Good morning! Man isn’t it nice to have a coach that can do it all? Head men’s basketball coach Chris Jans was given an alternate title this past weekend in the Starkville Derby. He was given an award he said, “has a reserved spot in the house.” It must be something pretty special.

What else did we toss into the Brew today?

⛳️ One Step Closer
⚾️ Chasing History
🐶 And much, much more!

🎥 HAIL STATE PLUS

In this episode of My Time, get a behind the scenes look of Starkville native and distance track runner Reese Dunne. He talks about how his Presidential Scholarship helped him receive his education, his passion for engineering and research, and his relentless pursuit of his goals both on and off the track.

The future graduate (in precisely two days) is one of our proud Bulldogs who earned the honor of becoming a Rhodes Scholar finalist, and will continue his education later this year over at Stanford University.

Watch the full episode, and the start of HailState+’s graduation series as we spotlight some of MSU’s graduates through May 12th for free, here.

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

🔼 One Step Closer. The NCAA Westfield Regional No. 1 seed MSU Bulldogs are your Regional Champs for the first time in program history. The third round of action was a grind, but the Bulldogs got it done winning the region by two strokes.

Julia Lopez Ramirez did her thing, and finished the tournament off in a tie for first place at 13 under-par. After starting the day with a double bogey, she came back with six birdies throughout the round a finished with a two-under 70 to wrap up first place. Just behind her was Hannah Levi, who came in solo third after shooting an impressive two-under on the day, and a 12 under-par for the tournament.

Izzy Pellot finished off the tournament inside the top-30, going one over-par across her three rounds. Filling out the final spot in the foursome was Surapa Janthamunee who finished the day with a three over-par round which was good enough to secure the Bulldogs a regional title.

With MSU securing a spot in Scottsdale in a couple of weeks, the Bulldogs will take some time to get some more practice in before NCAA Championship play. Lucky for us, the final three days will be televised live on the Golf Channel, so stay tuned for May 19-24 for a chance to see the Bulldogs compete live.

🔼 Tennis Academics. Our Bulldogs know how to get things done both on and off the court. Five of our tennis student-athletes were named to Academic All-District teams, two from the women’s team and three from the men’s.

• Emmanouela Antonaki, who has already earned the SEC Scholar-Athlete of the Year earlier this season, adds this award to her resume as she gets set to graduate with her master’s degree achieving an impressive 4.0 GPA.

• Chloe Ciortte, a first time honoree, was given the award for her efforts in the classroom thanks to a 3.78 GPA. The junior will return to the team next year in pursuit of more wins, and not just on the court.

• Ewen Lumsden earned his award due to his academic prowess in attaining a post-graduate degree with a 3.66 GPA.

• Nemanja Malesevic, the junior with the team lead for wins against ranked opponents, raked in a 3.59 GPA this year en route to his award this season.

• Gregor Ramskogler, in pursuing his master’s degree, achieved a 4.0 GPA as a post-graduate student, and will graduate with the degree later this week.

Each are quite deserving of the hard work they put in the classroom this year. While the women’s team may be finished for the season, you can catch the men’s team in the NCAA Round of 16 action this Saturday as they prepare to take on the country’s number two team, TCU.

 🔼 Chasing History. Super slugger Hunter Hines has hit his fair share of dingers this season. In fact, he now sits in a tie for sixth all-time in home runs hit in a single season with Tommy Raffo who also hit 22 homers in 1989. His mindset when he steps up to the plate? “I just go out there every day and take good swings.” If only it were that easy for the rest of us…

Hines’ home runs this season, including his most recent moon shot, means he hits one every two games on average which has been crucial in picking up the Bulldogs multiple times this season. “Some of the things he does are special,” said head coach Chris Lemonis when asked about Hines’ hitting abilities. “He’s doing a good job coming every day working and leading,” he added.

Read more about Hunter Hines and his aspirations to become one of State’s best hitters, and who he really wants to chase down on that all-time home run list.

🤔 BULLDOG TRIVIA

Head Dinger. Hunter Hines’ bat has been a flamethrower all season with his 22 home runs and 57 RBI’s. With just a couple games left to go, Hines wants to keep things going to try and reach that all-time home run record.

Our question today — do you know who holds the record for most home runs in a single season?

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

📬 STICK WITH US

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🎉 TRIVIA ANSWER

Answer: Bruce Castoria and Rafael Palmeiro!

Castoria in ‘81 and Palmeiro in ‘84 both hit 29 home runs in a single season for the Bulldogs. Palmeiro though did so in just 61 games that season, giving him the slight edge on Bruce who played in 63 games his season.

Have a great Thursday, y'all.