Dates: Wed., Mar. 30 vs. Kansas, 6:30 p.m.
Fri., Apr. 1 at Saint Louis, 6 p.m.
Sat., Apr. 2 at Saint Louis, 2 p.m.
Sun., Apr. 3 vs. Saint Louis, 1 p.m.
Site: Wed. & Sun. - Hammons Field
Fri. & Sat. - Billiken Sports Center
Location: Wed. & Sun. - Springfield, Mo.
Fri. & Sat. - St. Louis, Mo.
TV: None
Radio: Wed. & Sun.- KBFL 1060 AM
Live Audio: Wed. & Sun.- www.RadioSpringfield.com
Live Stats: www.MissouriStateBears.com
Live Video: Wed. & Sun. - Bears Live
The Missouri State baseball team (13-9) plays four games this week, beginning with Kansas (10-13) at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday at Hammons Field before playing Saint Louis (15-8) in a home-and-home series over the weekend. The Bears play at SLU at 6 p.m. Friday and 2 p.m. Saturday before hosting the Billikens at Hammons in Sunday's 1 p.m. finale. Both home games this week will be video streamed on Bears Live, the first of nine home games this season available at www.MissouriStateBears.com.
Starting Nine
Nine things to know about the Bears this week...
1. Missouri State trails Kansas in the all-time series by a 24-21 margin. The Jayhawks have won the last five meetings with the Bears last winning in 2007.
2. The Bears lead Saint Louis 41-10 in the all-time series with a 39-8 mark under Keith Guttin. Missouri State is 7-3 in the last 10 meetings.
3. Current Bears have combined to hit .409 (18-for-44) against Saint Louis in their careers, led by Aaron Conway's .556 mark in 18 at bats.
4. MSU's offense has hit at least .300 against nine of the 14 teams the Bears have played this season while registering at least eight hits in all but one contest.
5. The Bears are outscoring opponents 25-8 and hitting .337 in the first inning with a .456 on-base percentage.
6. Missouri State is hitting .332 against opposing starting pitchers. Starters have a 6.19 ERA against the Bears and average just 4.36 innings per start.
7. Missouri State's offense is hitting .311 this season, moving from last to first in the MVC and jumping 254 spots to 26th in the national rankings as of March 27, the largest improvement of any team in the country. Aaron Conway's 38 hits place him 35th nationally.
8. MSU's bullpen has a 3.29 ERA and is holding opponents to a .254 batting average this season.
9. Keith Guttin is now 28 wins shy of the 1,000 mark in his 29th season at Missouri State.
The Opponents
Kansas is 10-13 on the year and 2-4 in Big 12 play after losing three games at Texas A&M last week. The Jayhawks hit .232 as a team, with Jake Marasco leading the club with a .337 average and Alex DeLeon leading in homers (2) and RBIs (10).
The KU pitching staff has a 3.55 ERA and limits opponents to .255 hitting. The Bears will likely see Thomas Taylor (2-0, 3.66) on Wednesday.
The Jayhawks field .971 as a team with 25 errors in 23 games.
Saint Louis is 15-8 overall and 1-2 in the Atlantic 10 entering midweek games with Eastern Illinois and Evansville. The Billikens hit .292 as a team with four regulars above .300 and eight players with 10-16 RBIs in a balanced attack.
SLU pitchers have a 3.27 ERA and .269 opponent average. Ten Billiken hurlers have sub-4.00 ERAs and at least five appearances.
Saint Louis fields .960 with 38 errors in 23 games.
Coach Keith Guttin
Missouri State head coach Keith Guttin (Missouri-St. Louis, 1978) is in his 29th season as head coach of the baseball Bears and has a career record of 972-616 (.612). 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 15 years.
Last Time Out
Missouri State took two games from Oral Roberts over the weekend in a home-and-home series.
On Friday in Tulsa, Brent Seifert went 3-for-5 and homered twice as the Bears won 10-5 after trailing 3-0.
Weather forced a rainout Saturday and just one game Sunday, a 6-5 MSU win that was keyed by a five-run third and an unearned run in the seventh. Derek Mattea hit a two-run homer and Brock Chaffin added a three-run double in that third inning.
Quick Hits
• Missouri State closed the month of February with a winning record (4-3) for the fourth time in the 2000s. The Bears have gone on to win at least 40 games the other three times. MSU also had a winning February record in 1999, and though it failed to reach 40 wins, it did go 38-19 and make the NCAA Tournament.
• Juniors Kevin Medrano and Travis McComack have started 98 games together on the middle infield in their careers, combining to turn 44 double plays.
• Fourteen of the 27 players on Missouri State's roster did not see action for the Bears last season, and 12 of those are new to the program altogether.
• Missouri State has struck out 136 times in its first 22 games, or 6.27 per nine innings, a 30.4 percent decrease from its 2010 rate.
• The Bears went 29.2 innings from March 15-19 without allowing an earned run, and went 14 innings over three games from Feb. 26 to Mar. 1 without issuing a walk.
• Missouri State is holding opponents to a .240 batting average with runners in scoring position and .232 with two outs.
Home Sweet Home
Missouri State is 7-2 at home this season and 118-70 all-time at Hammons Field.
The Bears are hitting .331 as a team in their home park and fielding .959, while the pitching staff has a 3.18 ERA and limits opponents to a .241 batting average.
Strength of Schedule
Missouri State opponents are now 315-257 (.551) for games played through Mar. 27.
Players of the Week
Aaron Conway became Missouri State's first award winner of 2011 with an MVC Player of the Week nod March 7. Conway batted .650 (13-20) in four MSU wins, scoring seven runs with five doubles, three RBIs and three stolen bases.
Radio Broadcasts
All Missouri State games beginning March 15 and beyond will be broadcast on Meyer Communications stations with the exception of March 25 at Oral Roberts and April 1 and 2 at Saint Louis.
Art Hains will describe the action on KBFL 1060 AM and live over the internet at www.RadioSpringfield.com.
Up-to-date schedule and station assignments can be found on the baseball schedule page at www.MissouriStateBears.com.
Bears on TV
Missouri State will have three games this season televised live on Mediacom Connection Channel 22 in Springfield. Mediacom will broadcast games against Wichita State (April 8, 6:30 p.m.),Arkansas (April 12, 6:30 p.m.) and Missouri (May 3, 6:30 p.m.).
