Wednesday Bulldog Update - 5/1/13
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This week began a very fun, if not extremely busy, time of year on campus. Students across the university are finishing their final semester exams, many of our athletic teams are preparing for postseason play and those of us in the athletic department are ironing out the final details for the annual Road Dawgs Tour.
MEN’S TENNIS HOSTING NCAA TOURNAMENT
A big congratulations goes out to our men’s tennis team who learned yesterday they will be hosting the first and second rounds of the NCAA Tournament on our campus next weekend. Coach Nilsson’s squad earned the No. 10 overall seed and is hosting for the second year in a row. We’d love for you to join us at the A.J. Pitts Tennis Centre to help cheer them on as they move from the regular season to what they hope will be an equally successful postseason run.
The first match for our team is on Friday, May 10, against Austin Peay and begins no earlier than 1 p.m. If the Bulldogs win, they face the winner of Harvard and Samford on Saturday at 1 p.m. A win in the first two rounds would send our Dawgs to the prestigious Sweet 16 being held this year in Champaign, Illinois.
For full details and ticket info for our host site, visit www.HailState.com/NCAAtennis.
WOMEN’S GOLF IN NCAA TOURNAMENT FOR FIRST TIME SINCE 2006
As we dole out the congratulations, Coach Ginger Brown-Lemm and our women’s golf team deserve praise for reaching the NCAA Tournament for the first time under her tutelage after a record-breaking season. Play in the Central Regional begins May 9 in Norman, Oklahoma.
And here’s a note I found interesting: 13 of the 14 SEC schools sent their women’s golf team to the NCAA Tourney. The power of our conference in all sports still impresses me. It’s worth noting, too, MSU finished fifth in the SEC Tournament against that same competition. Pretty impressive stuff.
$25K RAISED FOR ONE BOSTON FUND
I want to thank all of you for your support, as we managed to raise over $25,000 for the One Boston Fund by auctioning off the baseball team’s game-worn Boston tribute hats from Super Bulldog Weekend. Our State is always at the top of any list of generosity and giving, and this is just another example of how charitable, sympathetic and supportive our people are. Lives will be touched and families will be helped because of your donations.
ROAD DAWGS TOUR KICKS OFF MONDAY
I’m excited for one of my favorite parts of every summer as the Road Dawgs Tour gets started on Monday in Atlanta at 6 p.m. at Hudson’s Grille Midtown. Coaches Mullen, Ray and Schaefer will join Dr. Jimmy Abraham on the tour, which has its first Mississippi stop on Tuesday morning in Meridian. From there, we’ll hit Laurel, Biloxi, Brookhaven, Greenville, Columbus, Tupelo, Memphis, Southaven and Batesville before returning to Starkville Friday afternoon to watch our Diamond Dawgs at Dudy Noble. You can find the full schedule and itinerary here.
Unfortunately, SEC AD Meetings are scheduled for the first half of next week, which will prevent me from catching up with the Road Dawgs until we hit Columbus Thursday morning. But our staff is excited to get out around Mississippi and spread the good news about the Maroon and White.
TRACK RECORDS BROKEN AT PENN RELAYS
Our track and field teams had an outstanding weekend at the Penn Relays, one of the biggest events in the country, as they finished the regular season in advance of next weekend’s SEC Championships. On the final day of the weekend-long event, every Bulldog in competition earned a Top 5 finish, while the women’s 4x400 relay team broke a school record by finishing the event in 3:34.88. With two individual National Champions on the team and a bevy of broken records this season, Coach Dudley’s squads have had a truly incredible year and we can’t wait to see what they do in the postseason.
BASEBALL AT HOME THIS WEEKEND
Entering the final few series of the season, Coach Cohen’s Bulldogs need our support more than ever when they host SEC West foe Alabama this weekend. We’d love to have the opportunity to host a regional and once again showcase to the country how great a place Dudy Noble is for baseball, and your support this weekend will go a long way in helping our team earn the needed wins.
We appreciate what you do for Mississippi State Athletics and want to encourage you to get others involved. There are three things you can do to help the athletic department at Mississippi State reach its desired goals –
1. Buy Season Tickets
2. Financially Support the Bulldog Club
3. Get Others To Do The Same
Thanks for taking the time to read this Update.
Hail State!
Scott Stricklin