Mississippi State softball is starting off its 2022 schedule with a bang.
The Bulldogs will play two Women’s College World Series participants in the first two days of their upcoming season, per a Wednesday afternoon schedule release.
MSU will play 55 games, 31 of them against 13 teams that made last year’s NCAA tournament. The Bulldogs will play 35 games at Nusz Park in Starkville.
Mississippi State will take on defending national champion Oklahoma on Feb. 11 and UCLA on Feb. 12 in the Mark Campbell Classic in Irvine, California. The Bulldogs also will face Loyola Marymount on Feb. 11 in Irvine and again Feb. 13 at LMU’s home park in Los Angeles.
Mississippi State will bring Georgia Tech, Southern Illinois and Central Arkansas to Starkville for the Bulldog Kickoff Classic the following weekend.
Longwood, Belmont and South Alabama will come to Nusz Park from Feb. 25-27 for The Snowman (Alex Wilcox Memorial) tournament. Wilcox played her freshman season with the Bulldogs while battling ovarian cancer and died in June 2018. Her sister, Kassidy, plays softball for South Alabama.
Mississippi State will host the Bulldog Invitational from March 5-7, facing Furman, Alcorn State and Jacksonville State.
MSU will make road trips to Memphis (March 23), Middle Tennessee (March 30) and Southern Miss (April 6). The Bulldogs will host the Golden Eagles on April 27. MSU also will play a neutral-site game with UT Martin on Feb. 23 in Lexington, Tennessee.
Coach Samantha Ricketts’ team will host Alabama State for a home-opening doubleheader on Feb. 16. Mississippi State will play home nonconference games against Mississippi Valley State (March 2), North Alabama (March 9), Samford (a March 26 doubleheader) and Louisiana-Monroe (April 19).
The Bulldogs’ 24-game Southeastern Conference schedule, announced in September, begins with a trip to Florida from March 11-13. The SEC tournament will be played May 10-14 in Gainesville.
Mississippi State will make conference road trips to Tennessee (April 1-3), Alabama (April 15-17) and Kentucky (April 29-May 1). Ole Miss (March 18-20), Missouri (April 8-10), Auburn (April 22-24) and LSU (May 6-8) will come to Nusz Park.
Theo DeRosa
Broska earns career-best ranking
Mississippi State men’s tennis standout Florian Broska will enter the spring season with a career-best ranking from the Intercollegiate Tennis Association.
Broska rose five spots following the fall season and is now No. 22 nationally in ITA rankings released Wednesday. His previous career-best ranking of 27th came in September.
The graduate student from Germany posted an 8-2 record in the fall in ITA-sanctioned events and claimed a championship at the GT Invite on Nov. 5-7 in Atlanta. He defeated two-time All-American Tyler Zink of Oklahoma State in the first round of the main draw Sept. 22 at the International Tennis Federation Fayetteville 15K.
Broska is in his fifth season playing for the Bulldogs and has a 76-52 overall singles record. He was a second-team All-SEC performer last season with a 20-16 singles record and advanced to the second round of the NCAA Singles Championships.
MSU will open its spring season Jan. 14 against Tennessee Tech at home.
Staff Report
Three Bulldogs earn new ITA rankings
Three members of Mississippi State’s women’s tennis team received rankings recognition from the Intercollegiate Tennis Association on Wednesday.
The doubles team of Magda Adaloglou and Chloé Cirotte climbed 15 spots and will enter the spring at No. 28. The Bulldogs also had two seniors from Greece ranked on the singles side with Emmanouela Antonaki at No. 50 and Adaloglou at No. 67.
Adaloglou and Cirotte upset the then eighth-ranked Anna Brylin and Brooke Killingsworth of Wake Forest on Sept. 17 at the Debbie Southern Fall Classic in Greenville, South Carolina. They went on to post a win at the ITA Southern Regional Championships in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, and in the John Cade Invitational on their home court.
Antonaki went 7-6 during the fall season with victories over then-No. 28 Chloe Beck of Duke on Oct. 6 at the ITA All-American Championships in Mt. Pleasant, South Carolina and No. 50 Megan Davies of South Carolina on Sept. 18 at the Debbie Southern Fall Classic on Sept. 18.
Adaloglou ended the fall on a three-match winning streak, including wins on consecutive days over then-No. 100 Ahmeir Kyle of Xavier and No. 27 Sabina Machalova of Ole Miss at the John Cade Invitational. She finished the fall with a 4-3 singles record.
Staff Report
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