississippi State is set to host a top 20 matchup at home.
Last Thursday, the Bulldogs defeated then 19th-ranked Florida 5-2 and will look to earn another ranked victory against No. 15 Auburn today at 3 p.m. The match is set to be played at the A.J. Pitts Tennis Centre but could be moved indoors to the Rula Tennis Pavilion in the event of inclement weather.
Matt Roberts' MSU squad is off to a scorching 12-2 start to the season and is 1-1 in Southeastern Conference play after stumbling at now 35th-ranked Ole Miss 4-3 this past Saturday.
The Bulldogs own a 32-21 advantage in the overall series against Auburn and are 15-9 at home against the Tigers. State has won eight straight in the series including a 4-3 victory on The Plains last spring.
No. 89 Carles Hernandez has been on a roll for the Bulldogs having won six consecutive singles matches and is 11-1 during dual match play. Hernandez is tied with 125th-ranked Nemanja Malesevic for the team lead with four victories over ranked opponents this year.
Hernandez, Malesevic and Ewen Lumsden have all clinched three matches each for Mississippi State.
Hernandez and Malesevic also makeup the nation's No. 26 doubles tandem and have been victorious in six of their last seven matches. Hernandez and Malesevic have clinched five doubles points and knocked off four ranked opponents this season.
Auburn enters today's affair at 11-3 and is also 1-1 in SEC play. The Tigers saw their eight-match winning streak snapped at home against then No. 9 Georgia 6-1 this past Saturday.
Auburn's lineup features 124th-ranked Tyler Stice in singles as well as the ranked doubles teams of No. 33 Raul Dobai and Finn Murgett and No. 65 Jan Galka and Alejandro Moreno.
The Tigers' last win against MSU came on Feb. 22, 2014 as part of the Blue-gray National Tennis Classic in Montgomery, Alabama.
Volleyball
NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Mississippi State's Deja Robinson was selected as part of the Southeastern Conference Student-athlete Volunteer Program at 2023 SEC Men's Basketball Tournament.
The program allows current and former SEC student-athletes to gain valuable experience in working a SEC Championship and a chance to be hands-on while working behind the scenes to learn what it takes to produce SEC Championships.
Robinson, a member of the MSU volleyball team from 201822, is graduating in interdisciplinary studies. She helped lead the team to a 25-6 overall record with a 16-2 record in conference play and a trip to their first NCAA Tournament appearance in 2021. She rewrote the MSU record book, becoming the all-time leader in career blocks with 502. She accumulated 843 kills, 167 digs and 1,163 points during her career.