State Defeats LSU At SEC Match Play

State Defeats LSU At SEC Match Play 

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – Mississippi State’s men’s golf team defeated LSU 3-0, on Wednesday at the SEC Match Play event. The final two matches were left incomplete once the Bulldogs had clinched the contest.  

Hunter Logan, Garrett Endicott and Ben Loveard were the first three off the tee box, and won the first three matchups. Alejandro Pedryc and Josep Serra were each pulled from the course with four holes to play. 

“I am really proud of how we handled the day today. We wanted to make a statement today after our finish yesterday and we did just that,” said Head Coach Dusty Smith. “I thought we handled the change from stroke play to match play very well. We talked about getting points early and we did just that.” 

Loveard carded the largest margin of victory in the entire match play field, earning a 6-and-5 victory over LSU’s Alex Price. Loveard won eight of the 13 holes played and never trailed over the course of the matchup. Teeing off on No. 10, he jumped out to an early lead before the match was tied on No. 12. Loveard then won three consecutive holes and four of the next five to take control of the match. 

Endicott’s 5-and-3 win against Jay Mendell was good enough to tie for the second-largest margin of victory in the field. After tying the first three holes, Endicott carded three consecutive hole victories on Nos. 13-15. On the front nine, Endicott would win the third hole and clinch the match on the sixth. 

Logan clinched the team victory for State with a 3-and-2 win over Drew Doyle. After dropping two of the first four holes, Logan won three straight to close the back nine and take a lead he would never relinquish. Winning Holes 5, 7 and 8 secured the match. 

In the unfinished matches, Pedryc was leading of LSU’s Connor Gaunt by a stroke having rebounded twice from early deficits. Serra had led by as many as three holes over Lance Yates but found himself behind by one at the matches’ closing.  

State will now turn its attention to the Blessings Collegiate Invitational in Fayetteville, Arkansas, on Oct. 2-4. The tournament will be televised on GOLF Channel and features both stroke play and a men’s and women’s mixed ball event. MSU finished fifth in last season’s stroke play field, while William Wann shared a mixed ball title with women’s golf…