Dates: Tue., May 17 vs. #22 Oklahoma State, 5 p.m.
Site: Hammons Field
Location: Springfield, Mo.
TV: None
Radio: KBFL 1060 AM
Live Audio: www.RadioSpringfield.com
Live Stats: www.MissouriStateBears.com
Live Video: Bears Live - www.MissouriStateBears.com
The Missouri State baseball team (30-18, 11-6 Missouri Valley Conference) closes its home season Tuesday at 5 p.m. when it hosts No. 22 Oklahoma State (33-18, 13-10 Big 12). The Bears are 5-2 against Big 12 schools this season, including a 3-2 win at OSU on March 1. Missouri State travels to Creighton this weekend for a Thursday-Saturday series between the top two teams in the MVC standings to finish the regular season.
Starting Nine
Nine things to know about the Bears against Oklahoma State...
1. Missouri State is 3-6 all-time against Oklahoma State including a 3-2 mark the last three years. The home team won each meeting in 2009 and 2010 before MSU won in Stillwater on March 1.
2. Missouri State beat Oklahoma State 3-2 on March 1. Kevin Medrano hit a two-run triple in the third inning, Clay Murphy allowed a run in five innings and Nick Petree closed with a run over the final four. Trey Massenberg's RBI single in the eighth gave the Bears a 3-1 lead at the time.
3. Missouri State's offense is hitting .297 this season, moving from last to first in the MVC and jumping 230 spots to 50th in the national rankings as of May 8, the largest improvement of any team in the country.
4. MSU's offense has hit at least .300 against 13 of the 25 teams the Bears have played this season. MSU has logged at least seven hits in 43 of 48 games and is 24-5 when scoring at least five runs.
5. Missouri State went 24-16 through 40 games, the ninth time since 1995 the Bears have won at least 24 times in their first 40 tries. MSU has had great success the previous eight times, averaging 37.9 wins per season, posting an average MVC finish of 2.0 while making five NCAA Tournament appearances. The Bears won two of their first three league games for the 14th time in 21 MVC seasons, which has historically resulted in an average MVC finish of 2.46, while winning their first three league series for the third time in school history.
6. The MSU pitching staff is rounding into form as the year goes on, using a 3.12 ERA over the last 22 games to improve from last in the league on April 4 to fourth today at 4.04.
7. Missouri State is 10-3 in series openers this season, batting .313 and averaging 8.1 runs per game against opposing No. 1 starters.
8. MSU has collected 14 pinch hits in 40 tries this season for a .350 average, while the opposition has a mere four pinch hits in 48 games and is batting .154 in those situations.
9. Keith Guttin is now 11 wins shy of the 1,000 mark in his 29th season at Missouri State.
The Opponent
Oklahoma State is 33-18 overall, fourth in the Big 12 with a 13-10 record and ranked as high as 22nd this week according to Baseball America.
The Cowboys hit .299 as a team with six regulars at .294 or better. Dane Phillips leads OSU in average at .352, while Zach Johnson paces the club with eight homers and 51 RBIs.
Oklahoma State pitchers have a 3.36 ERA and .255 opponent average. The Cowboys have 10 pitchers on staff with ERAs of 4.40 or better and 18 innings pitched.
OSU fields .976 as a team to rank among the nation's top 25 defenses and have made 48 errors in 51 games.
MVC Scenarios
Missouri State's series at Creighton May 19-21 will likely determine the MVC regular season champion.
If either Missouri State or Creighton sweeps, that team will be the league champ.
If MSU or CU wins the series 2-1 and Wichita State sweeps at Bradley, the Shockers would win the regular season crown at 14-7, owning the tie-break over CU if the Bluejays beat MSU 2-1, and finishing one half game ahead of MSU's 13-7 record if the Bears won the series.
If WSU does not sweep Bradley, then whoever wins the CU/MSU series will be the champ.
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 989-625 (.613). 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 swept Bradley at home over the weekend to set up a season-ending showdown with Creighton that will likely decide the MVC champion.
Friday, Aaron Conway tripled and scored in the sixth to put the Bears up 3-2, and Travis McComack hit an RBI single in the seventh for the winning RBI in a 5-4 victory.
Blake Barber allowed a run in eight innings Saturday and Luke Voit hit an RBI double and scored in the fourth inning for a 2-1 win.
Sunday, the Bears trailed 3-1 in the seventh when Kevin Medrano hit a two-run single and Brock Chaffin followed with a three-run homer, his second bomb of the game, to help the Bears to a 7-4 win.
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.
• Missouri State has struck out 285 times in its first 48 games, or 6.16 per nine innings, a 31.8 percent decrease from its 2010 rate.
• Juniors Travis McComack and Kevin Medrano have started 123 games together on the middle infield in their careers and rank 10th (88) and 11th (83), respectively, in career double plays turned. The duo has worked together for 55 of those double plays.
• Missouri State is holding opponents to a .242 batting average with runners in scoring position.
Streaky Pitchers
Missouri State pitchers have put together several notable streaks this season. The Bears went 29.2 innings from March 15-19 without allowing an earned run; 14 innings from Feb. 26 to Mar. 1 without issuing a walk; 50.2 innings from April 16-27 without allowing a home run overall and 55.2 at home from April 10-May 13; and 74 innings from April 16-30 without hitting a batter.
Home Sweet Home
Missouri State is 17-5 at home this season and 128-73 all-time at Hammons Field.
The Bears are hitting .312 as a team in their home park and fielding .964, while the pitching staff has a 3.00 ERA and limits opponents to a .248 batting average.
Strength of Schedule
Missouri State opponents are now 697-595 (.540) for games played through May 15.
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.
Kevin Medrano won May 9 after hitting .438 with six RBIs and six steals in four games. He had one game-winning RBI and was perfect in 12 chances in the field.
Dan Kickham was the MVC Pitcher of the Week May 16 after saving all three MSU wins against Bradley. Kickham allowed a run on two hits in three innings and tied Shaun Marcum's school record with his 13th save of the year in the finale.
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 and Rob Evans 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.
