Cohen's Corner - 5/16/18 - Mississippi State

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As we travel across the state and the southeast, I have to take a moment to say how much it fun it is to see, meet and connect with Bulldogs from all over in their home towns. We spend most of our time together on campus and around Starkville, which makes the annual Road Dawgs Tour such a unique experience. Instead of you coming to Mississippi State, we have the opportunity to bring Mississippi State to you, right in your own backyard. The welcome so many of you have given to Coach Moorhead on these stops has been overwhelming and it has been a joy to see our new head coach interact with our fans as both groups and individuals.

Thank you to all who have brought us into your cities, particularly the alumni association chapters who have put in so much work to make these events as successful as they are. I'm looking forward to our stop in Houston, Texas tonight and I know we expect big crowds tomorrow, as well, in Huntsville and Atlanta.

MEN'S TENNIS ADVANCES TO NCAA ROUND OF 16

I would be doing our men's tennis team a disservice here if I merely congratulated them for moving on in the NCAA Championship to the Round of 16 in Winston-Salem. Our Bulldogs didn't just win the first two rounds of the tournament in Starkville over the weekend, they swept the entire thing with two perfect victories, winning 4-0 on Friday and 4-0 on Saturday against stiff competition, a dominant performance worth remark.

And I would be remiss if I didn't also compliment the passion and respect of our student-athletes as the entire team stayed after the win on Saturday to shake hands and give high fives to every one of the fans in the packed house who came to cheer them on. Actions like those showcase the type of young men and women we have at MSU, people who embody what it means to be a Bulldog on the court and off. We'll be cheering the guys on this weekend as our No. 6 seed Bulldogs face No. 11 Texas on Friday morning at 11 a.m. CT.

SOFTBALL, MEN'S GOLF CONTINUING POSTSEASON PLAY

I'll start here by congratulating Coach Stuedeman and our softball team for making their sixth NCAA Tournament in seven years, as they were selected on Sunday evening for the Tucson Regional. It's the second year in a row that all 13 SEC softball teams made the postseason, an amazing feat by the conference that speaks to the level of play by our Bulldogs to achieve so much success this year. We play Friday night at 8 CT against North Dakota State on ESPN2, then we face either St. Francis or host Arizona on Saturday. Good luck to our ladies. We'll be pulling for you the whole way through!

Meanwhile, Coach Smith and our men's golf team are in their final day of competition in their NCAA Regional in Bryan, Texas. Their accomplishments this season were impressive even before the postseason began, and we'll continue cheering them on as they close out Regional play today.

TRACK AND FIELD MAKES HEADLINES AT SEC CHAMPIONSHIPS

I tell you what...there is something special happening with our track and field program and our three javelin throwers, nicknamed #JavU. A huge congratulations goes to Anderson Peters who won the SEC Championship over the weekend with a throw of 82.04m, a heave of nearly 90 yards that is the longest throw by anyone in the NCAA this season. His gold medal in the event paired with the bronze medal won by Nico Quijera, giving MSU two of the top three SEC finishes and two of the top four throws in the nation currently.

On the women's side, Rhian Price-Weimer did it yet again, winning the gold medal in the 1,500m run and bringing home another SEC Championship, adding to her extensive trophy collection that includes a 2015 National Championship.

Up next, our Bulldogs head to NCAA East Prelims in advance of the NCAA Championships in Oregon later this summer. We look forward to more medals coming back to Starkville.

BASEBALL CLOSES REGULAR SEASON WITH FINAL HOME SERIES

And finally, I hope all of you will join me at the New Dude this weekend for the final home series of the year as we send off our seniors and play three important games with postseason implications. Our guys have been through adversity this year and they've battled back to finish strong and make us proud, playing for each other and for the name on the front of their uniforms. I have been proud to see how hard they've played and how great a job Coach Henderson and the entire staff have done leading the team in that direction.

A reminder here that this weekend is a Thursday-Saturday series, so adjust your schedules accordingly if you haven't done so already. We'll open things up against Florida at 6:30 on Thursday, then play on ESPNU on Friday (6 p.m.) and Saturday (3:30 p.m.) to round out the regular season before SEC Tournament play begins in Hoover next week. Let's pack out the park and help cheer them on as they fight for important victories. Then, the next time we're back, the New Dude will be finished and ready for its grand opening in 2019.

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Thanks for taking the time to read this update.

Hail State!

John Cohen
Director of Athletics

Mississippi State University Athletics

Cohen's Corner - 5/16/18

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