Sweet No. Sixteen in Starkville, Baseball and Tennis Climb in Rankings

Both Mississippi State men’s tennis and baseball team climb in newly released rankings.

Starting with tennis, the No. 16 team is set to host the first and second round of the NCAA championship tournament in StarkVegas. This will be the sixth time this has happened in the Mississippi State men’s tennis program history. The Bulldogs new ranking sets them up to be a top seed in this tournament. They will be playing the fourth seed, Alabama State, in their first matchup starting on Friday at 1 PM. The team has earned such a high ranking by going 17–7 overall and 9–3 in conference play. They have phenomenal players this season, with two specific players who are ranked in the top 55 for DI college players in the nation. State’s sophomore Petar Jovanovic, from Montenegro, ranked No. 49 alongside senior teammate Nemanja Malesevic, from Bosnia, who is ranked at No. 53. Both singles and double matches will be in play during this tournament, and Mississippi State’s No. 12 doubles team of Petar Jovanovic and Benito Sanchez Martinez will be in competition. This is the second year in a row that the Bulldogs will be hosting this tournament, and hopefully the team feels a home advantage.

Mississippi State baseball team climbs back into the ranking system as well, claiming the No. 16 spot. The team was knocked off of the top 25 list after their series loss against Ole Miss two weeks prior, but they have scaled their way back after wins against Alcorn State, Auburn, Memphis, and most importantly No. 11 Vanderbilt. Mississippi State is now ranked above their previous competitor Vanderbilt following this past weekend’s series win. The Bulldogs are set to bat again in a single game against Ole Miss on May 1st, which can be watched on ESPNU as a possible “revenge” match.

Ranked daWgs are good daWgs.

Author administrator Corinne Ellington