March 19, 2015
Missouri State Game Notes
- Missouri State won its seventh home opener in 12 tries Tuesday, defeating UALR 10-3 to sweep the season series from the Trojans and improve to 4-0 vs. the Sun Belt Conference in 2015
- The Bears outscored UALR 27-7, hitting .365 as a club in their two-game series with the Trojans; MSU coaxed 20 walks from UALR pitching while striking out just five times in the two contests
- Head coach Keith Guttin became the 33rd NCAA Division I head coach to reach the 1,100-win plateau with Tuesday's victory over UALR; he ranks 13th among all active Division I coaches in career victories
- MSU ranks among the top three Valley clubs in nearly every major offensive statistical category, including hitting, slugging, on-base percentage, runs scored, RBIs, doubles, triples, walks and sac bunts
- The Bears' team total of 97 walks leads the MVC (and ranked 27th nationally as of Monday), while MSU's team OBP (.392) was 40th among all Division I teams
- Dylan Becker's 22 walks is the top individual total in the MVC and ranked 10th nationally as of March 16
- Zach Merciez moved into a tie for seventh on the Bears' career pitching appearances (61) list Sunday at K-State, matching the total of former teammate Tyler Burgess; he needs to make three more appeaances to move into a tie for sixth, currently held by Anderew Jefferson
- Joey Hawkins leads Division I baseball with 10 sacrifice hits this season; his 43 career SACs leads all active NCAA players
- After reaching double-figure run totals just five times in 57 games last spring, the Bears surpassed that total with their 10-run afternoon Tuesday vs. UALR, their sixth such performance in just 17 games this season
After posting a convincing win over UALR to open the home portion of their 2015 schedule, the Missouri State Bears jump into Missouri Valley Conference play this weekend with a three-game home set against the Indiana State Sycamores at Hammons Field. The Bears and Sycamores will square off in a 6:35 p.m. contest Friday (March 20) to begin Valley play, then meet again Saturday (2:05 p.m.) and Sunday (1:05 p.m.) to wrap up the series.
MSU, which enters its 25th MVC season on a two-game win streak, has totaled 20 runs on 28 hits over its last two contests, marking the first time the Bears have posted back-to-back double-digit run totals since April 2012. ISU, on the other hand, saw its four-game win streak come to an end earlier this week with a pair of losses to Nebraska.
MSU brings a 62-40 advantage over the Sycamores into this weekend's action, despite ISU claiming three of the squads' four meetings last spring. The Bears have won 32 of the previous 49 games contested by the two programs in Springfield, including eight of the last nine dating back to the 2009 season.
Two years ago, the Bears swept the Sycamores after holding the visitors to just one run over the first 26 innings of the series. ISU rallied to take the finale to extra innings, but MSU prevailed on Travis McComack's game-winning double in the bottom of the 11th, after Joey Hawkins reached base for the sixth consecutive time in the game to start the deciding rally. Hawkins has tormented the Sycamores throughout his career, bringing a career .458 (11-for-24) average into the weekend.
Fast Starts Frequent in Valley Play
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Missouri State has made a habit of sprinting from the gate in conference play, posting wins in seven of its last nine MVC opening series. The Bears, who saw an eight-game win streak in Valley openers come to an end last year at Wichita State, have gone 18-7 in their first conference series over the last nine seasons, with their only series losses coming in 2014 (at Wichita State) and 2010 (vs. Evansville).
Several Bears will be looking to build on recent individual successes in Valley play as well. Matt Hall brings a 2.80 career earned run average over 13 total MVC appearances into his third Valley campaign, while fellow junior Jon Harris is 6-2 in 12 career starts in conference play. Offensively, Tate Matheny is a career .362 hitter in Valley play after torching the league to the tune of .412 last spring. The junior hit six homers in league action last year and has eight MVC long balls -- and a .542 slugging percentage -- for his career.
Bears outfielder Spencer Johnson has been a linchpin in the MSU attack all season long, but the junior from Springfield has enjoyed perhaps his most productive stretch as a Bear since the calendar flipped to March. Johnson has recorded hits in eight of MSU's nine March contests, going a combined 14-for-35 (.400) with nine of his team-leading 16 RBIs and 10 runs scored over the same period.
Johnson, who is a perfect 6-for-6 with the bases loaded this season, has been on a tear the last three games, hitting .615 (8-for-13) with seven runs scored and four driven in against K-State (March 14-15) and UALR (March 17). Through the first 17 games of the season, Johnson has logged a team-high six multi-RBI efforts, as well as a Bears-best four game-winning RBIs. The Bears are 6-0 in the games Johnson has recorded a hit with the bases loaded.
' Spring Family Day' Coming Saturday to Hammons Field
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MSU will also host its Spring Family Day as part of Missouri State University's 110th birthday celebration this Saturday (March 21) when the Bears take on Indiana State in a 2:05 p.m. game at Hammons Field. The Bears close out their six-game home stand March 24 against Kansas (6:35 p.m.) on "Rally for Allie" night to support MSU softball playerAllie Alvstad's journey to recovery from leukemia. The softball team will be in attendance to sell orange wristbands and t-shirts, while the baseball Bears will wear orange sweatbands and shoelaces to support the cause.
