Mississippi State
LSU
No. 14 Bulldogs Sweep Singles In Win Over LSU
April 07, 2023 | Men's Tennis
STARKVILLE – No. 14 Mississippi State dug an early hole by dropping the doubles point to 45th-ranked LSU on Friday.
But the Bulldogs more than made up for it by sweeping all six courts in singles and won 6-1 in front of the largest crowd of the season inside the Rula Tennis Pavilion. It was the seventh time this spring that MSU has battled back to win despite losing the doubles point.
"I'm just really happy with how all six courts compete consistently," said head coach Matt Roberts. "I don't think I've ever had a team like this, the way we trust each other every match to fight. They're going to play every point as tough as they can."
No. 93 Ewen Lumsden was able to get the Bulldogs on the board with his 6-3, 6-3 win over Welsh Hotard. Lumsden has now won 10 of his last 12 singles matches and 15 of his last 18 since Jan. 22.
Benito Sanchez Martinez followed suit with his 7-5, 6-3 win over George Stoupe and No. 125 Carles Hernandez topped 101st-ranked Chen Dong 4-6, 6-0, 6-2. It was Sanchez Martinez's 20th victory of the season while Hernandez earned his fifth triumph over a ranked opponent and improved to a team-best 22-6 overall.
Gregor Ramskogler lost his opening set 1-6 to Julien Penzlin but persevered in the next two 7-6(5), 6-2 to clinch his eighth career match for Mississippi State.
"Every clinch is awesome, but this one was even more special because that was for sure the best crowd that we've had," Ramskogler said. "There were some times when they erupted that I thought the roof was going to collapse. They were extremely loud and a lot of people stuck around for a very long time. That just made it even more special. I tried to do it for them, and it feels good."
Following the clinch, Petar Jovanovic prevailed 6-4, 3-6, 7-6(6) over Stefan Latinovic and No. 118 Nemanja Malesevic finished off the singles sweep against 78th-ranked Ronald Hohmann 7-5, 5-7, 6-4. It was Malesevic's team-leading seventh singles win over a ranked foe this season and 17th of his career.
The Bulldogs began the day with a doubles win by No. 73 Jovanovic and Lumsden, downing Hotard and Latinovic 6-2. However, LSU (11-9, 2-8 SEC) evened things when Dong and Stoupe defeated Ramskogler and Sanchez Martinez 6-1 and Hohmann and took the point when Hohmann and Watson edged the newly-formed team of Malesevic and Michal Novansky.
With the win, MSU improved to 18-5 on the year and 6-4 in conference play. The Bulldogs are now 14-1 at home this season and were playing in Starkville for the first time in 19 days. Â
"You have to play super-sharp tennis to get any sort of road wins in the SEC," Roberts said. "Here, it just feels little less stressful and comfortable for you to be able to dig in. That showed too because we won a lot of deuce points today."
Mississippi State will close out its regular season home slate on Sunday by hosting No. 60 Arkansas at 1 p.m. Prior to the match, the Bulldogs will honor the departing class of Lumsden, Ramskogler, Patrick Lazo and Seth Richey.
No. 14 Mississippi State 6, No. 45 LSU 1
Rula Tennis Pavilion | Starkville, Miss.
April 7, 2023
 Doubles
1. Ronald Hohmann/Nick Watson (LSU) def. Nemanja Malesevic/Michal Novansky (MSU) 6-4
2. No. 73 Petar Jovanovic/Ewen Lumsden (MSU) def. Welsh Hotard/Stefan Latinovic (LSU) 6-2
3. Chen Dong/George Stoupe (LSU) def. Gregor Ramskogler/Benito Sanchez Martinez (MSU) 6-1
Order of finish: (2,3,1)
Singles
1. No. 118 Nemanja Malesevic (MSU) def. No. 78 Ronald Hohmann (LSU) 7-5, 5-7, 6-4
2. Petar Jovanovic (MSU) def. Stefan Latinovic (LSU) 6-4, 3-6, 7-6(6)
3. No. 125 Carles Hernandez (MSU) def. No. 101 Chen Dong (LSU) 4-6, 6-0, 6-2
4. No. 93 Ewen Lumsden (MSU) def. Welsh Hotard (LSU) 6-3, 6-3
5. Benito Sanchez Martinez (MSU) def. George Stoupe (LSU) 7-5, 6-3
6. Gregor Ramskogler (MSU) def. Julien Penzlin (LSU) 1-6, 7-6(5), 6-2
Order of finish: (4,5,3,6,2,1)
 For more information on the Bulldog men's tennis program, visit HailState.com or search for "HailStateMT" on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.
Players Mentioned
