NCAA.com | August 18, 2014 Miss St. walk-on receives scholarship Share It started simple enough: Mississippi State head coach Dan Mullen invited down linebacker DeAndre Ward to receive his award. He was being rewarded with training camp walk-on MVP honors. Mullen then handed Ward the reward and instructed him to read the note out loud. But when Ward opened the piece of paper Mullen gave him, it had a different message -- "You are now on Scholarship." The message also read across the projector screen behind Ward and his Mississippi State teammates rose and cheered for Ward. That moment you get put on scholarship... #Special #ChangingLives #Grind pic.twitter.com/myA3rAe3Ze — MSU Football (@HailStateFB) August 18, 2014 Ward is expected to have an increased role with the Bulldogs this season, only appearing in two games the past season -- against Alabama and Rice in the Liberty Bowl. Mississippi State opens its season against Southern Miss at home on Aug. 30. Congrats to DeAndre Ward who is now on scholarship #hardworkpaysoff http://t.co/Ru5d4WCbPX — Dan Mullen™ (@CoachDanMullen) August 18, 2014 Missouri slugs its way to series victory over No. 3 Mississippi State In a series-clinching upset over No. 3 Mississippi State, the Missouri Tigers slugged four homers in the 16-8 win. READ MORE College baseball rankings: All-SEC top 5 holds steady in latest poll The all-SEC top five remained the same in the D1Baseball Top 25 rankings. Arkansas held firm at No. 1 after winning a road series at Louisiana Tech, despite taking its first loss of the season on Sunday. READ MORE 2021 SEC softball preview: LSU headlines star-powered conference LSU softball is the headliner in the SEC, while Florida, Alabama and others are hot on their heels. READ MORE