Articles by Brett Hudson
MSU beats Tennessee in Game 2 of series
STARKVILLE — The Mississippi State baseball team is one win away from a sweep and evening its Southeastern Conference record after a 14-4 win against Tennessee on Saturday night in which it set new season highs for runs, hits (20), and extra-base hits (six).
MSU baseball takes SEC series opener from Tennessee
STARKVILLE — Mississippi State hasn’t had a Friday night like this one in six weeks. The outlier: Konnor Pilkington bowing out before the seventh inning.
Injury-plagued Bulldogs welcome Volunteers to Dudy Noble Field this weekend
STARKVILLE — Andy Cannizaro has been in baseball every year since his early childhood days of tee ball, and in recapping Mississippi State’s lengthy injury report Tuesday, he confidently said, “I’ve never seen anything like this in my life.”
Mullen likes depth at center position
STARKVILLE — Dan Mullen believes football teams have to have, “at least three” centers, just for the purpose of insurance in depth at such a pivotal position.
JSU’s Jones hopes to make impression at Pro Day
JACKSON — Javancy Jones left Noxubee County High School for the Jackson State football program in 2013 with a bevy of professional options at his disposal.
Jones assumed football wasn’t one of them.
Ross, Senior lead former Bulldogs at MSU’s Pro Day
STARKVILLE — After Fred Ross finished his senior season with the Mississippi State football team, he put personal grudges aside and embarked on a grueling regimen of relentless training for the NFL Combine.
“There’s guys that can run 4.2- (second 40-yard dash), but you never see that on the football field,” Ross said. “You don’t play football running 40 yards in a straight line. You never do that.”
Former Bulldog Jefferson confident he made right decision
STARKVILLE — Former Mississippi State defensive lineman AJ Jefferson skipped the St. Petersburg Bowl, but he stuck around to participate Wednesday in the program’s Pro Day at the Palmeiro Center.
Now that Jefferson has done it, he is even more confident in the decision he made in December.
Southern Mississippi beats MSU in Pearl
PEARL — What is left of Mississippi State’s baseball roster, after nearly countless injuries, had an opportunity Tuesday night to turn its attention to its next conference series.
Tight ends could play bigger role for Mullen’s Bulldogs
STARKVILLE — Mississippi State football coach Dan Mullen looks around his meeting room and can’t help but feel a little older than his 44 years old.
It’s the curse of a coach who has done it long enough to hire former players as assistant coaches.
New coach English helping Bryant regain his balance
STARKVILLE — Brandon Bryant arrived to Mississippi State as a top-20 prospect in the state.
After a redshirt year in 2014, Bryant showcased his potential as a redshirt freshman by finishing third among all Southeastern Conference freshmen — first among SEC freshmen defensive backs — with 63 tackles. He also led the Bulldogs and all SEC freshmen in interceptions (three), and was one of two SEC freshmen to return an interception for a touchdown.
DePaul uses up-tempo style for easy tournament win
STARKVILLE — Vic Schaefer has a warning for up-tempo teams looking to overwhelm his Mississippi State women’s basketball team with that style in the NCAA tournament.
Notebook: Northern Iowa says good bye to talented senior class
STARKVILLE — Tonya Warren pulled Madison Weekly, Angie Davison, and Hannah Schonhardt to her side.
Seniors played key role in getting Northern Iowa back to NCAAs
STARKVILLE — Tonya Warren pulled Madison Weekly, Angie Davison, and Hannah Schonhardt to her side.
The four of them stood on the sideline of Humphrey Coliseum shortly after the Northern Iowa women’s basketball team’s 88-67 loss to DePaul in the first round of the NCAA tournament. Warren wanted to make sure her seniors, who had just played their final game, knew how much they meant to her and the program.
Allen helps push DePaul past Northern Iowa in first round of NCAA tournament
STARKVILLE — DePaul women’s basketball coach Doug Bruno brags about giving his players, “the greenest green light in America.”
Bruno doesn’t want his players to hesitate shooting, but sometimes coaches have to be a little more emphatic in driving their point home.
That is what Bruno has had to do with sophomore guard Tanita Allen. In fact, Bruno has encouraged Allen to shoot the ball more without seeing a breakthrough.
Pilkington hopes to get MSU off to strong start against Arkansas
STARKVILLE — The so-called Cannizaro Effect — an homage to Mississippi State baseball coach Andy Cannizaro’s offensive-minded approach in its first year at MSU — refers partly to the fact the Bulldogs have 40 stolen bases in 18 games this season after swiping 51 bases last season.
Northern Iowa wants to make most of NCAA tournament invite
STARKVILLE — Merit from this season aside, history wasn’t on Northern Iowa’s side.
Before this season, the Missouri Valley Conference earned more than one bid to the NCAA women’s basketball tournament 10 times and hadn’t accomplished the feat in the last three seasons. Forgetting that UNI had two top-25 Ratings Percentage Index (RPI) wins and eight top-100 RPI opponents, it had to question its postseason fate after losing to Drake in overtime on Sunday in the championship game of the league tournament.
Schulte has emerged as scoring leader for DePaul
STARKVILLE — The reigning Big East Conference Player of the Year described herself as a role player.
Her head coach saw right through it.
Rooker fueling Bulldogs’ attack
STARKVILLE — If one sees Brent Rooker pacing in the dugout in between at-bats, it’s not because he’s nervous.
The gesture is part of a routine that is working.
MSU baseball knocks off Arkansas-Pine Bluff
STARKVILLE — Three hours before taking the mound for his first collegiate starting pitching appearance, Jake Mangum was in the dugout with a bat in his hand, practicing his swing piece by piece.
MSU notebook: Bullpen roles still unsettled heading into conference play
STARKVILLE — Back in February, Mississippi State baseball coach Andy Cannizaro could look forward to Southeastern Conference play as a far away object, one which gave him plenty of time to decide bullpen roles.