BULLDOG BITS
Men’s Tennis
For the first time in program history, two Mississippi State men's tennis players were selected as Southeastern Conference Co-freshmen of the Week.
Petar Jovanovic and Benito Sanchez Martinez were honored by the conference office for their contributions in the Bulldogs' 5-2 victory over then second-ranked South Carolina on Sunday. Jovanovic and Sanchez Martinez each downed a ranked opponent in singles, helped MSU win the doubles point and along with fellow freshman Michal Novansky accounted for five wins and four total points against the Gamecocks.
The Bulldogs' victory over No. 2 South Carolina was the highest-ranked win in program history.
Jovanovic teamed with partner Ewen Lumsden for just the third time this spring and clinched the doubles point against the Gamecocks' 22nd-ranked tandem of Jake Beasley and James Story in a tiebreaker 7-6(1). The Podgorica, Montenegro native also earned a 6-2, 6-4 singles victory over No. 84 Raphael Lambling to give State a 3-1 advantage in the match.
Jovanovic is tied for the team lead in both singles and doubles victories this season at 19-7 in singles play and 14-8 in doubles action. It also marks the third time Jovanovic has been chosen SEC Freshman of the Week, which leads the league. He needs one more weekly freshman honor to match the program record held by Malte Stropp in 2011 and Florian Lakat in 2014.
It is the first SEC honor for Sanchez Martinez, who has now beaten ranked singles opponents on back-to-back weekends. Sanchez Martinez's 6-3, 6-4 straight-set victory over South Carolina's No. 83 Casey Hoole clinched the match for the Bulldogs. The native of Potsdam, Germany also teamed with Novansky to defeat Hoole and Lambling 6-4 to earn Mississippi State's first doubles victory of the day.
Sanchez Martinez has now won nine of his last 11 singles matches and is 17-7 overall on the season, including a 14-4 mark during dual match play.
The Bulldogs (15-3, 3-2 SEC) climbed two spots to No. 12 following the win over South Carolina and will visit 70th-ranked Vanderbilt on Friday at 3 p.m. before trekking to No. 6 Kentucky on Sunday at noon CT.
Track and Field
The Mississippi State track and field program is set to host the annual Bulldog Relays beginning today and running through Saturday afternoon at the Mike Sanders Track and Field Complex in Starkville. Admission to all three days of competition is free for all spectators.
The meet starts at noon today with the women's hammer, followed by the men's hammer throw at 3:30 p.m. that afternoon. On Friday, field events are slated to get underway at 1 p.m., while the track action is set to begin at 5 p.m. Saturday's slate begins with the women's javelin at 11 a.m. with running events set to start at noon.
MSU will welcome teams from Alabama, Alabama State, Arkansas State, Jackson State, Meridian Community College, Mobile, Samford, SEMO, Stillman College, Tuskegee, UAB, UAPB, West Alabama and William Carey.