The Missouri State baseball team (15-12, 2-4 MVC) opens a five-game homestand at Hammons Field on Tuesday by hosting Southeast Missouri State (19-8) at 7 p.m. and closing the two-game set with the Redhawks at 3 p.m. Wednesday.

Bradley (12-10, 1-2) comes to town for the weekend as the Bears return to Missouri Valley Conference action. Friday's game with the Braves will be televised on Mediacom Channel 14 in Springfield.

THE OPPONENT

Southeast Missouri State is 19-8 on the season and 5-1 in the Ohio Valley Conference. The Redhawks are led by two-way threat Asif Shah, who leads the club with a .356 batting average while going 3-0 with a 2.43 ERA and two complete games on the mound.

The SEMO offense hits .298 and boasts 30 home runs and a .483 slugging percentage. Five regulars hit .350 or better, and four different players have at least four homers. Last week, the Redhawks slugged three grand slams in a 27-16 midweek victory over NAIA Freed-Hardeman.

The pitching staff ranks second nationally with five shutouts and has a 3.63 ERA. Tuesday's starter James Leigh has no record and a 7.84 ERA, and Wednesday's starter Isaac Stoll will be making his second appearance of the season.

Live stats for all Missouri State baseball games will be available at www.missouristatebears.com. Just click "Live Stats" on the left side of the page and select the appropriate game.

There will be no radio for the SEMO games. All three games of the Bradley series will be on KBFL (99.9 FM/1060 AM) in Springfield.

Missouri State has played Southeast Missouri State more than any other opponent in history, holding a 55-35 margin in the all-time series. MSU has won the last four matchups overall and four in a row at home.

Missouri State head coach Keith Guttin (Missouri-St. Louis, 1978) is in his 25th season as head coach of the baseball Bears and has a career record of 856-514 (.625). Guttin became the first coach at Missouri State (in any sport) to reach the 800-win mark with the May 11, 2005, win over Kansas at Hammons Field. In 2003, Guttin led the Bears to the NCAA Division I College World Series for the first time in school history. Guttin has been a conference Coach of the Year nine times with three of those coming in the Valley and six coming during the Bears’ years in the Mid-Continent Conference. During Guttin’s tenure, the Bears have made seven Division I NCAA Tournament appearances -- six in the last 12 years.

The Bears suffered a sweep at the hands of conference rival Illinois State on the road over the weekend. After Friday's game was postponed due to rain, MSU dropped both games of Saturday's doubleheader, 3-1 and 3-2 in 11 innings. In game two, Scott Carroll pitched nine innings but left without a decision, and Matt Lawson collected four hits.

On Sunday, the Bears were unable to salvage the final game, watching a 6-4 lead turn into a five-run deficit after the Redbirds scored seven in the seventh. Nolan Keane and Kyle Paul each had three-hit days, and Paul powered his first home run of the season.

QUICK HITS

Missouri State is outscoring opponents 28-7 in the first inning. Those early leads have held only part of the time however, as the Bears are just 6-5 when scoring in the first.

Ross Detwiler has gone 11 straight starts without allowing more than three earned runs, going at least 6.0 innings in each of those outings dating back to five starts last season. Detwiler has an ERA of 1.43 with 92 strikeouts in 82 innings, while opponents are batting just .153 against him, in those 11 starts.

According to Boyd's World, among the pitchers who have met the NCAA standard of innings pitched (one per team game), Detwiler ranks third in the country in batting average against (.168).

Missouri State has turned 33 double plays this season and has hit into just 15.

Opponents are hitting .227 off the Missouri State bullpen.

Tanner Mattson has played remarkable defense at shortstop this season, commiting only three errors so far. The senior has improved dramatically in the field, upping his defensive efficiency from .924 last season to .968 this year while appearing in all 27 games.

The MSU pitching staff is limiting opponents to a .216 batting average at Hammons Field.

Chris Taylor is only player with at least seven at bats not to strike out. He has yet to be fanned in 29 plate appearances.

Bears hitters have been hit by a mere 11 pitches this season. For comparison, Boyd's World lists 10 individuals who have been beaned at least 13 times.

Speedy leadoff man Ben Woodbury has wreaked havoc on opposing defenses, reaching base on errors six times already. With the errors factored in, his on-base percentage would jump to .421.

Matt Lawson is batting .471 (16-34) with runners in scoring position and is tied with Ben Woodbury for a team-best eight two-out RBIs.

Missouri State is hitting .309 as a team with runners in scoring position, compared to .242 for opponents.

Opposing hitters are 0-for-24 this season when facing Buddy Baumann with two outs.

Nolan Keane is batting .478 (11-23) in the first inning this season.

Tim Clubb's complete-game and shutout against Arkansas State on 3/20 were the first by an MSU freshman since Brett Sinkbeil versus Indiana State in 2004. Sinkbeil's was in a seven-inning game.

After allowing 10 runs in his first outing of the year, Clubb has rebounded to go 3-0 with a 3.03 ERA and a .254 batting average against in 29.2 innings since.

Of the last 62 batters Clubb has faced, only three have advanced beyond second base.

The Bears' offense struck out at least seven times in each of the first nine games, but has only reached that mark twice in the last 18.

Shane Elenz hit for the cycle with his first four hits of the season (over four games).

Ben Carlson hit two home runs against Arkansas State (3/21) to become the first Bear with two homers in a game since March 3, 2006.

Carlson added a single and a double for 11 total bases, the most since February 2003.

Austin Todd has an ERA of 0.79 and opponent batting average of .083 in true road games.

Matt Frevert is averaging 16.1 strikeouts per nine innings this season, posting a 0.64 ERA with three saves in seven appearances. The NCAA record for K/9 (based on at least one IP per team game) was set at 16.8 by Ryan Wagner of Houston in 2003.

Frevert has pitched eight separate ninth innings this season, allowing just two hits to go with 14 strikeouts in those appearances.