The Missouri State baseball team (29-19, 14-5 Missouri Valley Conference) hosts 26th-ranked Indiana State (33-15, 15-4) at Hammons Field this weekend with the MVC title on the line. Game times are 6:30 p.m. Thursday, 6:30 p.m. Friday and 2 p.m. Saturday. A Missouri State sweep guarantees the Bears their first outright championship since 2003, but it will be a difficult task as the road team has won 16 of 17 in the series.
THE OPPONENT
Indiana State is 33-15 overall and 15-4 in the MVC, earning the No. 26 spot in this week's Collegiate Baseball poll. The Sycamores lead the MVC with a .321 team average, with Brady Shoemaker (.404-13-46), Nick Ciolli (.401-4-48) and Bronco Lafrenz (.333-10-49) leading the potent attack.
The ISU pitching staff has a 5.39 ERA and lets opponents hit .292. The weekend rotation includes Eric Valdez (5-3, 4.52), Jacob Petricka (7-1, 3.39) and Joe Rodriguez (7-1, 4.50). The Sycamores field .975 as a team.
THE SERIES
Missouri State holds a 40-30 series lead with Indiana State. The road team has been victorious in 16 of the last 17 meetings between the teams. The Bears swept the Sycamores in Terre Haute last year by a combined score of 52-20.
IF...THEN: MVC SCENARIOS
Missouri State can finish anywhere from first to third in the MVC race. Here's how:
IF Missouri State sweeps Indiana State...THEN Missouri State wins title
IF MSU wins two of three and CU does not sweep WSU...THEN MSU wins title
IF MSU wins two of three and CU sweeps WSU...THEN MSU finishes second
IF MSU loses series to ISU...THEN ISU wins title
IF MSU is swept by ISU...THEN MSU needs WSU to sweep CU to finish second
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 Indiana State series will be as follows:
Radio: KBFL 1060 AM and online at www.radiospringfield.com
Video stream: Bears Live Thursday
TV: Thursday and Saturday, Mediacom Connections Channel 22
Live Chat: Thursday, accessed on Bears Live schedule
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 933-572 (.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.
LAST TIME OUT
Missouri State swept first-place Creighton in Omaha to remain in control of their fate in the conference race. On Friday, the Bears trailed 4-2 in the eighth when Brayden Drake hit a solo homer to pull within one, and Tyler Ryun then tied it in the ninth with another long ball. Drake came up again with two on, driving in both with the game-winning double to secure a 6-5 win.
The Bears pounded 17 hits, including a 5-for-6 day from Dallas Hord, to win 10-7 Saturday at Rosenblatt Stadium.
On Sunday, Pat Doyle carried a shutout into the ninth and Drake's two-run homer in the sixth gave the Bears breathing room with a 3-0 lead. MSU scored four in the ninth to salt away an 8-3 win.
QUICK HITS
Indiana State is the second straight first-place MVC team the Bears have faced. Missouri State swept Creighton last week, dropping the Jays from their 14-3 first place league standing.
Missouri State has won two outright MVC titles in its history, doing so in 2001 and 2003. The Bears have never shared a championship.
Missouri State leads the MVC in doubles (103), triples (20) and home runs (53), but ranks sixth with 326 singles.
Missouri State has won its last six games away from Hammons Field.
After opening the year with a 9.36 team ERA through six games, the MSU pitching staff has a 3.74 ERA and is allowing the opposition to hit .244 in the 42 games since.
Bears starters are 24-8 with a 3.51 ERA and .234 opponent average in the last 42 games.
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.
Drake has collected a hit in 86 of his last 98 games.
Drake set the school record with his 63rd career double May 2 against UNI. He now has 65, ranking 10th in MVC history.
Twenty-eight of Ben Carlson's 49 hits this season have gone for extra bases.
Aaron Conway's eight triples this season rank him second nationally and second in school history for a season.
Kevin Medrano ranks two out of the team lead with 64 hits. No freshman has led the club in that category since Bob Blakley in 1974.
Opposing starters have posted a 7.81 ERA against the Bears this season, while MSU starters have a 3.84 ERA and are allowing opponents to hit .244.
MSU starters have accounted for 25 of the team's 29 wins.
Missouri State starters have pitched 82.5-percent of the innings in MVC play.
MSU pitchers have a 2.97 ERA and .209 opponent average at Hammons Field.
Chris Playter has 10 game-winning RBIs this year and 16 for his career. Those numbers place him third in MSU history for a season and eighth for a career.
Missouri State is hitting .392 (29-74) with the bases loaded this year, while opponents are 11-53 (.208).
Tim Clubb has left 21 of his last 25 starts in line for the victory.
Clubb pitched at least eight innings in six straight starts from 3/20 through 4/24.
Buddy Baumann started the 2009 season with 22 scoreless innings.
Baumann hit 18 batters in 75 innings a year ago, but went 46 innings before plunking a batter this year.
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' weekend rotation of Tim Clubb, Buddy Baumann and Aaron Meade have combined for a 49-20 record in their collective careers.
They have struck out 533 hitters over 584 innings with 10 complete games.
All three have won MVC Pitcher of the Week at least once.
Baumann and Meade rank 1-2 in the league in wins (9 and 8), 1-4 in the league in strikeouts (87 and 78), 5-4 in ERA (2.95 and 2.92) and 2-3 in opponent average (.208-.221).
The Bears have eight different players with at least 23 RBIs this season.
Missouri State has allowed 60 unearned runs through 48 games, an average of 1.25 per contest, but is outscoring the opposition overall by 96 runs, or 2.00 per game.
In terms of earned runs, the Bears have outscored the opposition 329-208 this year, a margin of 2.52 per contest.
Missouri State is 22-6 on the year when making one or zero errors.
Missouri State leads the MVC with just 17stolen bases allowed 48 games. The next closest MVC team has allowed 28 steals this year.
