Good morning! In case you missed it, this weekend, MSU honored all of its seniors who have given their all to this program during their time in Starkville. A big thank you to the forever members of the Hail State family!

What else did we toss into the Brew today?

⚾️ Among The Best
🎾 Tournament Ready
🐶 And much, much more!

🎥 HAIL STATE PLUS

In this episode of All Access, dive in with Emmanouela Antonaki as she walks us through what it took for her to reach her fourth NCAA Tournament with State tennis. She takes us through what motivated her to reach the tournament, how her pace impacts her play on the court, and how her previous experiences have helped her prepare for this year’s tournament.

With HailState+ you get to watch wherever you want to watch. Web, mobile, and (later this year) all major OTT streaming apps like AppleTV, Amazon FireTV, Roku, and Android. We got it all.

📈 STOCK UP

🔼 No Quit In These Dawgs. They say hungry dawgs run faster, and in the case of our Bulldogs’ women’s golf team, they would be right. Needing a top-15 finish to advance to the next round of the NCAA Championships, MSU rallied behind an eagle and four birdies in the final three holes to send State through with a 14th place finish.

Julia Lopez Ramirez leads all State golfers after firing off back-to-back under-par rounds on Saturday and Sunday. She heads into today with a two under-par score in a tie for 16th. Abbey Daniel stepped up in round three with a one under-par round that helped propel her up the leaderboard into a tie for 54th alongside senior leader Hannah Levi. The Bulldogs will now head into a top-15 matchup needing to make up some ground as only the top eight teams advance to the next stage: championship match play.

Follow all the action here, or tune in on the Golf Channel at 4:00pm CT to watch the tournament in real time.

🔼 Tournament Ready. The NCAA women’s tennis bracket is set, and our very own Emmanouela Antonaki will start her race for the title later today. She will square off against North Carolina’s Carson Tanguilig at noon for a chance to advance to the Round of 32. Find the complete bracket NCAA Singles Championship bracket here.

🔼 He’s Baaaaaack. State basketball fans, grab a chair because you’re going to want to see this. Tolu Smith, last season’s All-SEC First Team selection, is coming back to MSU for another year. The reason why? Legacy.

“For me, I want to be one of those legacy guys. To be that…it’s getting to the big games like the Final Fours or the championships. That’s what I’m striving for this year,” said Smith. For the foreseeable future, this Bulldog basketball team is going to be one no SEC team wants to mess with. As Tolu said in his feature video, “if you ain’t a dawg, you’re dawg food.” Life at The Hump next season is going to be one to remember.

🔼 Among The Best. MSU’s Hunter Hines has had one heck of a season, and the rest of the collegiate baseball world has caught on. Hines was announced as a semifinalist for the Dick Howser Trophy which is given to the top player in college baseball each year.

Over 51 games this season, Hines hit an impressive .302 at the plate, led the team in home runs with 22 (third most in the NCAA) and batted in 61 runners this season. To go along with all of those stats, he has provided the Bulldogs with 17 multi-hit games and leads the team in slugging percentage and hits. It’s a resume that certainly deserves to be considered when decided the top player in the nation.

The finalists for the award will be named on June 8th with the winner announced on June 15th after the conclusion of the College World Series. Regardless of winning the award or not, Hines has proven himself an invaluable member of the Bulldog baseball team, and we can’t wait for what comes his way.

🔼 State To The Show. Our pro dawgs continue to tear up the diamond at the next level, and here are a few that have had quite the productive past couple of weeks:

• Nathaniel Lowe has solidified himself as an everyday starter with the Texas Rangers, and has hit safely in 14 of his last 16 games. The first baseman had himself a game on Saturday going 3-5 with a pair of RBI’s en route to a win for his squad.

• Brent Rooker continues to be a force for the A’s and currently ranks second in the American League in OPS. He currently leads the team in batting average, home runs, RBI’s, and on base percentage.

• Jordan Westburg is dominating over with the Norfolk Tides (a Baltimore Orioles affiliate), and has hit safely in five of his last six games. In that span, he has hit three home runs, three doubles, and driven in nine runners.

🤔 BULLDOG TRIVIA

Major Leaguers. In today’s edition, we walked you through a couple of Bulldogs who are making their mark in pro baseball, but by no means was that a comprehensive list of all of our former dawgs out on the pro diamond.

Our question today — do you know how many former MSU baseball players currently play in the MLB?

Think you know the answer? Scroll on down to the bottom to find out.

📬 STICK WITH US

Did someone send you the Bulldog Brew? Well, the first thing you should do is thank them. The next thing you should do is subscribe here and get it in your inbox every weekday morning just in time for your first cup of coffee!

🎉 TRIVIA ANSWER

Answer: Eight!

J.P. France, Adam Frazier, Kendall Graveman, Nathaniel Lowe, Hunter Renfroe, Brent Rooker, Chris Stratton, and Brendon Woodruff are all on active MLB rosters as we close out the month of May.

Have a great Monday, y'all.