The Missouri State baseball team opens the 2009 season this weekend with three games at Middle Tennessee State in Murfreesboro, Tenn. First pitch for Friday's season opener at Reese Smith Field is set for 3 p.m., with Saturday's game at 2 p.m. and Sunday's season finale at 1 p.m.
MSU has played seven games and Middle Tennessee has taken the field just five times since teams met for a three-game series in Springfield May 9-11 of last season. In that series, the MSU pitching staff accumulated a 1.74 ERA against a Blue Raider squad that was averaging nine runs per game for the season in the sweep.
COACH KEITH GUTTINMissouri State head coach
Keith Guttin (Missouri-St. Louis, 1978) is in his 27th season as head coach of the baseball Bears and has a career record of 904-553 (.620). Guttin became the first coach at Missouri State (in any sport) to reach the 900-win mark with the May 11, 2008, win over Middle Tennessee 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 10 times with four 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 14 years.
LIVE STATS INFORMATIONLive stats for most Missouri State volleyball matches will be available at www.missouristatebears.com. Go to the “Fan Central” link on the left side of the page and select “Live Stats.”
THE OPPONENTMiddle Tennessee returns 27 lettermen from a team that went 27-29-1 last season and finished eighth in the Sun Belt Conference. The Blue Raiders hit .329 as a team last season and return three players that hit 11 or more home runs and four that topped the 50-RBI mark.
The Middle Tennessee pitching staff had a 6.45 ERA in 2008 and fielded .964.
THE SERIESMissouri State is 23-6 all-time against Middle Tennessee, including a 3-0 series victory last season at Hammons Field. The Blue Raiders have been a staple on the MSU schedule in recent years, playing at least two games against the Bears each year since 2002. MSU swept three-game series in 2003, 2005 and 2008, all at home.
2008 IN REVIEWMissouri State finished the 2008 season with a 40-17 overall record and finished second in the Missouri Valley Conference with an 18-6 mark. The Bears were one of 26 teams in Division I to reach the 40-win plateau, and placed pitcher
Tim Clubb and DH
Ben Carlson on various All-America teams.
Those two players were also selected to the all-MVC first team along with outfielder
Ben Woodbury and closer
Matt Frevert. Third baseman
Brayden Drake and utility man
Chris Playter were second-team all-conference picks, and pitcher
Buddy Baumann was an honorable mention choice.
Several players signed professional contracts after the season ended.
Ryan Mantle was chosen by San Francisco in the 19th round and Frevert was a 28th-round pick of St. Louis. Woodbury and
Josh Mazzola signed free agent contracts with San Francisco, while Clubb chose to return to MSU after Tampa Bay chose him in the 42nd round.
FOR OPENERSMissouri State is 18-8 in season openers under
Keith Guttin, and 30-15 overall in the 45-year history of the program.
Last year, the Bears topped Dallas Baptist 11-10 in the season opener behind two home runs from
Ben Carlson.
The Bears have opened the season away from Springfield every year since 2000, including the last eight seasons in Texas before opening in Tennessee this year.
QUICK HITS Senior third baseman
Brayden Drake enters the 2009 season on a 15-game hitting streak.
Drake had two separate 15-game hitting streaks and an 11-gamer in 2008. He recorded at least one hit in 50 of 57 games and only went 0-for-4 or worse one time.
Junior
Tim Clubb enters 2009 a winner in each of his last 13 decisions, and has left his last 14 starts in line for a victory.
Missouri State returns five all-conference players from a year ago:
Buddy Baumann,
Ben Carlson,
Tim Clubb,
Brayden Drake and
Chris Playter.
