Missouri State Game Notes 
Missouri State Bears (10-3) vs. SIU Edwardsville Cougars (7-5)
Dates/Times: Friday, March 9 - 3 p.m.
Saturday, March 10 - 2 p.m.
Sunday, March 11 - 1 p.m.
Location: Springfield, Mo.
Site: Hammons Field (8,000)
Radio: None
TV: None
Live Audio and Video: None
Live Stats: MissouriStateBears.com
Leading Off
After opening the 2012 home slate with a win over Oklahoma State Tuesday, the Missouri State Bears will continue their five-game homestand this weekend with a three-game set against the SIU Edwardsville Cougars at Hammons Field. MSU will be trying for its sixth-consecutive victory in the series opener Friday afternoon, as well as its best start to a season in 17 years. The Bears have not started a campaign 11-3 (or 12-3) since 1995, and haven't won 13 of their first 16 contests since the 1989 season.
Prime 9
? Missouri State ranked 48th in this week's Perfect Game Top 50 Poll and received five votes in the USA Today Coaches' Poll
? The Bears have out-scored the opposition 32-9 over the course of their current five-game win streak
? MSU's 10-3 start is its best since 1999; the Bears have not started 11-3 or 12-3 since 1995, and haven't begun a season 13-3 since 1989, when they went 41-10 during the regular season
? Junior Luke Voit was one of 43 Division I catchers named to the Johnny Bench Award watch list Wednesday
? Junior RHP Clay Murphy improved to 3-0 with a 1.77 ERA in five career outings vs. OSU with his complete-game, 5-2 win over the Cowboys Tuesday
? With its win over OSU Tuesday, MSU has gone 9-3 versus the Big 12 Conference over the last two seasons
? MSU holds a 20-19 edge in the series with SIUE, but the two teams have met just once since 1986, a 5-3 Bears' win at Hammons Field in 2010
? Senior 3B Brent Seifert is hitting .400 with 10 RBIs over MSU's current five-game win streak
? Freshmen Dylan Becker and Eric Cheray are a combined 7-for-12 (.583) over the Bears' last two games
SIU Edwardsville Series
The Bears and Cougars have an extensive history dating back to Missouri State's Division II days, with MSU claiming a 20-19 edge in the series. The two clubs have met only one time in the last 25 years, however, a 5-3 Bears' win at Hammons Field on April 21, 2010.
About the Bears
Following a disappointing end to an otherwise memorable bounceback 2011 season, Missouri State entered the new year as the preseason choice to capture the Missouri Valley Conference regular-season title for the fourth time in the last 12 seasons. After a rough start to opening weekend in Lubbock, Texas, the Bears have rebounded to win 10 of their last 11 games and bring a 10-3 overall mark into this weekend's action. Senior outfielder Spiker Helms (.446, 3-HR, 15-RBI) ranks among the MVC's top 10 performers in 10 different offensive categories, including league-best totals for runs scored (19), hits (25), doubles (8) and total bases (42). He will also bring a career-best 11-game hit streak into the weekend. Fellow senior Brock Chaffin (.373, 12-RBI) has come on strong as of late, going 14-for-31 (.452) with 11 RBIs over the Bears' last seven games, while junior catcher Luke Voit (.241, 2-HR, 15-RBI) has three game-winning RBIs on the season to lead the club. Senior second baseman Kevin Medrano (.333, 5-2B) has returned from an early three-game hiatus with a vengeance. Medrano recorded hits in six straight trips to the plate (Feb. 26-29) to break into the Bears' top 10 for career hits and his five doubles rank fourth in the Valley. Additionally, senior third baseman Brent Seifert (.261, 2-HR, 16-RBI) leads the team in RBIs and has reached base safely in all 13 games and a career-high 18-straight contests dating back to last season.
The Bears' regular weekend rotation has been strong through the first three weeks, combining to strike-out 55 batters through 59.2 innings of work. Nick Petree (2-1, 2.57), who went 9-2 with a 2.81 ERA to garner Freshman All-America honors last spring, picked up his first second-straight victory last Friday at Northwestern State, limiting the Demons to just three hits through seven innings. Junior right-hander Pierce Johnson (1-1, 3.27) has shown stretches of dominance in each of his three outings this season. On Feb. 25, he held UTA hitless through five innings before leaving after seven innings with a no-decision. He was even better last Saturday, fanning a career-high 12 NSU hitters over eight innings to earn his first win of 2012. Junior right-hander Cody Schumacher (2-0, 4.86) rebounded from a rough first start to post back-to-back quality start victories, including a seven-inning blanking of NSU on Sunday. Junior righty Clay Murphy (2-0, 0.71, 1 save) has permitted just two earned runs in 25.1 innings this year and defeated Oklahoma State for the second time in seven days Tuesday. Finally, freshman lefty Tyler Burgess (3-0, 0.00, 2 saves) has been sensational in his MSU debut, notching a victory or a save in each of his five appearances without allowing a run.
About the Cougars
SIU Edwardsville brings a 7-5 record into this weekend's series after going 28-24 a year ago. Head coach Gary Collins welcomes back 21 letterwinners from that group, led by junior infielder James Vazquez, who paces the club with a .333 average after hitting .325 a year ago. Senior infielder Zach Hawkins led the Cougars in hitting and RBIs in 2011, and is off to another strong start this year. He currently leads the team with 13 RBIs while hitting .279. Junior outfielder Travis Becherer (.327) batted .307 and swiped a team-best 19 bags in 2011, while sophomore outfielder Mitch Matecki (.283) has driven in 11 runs so far this season after recording 30 RBIs and hitting .302 as a freshman last spring.
The Cougars pitching staff boasts a number of returners, led by sophomore right-hander Travis Felax (2-1, 5.94), who went 5-2 with a 2.62 ERA in his debut season last year. Senior right-hander Thad Hawkins (0-0, 7.27, 1 save) recorded six saves in 2011, while senior lefty Dustin Quattrocchi (1-0, 0.00, 2 saves) has also been strong out of the SIUE bullpen so far in 2012.
Guttin Reaches 1,000 Career Win Plateau
Missouri State head coach Keith Guttin (Missouri-St. Louis, 1978) became the 46th Division I baseball coach and the third Valley bench boss to reach the 1,000 career-win mark with last Saturday's 3-2 victory over Northwestern State.
Guttin, who entered the season 15th among active Division I head coaches in career victories, became the first coach at Missouri State in any sport to reach the 900-win mark with the Bears' May 11, 2008, win over Middle Tennessee at Hammons Field. During his tenure, 114 Bears have signed professional contracts, including 12 Major Leaguers. Additionally, MSU has made seven Division I NCAA Tournament appearances--six in the last 17 years. 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.
Watching Voit
Junior Luke Voit was one of 43 Division I catchers named to the initial Johnny Bench Award watch list on Wednesday. Additional nominations for the award, which honors the top Division I player who serves as a team's starting catcher in at least 75% of its games, will be considered until May 7, with semifinalists announced on May 16, and finalists revealed on June 4. The award will be presented June 28, in Wichita.
Voit is currently second on the Bears in RBIs (15), while ranking sixth in the Missouri Valley Conference and 45th nationally. The 2011 All-MVC second-teamer leads MSU with three stolen bases and has a .991 fielding percentage while throwing out 46 percent of all would-be base-stealers on the season.
Seifert Picks Up Valley Honor
After playing a key role in each of the Bears' four victories last week, senior third baseman Brent Seifert was named Missouri Valley Conference Player of the Week for the period February 27 through March 4, the league office announced Monday.
Seifert powered the Missouri State offense with a .412 batting average, .824 slugging percentage and nine RBIs last week. Five of his seven hits on the week went for extra bases, including three two-run doubles and a three-run homer in MSU's weekend sweep of Northwestern State. After going 1-for-3 with a pair of walks in MSU's win at Oklahoma State, Seifert recorded multi-hit and multi-RBI games in all three outings at NSU, coming through with key two-out, two-run doubles in each of the first two games of the set, then clubbing a game-clinching three-run homer in the finale on Sunday. He matched a career-high with four RBIs in an 8-3 win on Friday and drove in the tying and go-ahead runs in the Bears' 3-2 victory on Saturday. Seifert extended his career-best streak of consecutive games reaching base to 17 contests by going 2-for-4 with two runs scored in Sunday's 9-1 victory.
The Cameron, Mo., native shares the team lead and ranks third in the Valley with 15 RBIs on the season. Additionally, he leads the MVC in walks with 12, while his six doubles rank just behind MSU teammate Spiker Helms's league-leading total of eight.
Murph's Big 12 Mastery Continues
Junior right-hander Clay Murphy has made a career out of stymieing the Big 12 Conference and his first three starts of the 2012 season have offered more of the same. The Wolf Lake, Ill., native held Texas Tech to two unearned runs on seven hits while striking out five Red Raiders through six innings Feb. 19, to allow the Bears to stay close enough to rally late for an eventual 4-2 victory. Murphy has followed up that effort with a pair of standout performances vs. Oklahoma State. He worked 6.2 innings to beat the Cowboys, 7-1, in Stillwater (Feb. 29), then bested OSU again Tuesday by a 5-2 score in MSU's home opener to help the Bears run their record to 9-3 vs. the Big 12 over the last two seasons.
Murphy extended his streak of consecutive innings against Big 12 opponents without giving up an earned run to 26 innings before allowing a third-inning home run Tuesday. He responded by working his first-ever complete game, striking-out eight in the process.
Overall, Murphy now has a 3-1 career mark and a respectable 3.31 ERA in 11 appearances vs. Big 12 foes. But since March 1, 2011--the day his streak began--Murphy has completed 35.2 innings over six outings, allowing just three earned runs on 28 hits while striking-out 32 Big 12 batters in five MSU victories. Against the Cowboys, Murphy has been downright dominant in five career appearances. Last year, he allowed just one earned run on six hits, fanning 14 hitters over 13.0 innings. With his two victories this season against OSU, he improved to 3-0 with a career ERA vs. the Cowboys of 1.77.
