The Missouri State baseball team (15-12, 5-0 Missouri Valley Conference) plays a pair of non-conference home games this week, facing Arkansas-Little Rock (8-20) on Tuesday and No. 18 Oklahoma State (21-10) on Wednesday. First pitch for both games at Hammons Field is 6:30 p.m. The Bears enter the week winners of 11 of their last 13 games, and return to MVC action at Illinois State on Friday.
THE OPPONENTS
Arkansas-Little Rock is 8-20 overall and 4-11 in the Sun Belt after snapping a 12-game losing streak on Sunday. The Trojans hit .263 as a team, with three regulars batting above .300. Kody Kroll leads the way with a .353 average, while Nate Brown is tops on the club with 25 RBIs.
Reliever J.R. Boling (1-0, 4.01 ERA) is the only pitcher with an ERA below 5.68 on a staff that allows 8.42 earned runs per game.
The Trojans field .938 as a team.
Oklahoma State is 21-10 overall and 4-5 in the Big 12. The Cowboys are ranked 18th in the USA Today/ESPN Coaches' Poll and 20th by Baseball America and Collegiate Baseball.
The OSU offense is potent as always, hitting .314 and slugging .535. Outfielder Neil Medchill leads the team with a .374 average, 10 home runs and 38 RBIs. Five other starters bat above .300.
The pitching staff has a 4.75 ERA and allows opponents to hit .263. Closer Randy McCurry anchors the bullpen with six saves and a 1.89 ERA.
The Cowboys field .978 as a team, a figure that ranks in the top 10 nationally.
THE SERIES
The Bears hold a 6-1 series edge against Arkansas-Little Rock and have won the last four meetings. MSU won by scores of 14-8 and 9-5 in last season's two meetings.
Missouri State has lost to Oklahoma State in each of the four previous meetings between the schools, including a 19-10 setback last season in Stillwater. The teams had not met since 1994 prior to last year.
LIVE STATS INFORMATION
Live stats for all Missouri State baseball games will be available at www.missouristatebears.com. Go to the “Fan Central” link on the left side of the page and select “Live Stats.”
AUDIO AND VIDEO COVERAGE
Coverage of the the midweek games will be as follows:
Radio: KBFL 1060 AM, online at www.radiospringfield.com
Video stream: Bears Live, Wednesday vs. Oklahoma State
TV: Mediacom Channel 14, Wednesday vs. Oklahoma State
COACH KEITH GUTTIN
Missouri 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 919-565 (.619). 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.
LAST TIME OUT
Missouri State remained unbeaten in the MVC with a pair of wins at Southern Illinois over the week. The Bears grabbed leads of 9-1 in both games, hanging on for a 10-9 victory Friday. Chris Playter had four RBIs in the game.
MSU won by a 9-3 score on Saturday, breaking the game open with a seven-run eighth that included a three-run triple from Dallas Hord. Buddy Baumann allowed one unearned run over seven innings to improve to 6-0.
Sunday's game was rained out.
MINI SEASON TICKETS
Mini-season ticket plans are now on sale. Packages include tickets for 13 games at Hammons Field, including midweek contests with Oklahoma State, Missouri, Arkansas-Little Rock and Saint Louis and weekend series with Wichita State, UNI and Indiana State, all for a cost of only $80.
Ticket packages may be purchased in person at the JQH Arena box office, or by calling Missouri State Tix at (417) 836-7678 or 888-476-7849.
QUICK HITS
Current Missouri State players are hitting .357 (20-56) and slugging .518 in their careers against Arkansas-Little Rock.
After opening the year with a 9.36 team ERA through six games, the MSU pitching staff has a 2.81 ERA and is allowing the opposition to hit just .237 in the 21 games since.
Bears starters are 14-3 with a 2.34 ERA and .217 opponent average in the last 21 games.
Missouri State's team ERA has dropped following 19 of the team's last 21 games.
The Bears have turned 26 double plays this season while hitting into 12.
Opposing starters have posted a 9.07 ERA against the Bears this season, while MSU starters have a 3.14 ERA and are allowing opponents to hit just .238.
MSU starters have accounted for all 15 of the team's wins.
Brayden Drake set a school record with his 30-game hitting streak that began April 27, 2008 and ended March 29 of this season. The streak ranks seventh in MVC history..
Tim Clubb has left 20 of his last 21 starts in line for the victory.
Buddy Baumann started the 2009 season with 22 scoreless innings.
Five MSU pitchers; Tim Clubb, Buddy Baumann, Aaron Meade, J.C. Casey and Tyler Ryun, have starts of at least six scoreless innings in their careers.
The Bears have nine different players with at least 10 RBIs this season and seven with at least 15.
Missouri State has outscored the opposition 133-72 in the first five innings this season, and slugged 18 of the team's 27 homers in the first four.
Missouri State has allowed 47 unearned runs through 27 games, an average of 1.74 per contest, but is outscoring the opposition overall by 47 runs, also 1.74 per game.
In terms of earned runs, the Bears have outscored the opposition 190-111 this year, a margin of 2.93 per contest.
Missouri State is 11-2 on the year when making one or zero errors.
Missouri State leads the MVC with just six stolen bases allowed 25 games. Catcher Dallas Hord has thrown out nine of 15 potential base stealers.
The next closest MVC team has allowed 17 steals this year.
