Sept. 10, 2015
2015 Fall Schedule | 2015 Fall Roster
SPRINGFIELD, Mo. -- Missouri State University has finalized its fall baseball schedule and its 2015-16 roster with the addition of four transfers, head coach Keith Guttin announced Thursday. The Bears' Sept. 24 exhibition contest against the Ontario Blue Jays will highlight the 2015 fall slate, which will feature as many as eight dates at Hammons Field, including MSU's annual intrasquad Fall World Series.
MSU, which begins official fall workouts this week, will host the Blue Jays in nine-inning exhibition to open the fall campaign on Thursday, Sept. 24, at Hammons. The Bears will then square off in a best-of-seven series, beginning Oct. 1, with all games beginning at 3 p.m. Admission to all fall contests is free and open to the public.
Guttin also confirmed the addition of three student-athletes to the Bears' roster, bringing MSU's 2015 recruiting class to 14 members. Senior pitcher Preston Felgate (Lenexa, Kan.) and junior pitcher Ryan Dunne (Peoria, Ill.) joined the Bears as transfers at the beginning of the fall semester, while freshman infielder Jordan Hovey (Edwardsville, Ill.) committed to MSU over the summer as the final piece to the recruiting class.
Dunne joins the Bears after completing a standout two-year career at John A. Logan College in Carterville, Ill. Dunne, the son of former Major League pitcher Mike Dunne, was a two-year starter for Logan, helping his club to the 2015 GRAC title. The right-hander posted a 4-3 mound mark last spring, logging a 2.34 ERA and a .190 opponent batting average with 77 strikeouts in 74.0 innings over 11 starts for the Volunteers. A Peoria, Ill., product, Dunne was a two-time all-conference honoree at Richwoods High, where he tossed a no-hitter in Illinois state regional play as a senior. He also competed in basketball and football as a prep, playing on a pair of conference championship squads on the grid iron.
Felgate, a left-handed pitcher who completed his undergraduate degree from William Jewell College this spring, will have one year of eligibility remaining following a standout career at the NCAA Division II school in Liberty, Mo. He helped lead the Cardinals to the program's first NCAA Division II Regional appearance, anchoring the Jewell rotation by going 7-0 with a 3.33 ERA last spring. The Lenexa, Kan., native also logged a 2-2 record, a 1.87 ERA and a .199 opponent batting mark in 2014 before sustaining a season-ending arm injury. As a prep standout, Felgate was twice selected as an All-Sunflower League pitcher and guided his Shawnee Mission West High club to a substate title as a senior in 2011.
Hovey was a 2015 Louisville Slugger High School All-American as a shortstop for an Edwardsville (Ill.) High team that went 35-2 and was ranked No. 1 in the state of Illinois for much of last spring. A first-team all-state and All-Southwestern Conference selection, Hovey hit .382 with a .676 on-base percentage, three triples and a team-leading 12 doubles, 11 home runs, 46 runs scored, 15 steals for a club ranked as high as No. 6 nationally by USA Today. Rated by Prep Baseball Report as the No. 44 Illinois prospect in the class of 2015, Hovey ranked among the Metro-East leaders in nearly every offensive category as a senior, including area-best totals for homers and runs scored.
Missouri State returns 18 letterwinners from its 2015 Missouri Valley Conference championship club that won a program-record 49 games and came within one victory of advancing to the College World Series.
2015 Missouri State Baseball Fall Schedule
Sept. 24 - Ontario Blue Jays (Exhibition)
Fall World Series
Oct. 1 - Game 1
Oct. 2 - Game 2
Oct. 6 - Game 3
Oct. 9 - Game 4
Oct. 10 - Game 5
Oct. 14 - Game 6
Oct. 15 - Game 7
*all game times scheduled for 3 p.m. at Hammons Field
