March 24, 2016
- Missouri State's 18-2 start represents the best opening 20-game stretch in the 53-year history of the program, while its current nine-game win streak is tied for the 12th-longest in school history
- The Bears moved up two spots to a season peak position of No. 10 in this week's Collegiate Baseball Division I poll, while also rising to No. 14 in the USA Today Coaches Top 25 and to No. 15 in the NCBWA Top 30 poll
- The Bears are currently in the middle of a Hammons Field-record nine-game home stand; MSU is 199-105 all-time at Hammons, where it has out-homered the opposition 21-2 this year, while hitting .331 as a team in going 10-1
- MSU has homered in 17 of its 20 games and its team average of 1.7 long balls per game is tops in the nation; the Bears are also among the country's top slugging and scoring squads, leading Division I baseball with a .556 team slugging percentage and ranking seventh in the country in runs per game (8.8)
- MSU holds a 50-31 all-time advantage against Big Ten Conference foes, including a 3-0 mark this season after sweeping Iowa last weekend; Minnesota has won six of its previous eight meetings vs. Missouri State
- Spencer Johnson brings a streak of 35 consecutive games reaching base safely via a hit, walk or hit by pitch into Friday's series opener; over the course of his streak, which includes the final 15 games of the 2015 season, Johnson has hit .336 (42-for-125) and slugged .704 with 10 homers and 37 RBIs
- Jake Burger was named not only a Louisvile Slugger National Player of the Year, but also earned his third MVC Player of the Week honor this season after hitting .556 with four homers in five games last week; Burger shares the Division I lead in home runs (11) and ranks seventh nationally in slugging percentage (.867)
- Burger and Johnson rank No. 1 and No. 2 in the Valley in slugging, runs scored, RBIs, home runs and total bases; the duo also ranks among the top 20 Division I players in homers, RBIs, total bases and slugging percentage
- Both Aaron Meyer and Hunter Steinmetz bring 12-game hit streaks into the series; Meyer is hitting .396 over his hot stretch, while Steinmetz is batting a team-best .478 (22-for-46) with 16 runs scored, six RBIs and eight of his league-leading nine steals during his streak
Winners of nine straight games, the Missouri State Bears conclude their nine-game home stand this weekend when they host the Minnesota Golden Gophers in a three-game set at Hammons Field. The Bears and Gophers open the weekend series with a 6:35 p.m. game Friday (March 25), before engaging in a 2:05 p.m doubleheader Saturday (March 26).
Bolstered by one of the top offenses in the country, MSU is off to its best start in program history with 18 wins in its first 20 games of the season. The Bears rallied from a five-run deficit Tuesday vs. Arkansas State, getting grand slams from Spencer Johnson and Jake Burger in a 15-11 victory.
Minnesota is coming off a 10-3 win over Augsburg in its first home game of the season Tuesday. The Gophers, who return 23 letterwinners this spring, won six of their first eight contests before dropping six of their next nine games.
The Gophers enter the weekend with a 6-2 all-time advantage over the Bears, including a 4-1 edge vs. MSU in Springfield. The two clubs last met in March 2007, when Minnesota took two of three from MSU for the second year in a row.
This weekend's series marks the second in as many weeks for the Bears against a Big Ten foe. MSU swept Iowa in a three-game set last weekend and owns a 50-31 all-time record against the current membership of the conference.
Missouri State entered the season ranked as high as No. 17 in Collegiate Baseball's Division I poll -- it's highest preseason ranking ever -- and moved up two spots to No. 10 in this week's edition. The Missouri Valley Conference favorite racked up a school-record 49 wins last spring en route to capturing both the MVC regular-season and conference tournament titles. MSU will welcome back 17 letterwinners and five regular position starters from last year's club that earned the No. 8 national seed in the NCAA Championship and captured the Springfield Regional crown to advance to its second Super Regional.
Sophomore third baseman Jake Burger and junior closer Bryan Young each earned spots on multiple preseason All-America squads following breakthrough 2015 campaigns. Burger was a third-team All-America choice after establishing himself as one of The Valley's top corner men in his rookie season. Young was equally as impressive, picking up first-team All-America recognition from the NCBWA after leading the MVC with a Bears single-season record 16 saves, which ranked third nationally.
Senior outfielder Spencer Johnson joined the duo on the All-MVC preseason team after hitting a career-best .310 with 17 multi-hit games and a team-best 50 runs scored last year. The Bears' trio of preseason honorees will be surrounded by seasoned veterans, including senior catcher Matt Fultz, junior outfielder Blake Graham and junior first baseman Justin Paulsen, each of which registered big years last spring to help stabilize MSU's balanced lineup.
On the mound, the Bears will have a deep stable of returners to work with, led by junior left-hander Jordan Knutson, who is expected to take over the Friday starter role on the heels of a breakthrough 2015 season. Knutson fashioned a 6-2 record to go along with his 3.16 earned run average. Senior righty Sam Perez is expected to once again help stabilize the relief corps after going 9-1 with a save in his 27 appearances spanning 68.0 total innings last spring.
Since March 15, 2015, the Bears have gone 58-8 and won 13-straight regular-season weekend series. MSU has racked up a 29-4 home record during the same stretch, while fashioning a matching mark in its 33 road and neutral field contests. The Bears have shown an uncanny knack for the dramatic, posting 30 come-from-behind victories since the beginning of their stretch of dominance.
This weekend's series will feature two of the winningest head coaches in NCAA history, with MSU bench boss Keith Guttin opposing Minnesota coach John Anderson, both of whom rank among the top 10 active Division I head coaches for career wins. Guttin enters Friday's series opener with 1,156 career wins in his 34 years at the helm of the MSU program, good for 10th on the list. Anderson sits ninth on the chart, 26 wins ahead of Guttin with 1,182 victories in 35 years as the Golden Gophers mentor.
Guttin, who recorded his 1,100th career victory March 17, 2015 against Little Rock, is the second-winningest Valley coach of all time behind Wichita State's Gene Stephenson. In addition to earning his fifth Valley coach of the year award, Guttin was named to three separate halls of fame in 2015 and, earlier this month, was tabbed for induction into the St. Louis Amateur Baseball Hall of Fame this coming April.
Missouri State continued to prove that no lead is safe for the opposition, rallying from its biggest deficit in nearly six years Tuesday, when it came all the way back from a 5-0 hole to defeat Arkansas State by a 15-11 final tally. The Bears' last come-from-behind win after trailing by five runs occurred on May 26, 2010, when MSU overcame a 7-2 deficit against Southern Illinois at the Missouri Valley Conference Championship in Wichita.
The Bears have made a habit of eliminating opposition leads over the first month of the season. MSU wiped away early deficits to win all three of its weekend contests against Iowa last week. The Bears erased a 1-0 deficit to claim a 4-1 win in the opening game of the series, before overcoming leads of 3-0 in game two and 6-2 in the finale. The Bears already have rallied for 11 come-from-behind wins this season after posting 24 comebacks last spring.
