April 14, 2015
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A five-game road trip begins in Wichita, Kan., on Wednesday as the Bears and Shockers play a 3:00 p.m. doubleheader at Wilkins Stadium. The matchup features this week's MVC Newcomer of the Week Erika Velasquez Zimmer and the MVC Player of the Week Brittany Fortner. Missouri State (23-17, 11-4) and Wichita State (25-19, 7-8) bring win streaks of seven games and six games, respectively, into Wednesday's DH.
Freshman Velasquez Zimmer was nearly unstoppable at the plate last weekend against Loyola. She hit a robust .700 to up her season average to a team-high .364. She blasted her first career home run, a second inning grand slam in game one that put MSU up 5-0. She also made a pair of dazzling catches in centerfield and was a perfect 3-for-3 in stolen base attempts. Velasquez Zimmer now leads all players with nine stolen bases in conference play. She has a current eight-game hitting streak, recording multiple hits in five-straight.
Senior Chelsea Jones pitched her third complete game shutout in as many starts in Saturday's 6-0 blanking of Loyola. She allowed just two hits and has given up a single run against in her last 25.0 innings pitched. She also hit .545 on the weekend with a pair of doubles and two runs scored. Jones enters Wednesday's games with an 11-game hitting streak during which she has raised her season batting average by 91 points.
Fellow senior Rebecca McPherson hit her seventh home run of the year on Sunday. It was her second home run in as many games after hitting a three-run shot in game two on Saturday. Junior Erin Duewel duplicated McPherson's feat of hitting home runs in back-to-back games. Duewel's three-run blast on Sunday erased a 2-0 first inning deficit for the Bears.
QUICK HITS
- Led by freshman Chelsea Thomas' nine home runs and senior Rebecca McPherson's seven long balls, the Bears have 29 as a team, the fifth-best single season total in program history.
- Mary Stephens is the only MSU hitter in recorded history since 1988 to have five hits in one game. She accomplished the feat twice in the span of 10 days going 5-for-5 against UMKC on March 11 and again at Bradley on March 21.
- Stephens is third in the league with 23 walks drawn on the season.
- Senior Rebecca McPherson became the third different MSU player to hit two home runs in a game this season with two blasts against UMKC on March 11 (Kaitlin Beason, Feb. 6 vs. ULM; Chelsea Thomas, Feb. 14 vs. EMU).
- Missouri State pitchers Chelsea Jones and Erin Struemph both rank in the top-4 in the MVC in ERA. Jones' 2.46 ERA is second while Struemph's 3.20 ranks fourth.
- Jones has pitched complete game shutouts in each of her last three starts and has allowed just one run against in the last 25.0 pitched overall.
- Struemph leads the Valley with five saves and ranks fifth in the nation in the category.
- At least one MSU player has had multiple hits in 34 of the 40 games this season. Freshman Erika Velasquez Zimmer leads the team with 14 multi-hit games.
- The Bears have turned a league-best 21 double plays this season, surpassing the previous program high of 20 set back in 2006.
- Missouri State is 6-2 in the last eight games in Wichita, including a doubleheader sweep in 2013.
IN THE OTHER DUGOUT
Wichita State Shockers: The Shockers enter Wednesday's meeting on a six-game win streak after sweeping Illinois State at home last weekend. The preseason favorites have rebounded from a slow 1-7 start in league play. WSU is paced by reigning MVC Player of the Week Brittany Fortner, who is the only player in the MVC hitting over .400 at .443. As a team the Shockers are hitting a league-best .305. In the circle, sophomore Katie Malone has earned 15 of the Shockers' 25 wins and leads the staff with a 3.56 ERA. Despite trailing the all-time series to Missouri State 57-45, Wichita State won last year's meeting in Kansas by a 12-0 score in five innings while holding the Bears hitless.
BEARS SOFTBALL IS ON THE AIR
The Missouri State softball team will see all of its home games live streamed through Bears All-Access, a subscription based video service available on MissouriStateBears.com.
Some MSU home games will air on KBFL (1060 AM) and can be heard online via RadioSpringfield.com. Additionally, two home games will be televised on MC22, a local and regional cable channel.
2015 Remaining Broadcast Schedule
Wednesday, April 22 vs. Wichita State [KBFL]
Saturday, April 25 vs. UNI (G1) [KBFL] [MC22]
EXTENDING HER LEGACY
Head Coach Holly Hesse is second in all-time wins by an MVC coach with 697. With a 7-1 victory over South Dakota State on February 15, 2014, Hesse earned milestone win 650. She trails only current Illinois State coach Melinda Fischer (952 wins).
GOT EACH OTHERS BACKS
All four Missouri State pitchers have recorded a save this season. The staff of Chelsea Jones, Jessie Van Es, Erin Struemph and Kaitlin Beason have combined for a league-high nine saves. Struemph's five saves lead the league and rank fifth in the nation this season. It is the most saves by a Missouri State team in program history surpassing the previous high of seven team saves set in 2005 and 2006.
FRESH TAKE AT HISTORY
Freshman third baseman Chelsea Thomas hit her team-best ninth home run of the season on March 31 versus SEMO. She is just the fourth Bear with nine home runs in a season. The other three (Stevie Pierce, 2013; Samantha Fleeman, 2006; Ashley Meredith, 2004) are all tied for the single season record with 10 long balls.
PATIENCE IS A VIRTUE
Patience at the plate by MSU hitters is paying dividends this year. Led by Stephens' 23 walks, Missouri State has drawn 140 bases on ball already this season, well above the 90 given up by the Bears' pitching staff. Stephens and McPherson have each drawn three walks in a game this year, a feat that was not accomplished by any MSU hitter in 2014. Not coincidently, Stephens (.443) is tops on the team in on-base percentage.
An example of how valuable the free pass has been this season is the Bears' game at #22/23 Texas A&M on Feb. 15. MSU dropped a close 2-1 decision, but all three runs scored in the game reached base via walk.
HIGH FIVE
Mary Stephens has turned in two separate 5-for-5 displays at the plate this season. No other player in the previous 27 seasons had a five-hit game. Stephens first accomplished the feat in game two against UMKC on March 11. Ten days later, she turned in another dazzling 5-for-5 outing at Bradley on march 21. In the 3-2 win over the Braves, Stephens hit a solo home runs, drove in another run with a single and doubled for what would become the winning run.
WILD WALK-OFF WEDNESDAY
Game two of Missouri State's home-opening doubleheader against UMKC on March 11 saw the Bears put up some eye-popping figures. MSU pounded out 19 hits in the 15-14 victory. The only other time since 1988 that the Bears had 19 hits in a game also came against UMKC on April 22, 1993.
Senior Rebecca McPherson performed the late game heroics with a three-run walk-off home run with a full count and two outs in the bottom of the seventh to cap a six-run inning. It was McPherson's second home run of the game, the third different Missouri State hitter with two long balls in the same game. Her four RBI in the game were a season-high for a Bear hitter.
Mary Stephens put her name in the history books as well. She became the only player since 1988 to record five hits in a game with her 5-for-5 performance.
NEWCOMER DE JA VU
Missouri State freshman third baseman Chelsea Thomas began her career with consecutive stellar weekends at the Louisiana Tech Invitation, the Texas A&M Aggie Classic and the Ragin' Cajuns Invitational. She hit two home runs over each weekend and led the Bears in runs batted in at two of the tournaments. For her solid performances, Thomas was named MVC Newcomer of the Week two-consecutive weeks to begin the year.
On Saturday, Feb. 14, Thomas became the second MSU freshman this season to hit two home runs in a game (Kaitlin Beason, Feb. 6 vs. ULM). In the win over Eastern Michigan, Thomas drove in three runs, the second time in 2015 that she had three RBI in a game.
TWO HOME RUN GAMES
Freshmen Kaitlin Beason and Chelsea Thomas made immediate power impacts to the Bears' lineup. Both hit home runs for their first career hits. Beason hit two home runs against ULM (Feb. 6), her first career hits. Thomas hit her first long ball the next day against UAPB.
Then on Feb. 14, Thomas had her own two home run game. She hit home runs in her first and third at-bats in a 3-for-3 game against Eastern Michigan. It was her second three-RBI game of the season.
Senior Rebecca McPherson tagged two long balls on March 11 against UMKC. She second dinger of the game was a three-run walk-off in a six-run seventh inning.
INITIAL IMPACT
Five MSU freshmen made immediate impacts in the Bears' lineup with their first career hits. Beason and Thomas each slammed home runs on opening weekend for their first career hits.
Erika Velasquez Zimmer had a bunt single against Abilene Christian (Feb. 6) and promptly stole second base. On the next play, she scored on a base hit. Hailee Vigneaux notched two hits in her first career start against UAPB (Feb. 7) and scored a run.
Catcher Molly Fields broke through against Iowa on Feb. 21. Her first career hit was a bases-loaded walk-off single in the eighth inning against the Hawkeyes.
HITTING STREAKS
Senior Chelsea Jones has hit safely in the last 11 games, the longest in-season streak of the year. She has upped her average 91 points during the hitting streak.
Redshirt sophomore Mary Stephens hit safely in the first three games of 2015 to extend her hitting streak to 11 games. It was the longest hitting streak by a Bear since Jessie Smith had a 12-game streak to end 2008 and begin 2009. Stephens' hitting streak spanned three seasons after she was limited to two games - she hit safely in both - in 2014.
PRESEASON PICK
Missouri State was selected seventh in the MVC preseason poll released on January 21. After finishing eighth in the league last season, the Bears aspirations are to move up more than one place in the final league standings this season.
Sophomore pitcher Erin Struemph was named to the preseason all-conference team. It was the second-consecutive season that an MSU sophomore was named to the preseason honor roll (Mary Stephens, 2014).
