Sept. 29, 2011
SPRINGFIELD, Mo. -- The 2012 Missouri State baseball schedule will feature a total of 56 games, including 25 home dates and match-ups against five different 2011 NCAA qualifiers, head coach Keith Guttin announced Thursday. Additionally, the Bears will host the State Farm Missouri Valley Conference Tournament, which returns to Hammons Field the week of May 22-26, for the first time since 2007.
Highlighting the Bears' 49th season of varsity baseball will be non-conference home-and-home sets with Big 12 foes Oklahoma State, Kansas and Missouri, as well as series with NCAA qualifiers Oral Roberts and Dallas Baptist. The Bears, who finished 33-23 and rated No. 64 in the final NCAA RPI report in 2011, went 6-2 versus Big 12 opponents last season. In all, Missouri State will play 25 games against 10 different opponents that rated among the top 100 RPI finishers a year ago, including 13 contests against 2011 NCAA teams.
"I really like our non-conference schedule," Guttin said. "The highlight has to be the return of the conference tournament to Hammons Field, and with nine games against Big 12 opponents, we should be challenged early and often."
Missouri State, which will play its first 11 contests on the road, opens the season in Lubbock, Texas, with two-game sets against both Tennessee Tech and Texas Tech, February 17-19. The Bears will return to the Lone Star State the following weekend, with four more games against the likes of Stephen F. Austin (Feb. 24), Texas-Arlington (Feb. 25) and Houston Baptist (Feb. 26).
After taking on Oklahoma State (Feb. 29) in Stillwater, then traveling to Natchitoches, La., for a three-game series with Northwestern State (March 2-4), MSU will take the diamond at Hammons Field for the first time against Oklahoma State on March 6 to open a five-game homestand. The Bears will host SIU Edwardsville (March 9-11) in a three-game set before meeting Purdue (March 13) for a single contest.
Missouri State will play split weekend series with Oral Roberts, taking on the Golden Eagles in Tulsa, March 15-16, before coming home for two more (March 17-18) to wrap up the series. A mid-week trip to Cape Girardeau for a single contest against Southeast Missouri State (March 20) precedes opening weekend for Missouri Valley Conference play, when the Bears host a familiar foe in reigning league champion Creighton (March 23-25) in a three-game series at Hammons. The Bears faced the Bluejays in six of their final seven games of the 2011 season, including three contests at the MVC Tournament.
Six straight non-conference tilts will follow for MSU, with home games against Kansas (March 27) and Arkansas State (April 3-4) sandwiching a three-game trip to NCAA Super Regional qualifier Dallas Baptist (March 30-April 1).
The Bears will alternate MVC road series against Bradley (April 6-8) and Wichita State (April 20-22) with home sets against Illinois State (April 13-15) and Southern Illinois (April 27-29) in a busy month of April. MSU will also square off against Kansas State (April 11), Saint Louis (April 17) and Missouri (April 25) in mid-week action at Hammons Field.
After 11 home dates in April, the Bears hit the road for seven of their final 10 games of the regular season in May. Missouri State will travel to Lawrence, Kan., for a two-game set with Air Force (May 4-5) and a return date with host Kansas (May 6), followed by a mid-week game in Columbia against Missouri (May 9). The final MVC home series of the year will play out May 11-13, with the Bears hosting Evansville. MSU then concludes the regular season the following weekend (May 17-19) with a three-game swing in Terre Haute against Indiana State.
For the third time in the last eight seasons Missouri State University and Hammons Field will serve as hosts for the State Farm Missouri Valley Conference Baseball Championship (May 22-26), with the champion earning the league's automatic NCAA Tournament berth. The 2012 NCAA Division I Baseball Championship gets underway with Regional play the weekend of June 1-4, followed by Super Regional competition, June 8-11. The 2012 Men's College World Series kicks off June 15 and culminates with the Finals, June 24-26.
The 2012 season will be the Bears' 30th year in Division I and also the 30th campaign for Guttin, who will enter the season with a 992-629 career record as head coach at MSU.
Ticket information for the upcoming season is currently being finalized and will be made available through the official web home of Missouri State Athletics, www.MissouriStateBears.com, when complete.
