Bulldog Bits

Football

Mississippi State punter Logan Cooke has been selected to the 2017 preseason watch list for the Ray Guy Award, given to college football’s “Punter of the Year.”

Cooke is one of 29 candidates from around the nation and just six from the Southeastern Conference who made the watch list. Last season, he totaled 44 punts with an average of 40 yards per kick. The senior also showcased his precision, placing 22 punts inside the 20-yard line.

Cooke has served as the team’s primary punter for three seasons after being thrust into action as a freshman in 2014. He has played in 32 career games, owning a career best punt of 68 yards and average of 41.1 yards per punt.

The final list of candidates will be announced on Oct. 31, with 10 semifinalists selected on Nov. 16. The three finalists for the Ray Guy Award will be announced Nov. 21, while the award will be presented live during the Home Depot College Football Awards on ESPN Thursday, Dec. 7.

Men’s Tennis

Five members of the Mississippi State men’s tennis team competed in ITF Futures events in June and early July, marking the start of the summer pro circuit for 2017 Southeastern Conference Player of the Year Nuno Borges, Strahinja Rakic, Giovanni Oradini, Niclas Braun and newcomer Florian Broska.

All five Bulldog netters reached the main draw phase at least once, with each doing so through qualifying play at least once. Borges received automatic qualifying after his success in the Portugal F8 Futures.

In the F8 Futures in his native country of Portugal, Borges made it through the qualifying phase to reach the finals in singles play before dropping a hard-fought three-setter to second-seeded Joao Monteiro. A week later, the two met again in the finals of the Portugal F9 Futures, with Borges taking a 6-3, 6-0 decision. In that tournament, he also won his second doubles title in a row after winning the doubles crown the week before.

Oradini followed up on his impressive Freshman AllSoutheastern Conference season in the Italy F19 Futures tournament, downing top-seeded Walter Trusendi in straight-set fashion. The rising sophomore also won a tournament in Verona, Italy against three players with ATP points.

Players earn ranking points on the professional circuit by winning main draw matches in these events, as an accumulation of points leads to an ATP world ranking.

In addition to his ITF play, Braun had a nice run in a tournament in his home nation of Germany, reaching the final round.

Trevor Foshey also had a nice run in the Loriet Open at The Bradenton Country Club in Bradenton, Florida. After downing his opening round opponent 8-0, Foshey went on to defeat a pair of players seeded in the Top 10 before dropping a tough match to top-seeded Nicolas Mejia.

Softball

A trio of Mississippi State Bulldogs will take on the USA Softball Women’s National Team later this month, as Alabama natives Caroline Seitz, Bevia Robinson and Holly Ward will join collegiate softball stars from across their home state in two exhibition contests in Tuscaloosa on July 20.

The city of Tuscaloosa will host the first games on July 20 at 6 and 8 p.m., at Rhoads Stadium. Auburn’s Jane B. Moore Field will be the site of the next two games on July 22 at 5 and 7 p.m. The two Alabama sites represent the only two exhibitions stops on the east coast for Team USA.

MSU’s three representatives join standouts from 13 other colleges and universities to make up the Alabama Stars roster. Other schools include Alabama, Auburn, Alabama State, Jacksonville State, Samford, South Alabama, UAB, North Alabama, Montevallo, UAH, Troy, Southern Miss and Tennessee.

The Alabama Stars’ Tuscaloosa roster will be coached by Les Stuedeman, sister of MSU head coach Vann Stuedeman. Stuedeman, who this past season reached the 1,000-win mark for her career, will be assisted by Whitney Deaver of Bob Jones High School and Tracy Grinrod of Snead State.

Seitz joins the Stars after wrapping up an illustrious fouryear career with the Bulldogs, capping it off with a standout senior campaign. The Birmingham, Ala., native led the Southeastern Conference in numerous categories en route to earning All-SEC first team honors, and she is the first State player to do so since Chelsea Bramlett in 2010. Seitz made her mark on the MSU career record book as well, finishing tied for second in home runs (37), third in doubles (53), fourth in RBI (166), fifth in slugging percentage (.554) and eighth in hits (230), along with many other top 10 marks.

Robinson capped her first year in Starkville, making a major splash as one of State’s top players during the 2017 season. The Harvest, Ala., native led the Bulldogs with 56 hits, 41 runs scored, 30 stolen bases and 17 multi-hit games, including a trio of three-hit performances. She finished the year with 0.53 stolen bases per game, standing third in the SEC and 49th nationally.

Ward rounds out MSU’s representatives on the Alabama Stars, as the senior ace paced MSU in 2017 with three shutouts to go along with a 2.26 ERA, .219 opponent batting average and striking out 91 batters in 114.2 innings of work. Hailing from Haleyville, Ala., Ward tossed nine complete games, including a dominating two-hit, shutout performance against No. 8 Alabama on March 18.

Tickets start at $12.50 for general admission, $22 for reserved seating and $32 for Premium Seating at each location. Additional events at each venue include a softball players camp, an invitational tournament and Team USA and Alabama All-Stars practices open to ticket holders.

Tournament and team camp information and registration can be found at www.rec12.com. Further information can also be found at www.usasoftballofalabama.com.