The No. 12 Mississippi State Bulldogs continued their push toward another SEC West championship this past weekend.
After a 4-2 win in Gainesville Friday over the No. 11 Florida Gators, the Bulldogs returned home to defeat the No. 40 South Carolina Gamecocks 6-1.
With the win Sunday, State placed itself in sole possession of first place of the SEC Western division after an Ole Miss loss in Oxford to Florida Sunday.
The matches started with a very close doubles win for the Bulldogs. After splitting the first two matches 8-5, Louis Cant and Malte Stropp came up big winning the third match in a tiebreaker 9-8(2). 
“We had a good start with the doubles; they’re a very good team in doubles. That gave us a lot of confidence to come out in singles,” Cant said.
A quick start in singles it was for the Dogs, as junior James Chaudry led the way with a swift 6-2, 6-0 victory over South Carolina’s Nick Jones.
Minutes later, the Gamecocks’ Thiago Pinheiro could not finish the match as senior George Coupland earned a shortened 7-6(2), 1-0 win.
The victories kept coming for the Bulldogs as Cant took down Kyle Koch 6-4, 6-4 to extend State’s lead to 4-0 and put the match in the win column for the Bulldogs.
Play still went on, however, as senior and No. 14 ranked Artem Ilyushin downed Ivan Machado 6-4, 6-2, while sophomore Zach White won his match 6-2, 6-2.
The only loss for Mississippi State came in the last match to finish when Gamecock Andrew Adams defeated Bulldog Stropp 6-3, 6-4.
The win marked State’s third in a row and improved the Dogs to 14-4 overall and 5-1 in SEC action.
The Bulldogs are not satisfied yet, though. Head coach Per Nilsson still believes this team can take the next step.
“You have to be able to have a game plan and stick to it. Mentally, you have to do it day in and day out. We’re getting there,” Nilsson said.
State now turns its focus to this weekend, where the Bulldogs will face two Western Division opponents. LSU comes in Friday while the Bulldogs will honor their seniors Sunday as they entertain the Arkansas Razorbacks.
Although LSU posts a not so impressive 11-7 (2-4) record, the Tigers do have a win over Texas A&M 4-3, who beat State in a dramatic match early in the Bulldog’s campaign.
“LSU is really tough. They have a young team; we always have battles with them. They beat Texas A&M, who we lost to,” Nilsson said.
Arkansas is in a similar spot as the Tigers. At 13-7 (1-5) the Razorbacks are a young, capable team that cannot be taken lightly.
The Razorbacks and Bulldogs have each played Auburn, Alabama, Tennessee and Georgia. State defeated three of the four, losing to Georgia 4-3; while Arkansas dropped matches to all four teams.
“We’ve been successful against Arkansas in the past; they have nothing to lose. We’re the hunted people now,” Nilsson said.
That mindset is something the Bulldogs will have to possess as they enter the home stretch of their season.
After LSU and Arkansas this weekend, State travels to Kentucky, Vanderbilt and Ole Miss to close out the season on a three-game road swing before coming back to Starkville for the SEC Championships April 19 through 22, which is also Super Bulldog Weekend.