The Missouri State baseball team (25-13, 10-5 Missouri Valley Conference) sandwiches a home game with Oral Roberts and a weekend series with Illinois State around a trip to Saint Louis this week as the season enters the home stretch. The Bears will look to snap a three-game losing streak against ORU (29-8) at Hammons Field Tuesday night at 7 p.m.

The ORU game will be broadcast on 99.9 FM in Springfield.

Oral Roberts is 29-8 on the season and has won five games in a row and 13 of the last 14. The Golden Eagles hit .324 as a team and rank 15th nationally with an 8.7 runs per game scoring average. Brian Van Kirk leads the team with a .404 average and 10 home runs, while Ben Petralli has 47 RBIs. Seven ORU players have scored at least 30 runs.

The Golden Eagle pitching staff has a 4.37 ERA and holds opponents to .262 hitting. Utility pitcher Carlos Luna is 8-0 with two saves and a 3.59 ERA, while Tuesday's probably starter Kelly Minissale is 1-1 with a 5.16 ERA in seven appearances.

Saint Louis is 17-20 on the season and 9-2 at home. The Billikens hit .263 as a team, with designated hitter Mike Beal leading the way with a .340 average. Five SLU regulars hit .298 or better.

The Saint Louis pitching staff has a 5.30 ERA, and Wednesday's expected starter, freshman George Hebert, is 1-0 with an 8.06 ERA in 25.2 innings.

ORU holds a substantial 24-8 lead in the all-time series and has won the last three meetings. The Golden Eagles swept the home-and-home series last season, and the first meeting in 2008 was cancelled due to snow.

Missouri State is 40-9 all-time against Saint Louis, its best record against any opponent with at least 40 meetings. The Bears have won the last two meetings, including a 7-3 win in Springfield on April 8.

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

Missouri State head coach Keith Guttin (Missouri-St. Louis, 1978) is in his 26th season as head coach of the baseball Bears and has a career record of 889-549 (.618). 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 13 years.

After being rained out last Friday, the Bears took the series at Bradley by winning the first and third games. The Bears began Saturday's twinbill with eight extra-base hits and a career-high 11 strikeouts from Tim Clubb, run-ruling the Braves by a 12-2 score. In game two, hits were scarce, with MSU scoring six runs on only six hits in the 9-6 loss. In Sunday's finale, the Bears grabbed a 4-0 lead, watched BU get within two runs on a pair of occasions before exploding for a five-run eighth to pull away for the 12-6 win.