March 9, 2016
Jayhawk Invitational Notes 
Missouri State at Jayhawk Invitational
Arrocha Ballpark - Lawrence, Kan.
Live Stats | Follow @MSUSoftball
The nation's top two defenses will be showcased when the Missouri State softball team (9-8) travels to Lawrence, Kan., for the Jayhawk Invitational this weekend. After a pair of postponements, the weekend slate was revamped and the Bears open play in Kansas versus UMKC on Thursday at 4:00 p.m. MSU, ranked second in the country, will play host Kansas, the nation's top defense entering the week, at 6:30 p.m. on Thursday. The Bears will face Omaha on Friday and again on Saturday with a non-conference matchup against Northern Iowa in between.
Sophomore Kaitlin Beason earned both victories in the circle for the Bears last weekend in St. Louis. She pitched 7.1 innings in the two wins and lowered her ERA to a team-low 2.00 on the season. In 35 innings in the circle this season, Beason has surrendered just four bases on balls. She also helped her own cause last weekend, hitting three home runs in the two games in which she pitched. In Saturday's win over SEMO, she registered her second career multi-home run game, one of which was her first career grand slam, for a career-high five-RBI game.
Missouri State's defense has been phenomenal through the first 17 games of the season. The Bears enter this week with the second-best fielding percentage (.9838) in the country for the second-straight week. The Bears' opponent this upcoming weekend, Kansas, is just percentage points ahead of the Bears (.9844).
Sophomore Madison Jones had one of the best hitting performances of the Bears' early season recently. Beginning with the MSU game against Austin Peay on Feb. 26 in Troy, Ala., Jones went on a seven-game hitting streak, the longest by a Bear this season. During that stretch, she hit .609 with five multi-hit games, including a career-high four hits against Mercer on Feb. 27. She led the Bears in hitting at the Trojan Warrior Tournament and again at the Cancer Awareness Tournament.
In recent weeks, the Bears have seen some unsung heroes step up with an opportunity for playing time. Sophomore Sara Jones took advantage of her opportunity with a game-winning RBI single against Austin Peay in her second at-bat of the season. Freshman Darian Frost had a three-hit game against SEMO last week, a game in which she hit her first career home run. Fellow freshman Hannah Heinrichs belted her first career home run against Mercer on Feb. 26 at Troy.
QUICK HITS
- Sophomore Kaitlin Beason hit three home runs at the Cancer Awareness Tournament in St. Louis last weekend including her first career grand slam and second career multi-homer game.
- Fellow sophomore Madison Jones has paced the Bears in hitting each of the last two weekends. She racked up a seven game hitting streak during which she hit .609.
- Missouri State's defense entered the week ranked second in the country with a .984 fielding percentage. It is the second-straight week MSU is ranked #2 nationally.
- Freshman Darian Frost hit her first career home run, a two-run opposite field poke, against SEMO on March 5. It was one of her three hits in the Bears' win.
SCOUTING REPORT
UMKC Kangaroos: The Bears and Roos will play for the second time in less than a week with Thursday's slated matchup. Senior Katie Kelley leads UMKC with 16 RBI and a .366 batting average for a Kangaroos team hitting just .231. Sophomore Amber Grove has four of UMKC's five wins this season. Missouri State holds a decisive 36-10 series lead, but the teams have combined for 58 runs scored in the last three meetings.
Kansas Jayhawks: Kansas enters this week on a four-game winning streak entering its home opener against the Bears on Thursday. Sophomore Daniella Chavez is tops among Jayhawk hitters with six home runs and .400 batting average. As a team, the Jayhawks have slugged 24 long balls, but only attempted four stolen bases. In the circle, underclassmen Andie Formby and Ania Williams have eight of KU's wins and lead the staff with sub-3.00 ERAs. Kansas' defense enters the week just percentage points ahead of the Bears for best in the country. KU leads the all-time series 72-19, but the Bears have won three of the last five meetings.
Omaha Mavericks: The Mavericks ended a five-game skid with a doubleheader sweep at Northern Colorado on Tuesday, highlighted by junior pitcher Abbie Clanton's no-hitter. Despite the no-no, the UNO pitching staff holds a hefty 5.90 team ERA. Senior Sydney Hames and junior Nicole Warren have combined for 12 home runs and 43 RBI as two of three Mavs with a .300 or better batting average. The Bears hold a slim 4-3 series lead with all seven previous matchups occurring prior to 1990.
UNI Panthers: The Panthers have racked up 15 wins in the early season, the most among MVC teams. Junior Alyssa Buchanan leads UNI in batting average (.516) and earned run average (1.77). Senior Chelsea Ross is a close second in both categories with a .400 batting average and 2.16 ERA. As a team, the Panthers are second in the MVC with a team .303 batting average and a 2.52 team ERA. Saturday's matchup will be a non-conference contest. All-time, MSU holds a 45-43 advantage in the series history.
700 AND COUNTING
Head coach Holly Hesse is second in all-time wins by an MVC coach with 713. She entered 2016 with the 37th-most wins among active Division I head coaches. With a 4-0 victory over Illinois State on April 18, 2015, Hesse earned milestone win 700. She trails only current Illinois State coach Melinda Fischer (965 wins in MVC).
BEARS SOFTBALL IS ON THE AIR
The Missouri State softball team will see all of its home games live streamed through Bears All-Access on MissouriStateBears.com.
Some MSU home games will air on KBFL (1060 AM) and can be heard online via RadioSpringfield.com.
2016 Broadcast Schedule
Friday, March 25 vs. Bradley (G1) [KBFL]
Wednesday, April 13 vs. Tulsa [KBFL]
Wednesday, April 20 vs. Wichita St. (DH) [KBFL]
Wednesday, April 27 vs. SIU Edwardsville [KBFL]
LEGACY WEEKEND UPCOMING
Missouri State will celebrate the championship teams from 1996, 1997, 1998 and 2006 during Legacy Weekend at Killian Stadium. The Bears will bring back players from those title teams on April 9-10 with on-field celebration slated for Saturday, April 9. Tickets for Legacy Weekend can be purchased at the Killian Stadium gates on game day.
TRIUMPHANT RETURN
The Bears eagerly anticipated the inspirational return of redshirt sophomore Allie Alvstad. She missed the entire 2014-15 academic year to battle through acute myeloid leukemia. She received a bone marrow transplant in December 2014 and returned to the team in 2015-16.
In her first plate appearance of the season, Alvstad drew a four-pitch walk against Northern Colorado on Feb. 13. On Feb. 19, she drove in her first run of the season with a pinch-hit ground out at Western Kentucky.
PRESEASON PICK
Missouri State received more first-place votes than any other Valley squad, but finished second in a top-heavy Missouri Valley Conference preseason coaches poll released by the league office on January 27. The Bears also were well represented on the preseason All-MVC team with senior Erin Duewel, junior Erin Struemph and sophomore Erika Velasquez Zimmer earning nods. All three players were All-MVC first team members in 2015.
FROM START TO FINISH
Missouri State saw its starting pitcher toss a complete game in five of the Bears' first eight games on 2016. Struemph opened the season with a complete game against Texas Southern (Feb. 12). Beason tossed a career-long nine inning game later in the day against Detroit. Struemph and Beason returned later in the weekend with identical three-hit complete game shutouts of Northern Colorado.
The Bears have maintained the start-to-finish pace in the circle. Led by Struemph's five complete games, MSU starters have completed nine of the 17 games this season.
MAD HITTING STREAK
Sophomore Madison Jones went on a career-best seven-game hitting streak beginning on Feb. 26. Her torrid pace began with a two-hit performance against Austin Peay. The next day, she had a career-high four hits in the Bears' win over Mercer.
Jones had three-consecutive two-hit games to open the Cancer Awareness Tournament in St. Louis. During her seven-game hitting streak, Jones had five multi-hit games and a batting average of .609.
CLUBBING FOR A CAUSE
Sophomore Kaitlin Beason boasts a powerful bat in addition to a reliable arm in the circle. She put both aspects of her game together at the Cancer Awareness Tournament in St. Louis. On March 4, she earned the win in relief against UMKC. She also hit a three-run home run in the game against the Kangaroos.
She returned the next day and pitched 5.0 innings to earn the victory over SEMO. In the win over the Redhawks, Beason belted two home runs, her second career multi-homer game. One of her blasts was her first career grand slam, helping her own cause in the circle.
THE BETTER BEARS
Missouri State has played four games thus far this season in which the opponent's mascot was also "Bears". In those games, MSU is 4-0. Missouri State won a pair of shutouts against Northern Colorado in Texas over the opening weekend of the season. Two weeks later, MSU downed Mercer on back-to-back days. MSU has one remaining matchup against an opponent with the moniker Bears, April 6 vs. Central Arkansas.
ROARING INTO BLUEGRASS STATE
Missouri State made its first-ever trip to the state of Kentucky for the second weekend of play. The Bears left little doubt that they were ready to play when the team racked up 17 hits and scored in all but the first inning in a 11-3 win over host Western Kentucky (Feb. 19). Junior Olivia Roark had a career-best three hits and had one of MSU's six doubles in the game, tying a single-game program record.
In day two action, senior Jessie Van Es pitched a career-long 8.0 innings of shutout ball, but a walk-off sac fly by Murray State spoiled the party in a 1-0 nine-inning defeat. In the weekend's finale, MSU got a pair of doubles from Stephens and Roark extended her hitting streak to three games, but the Bears suffered a second-straight walk-off loss to end a weather-shortened trip to the Bluegrass State.
LONE STAR STUD
Sachse, Texas-native Mary Stephens had yet another fantastic weekend in her home state on opening weekend. She blasted a seventh-inning game-tying home run against Detroit on Feb. 12. The next day, she hit another home run, a two-run shot in the first inning of a win over Northern Colorado. After recording a single against host UT Arlington, she ran her hitting streak to four games with a 3-for-4 outing on Feb. 14 versus UNC.
On the weekend, Stephens hit .400 with a team-leading two home runs and four RBI. She also drew three walks, scored four runs and had a .800 slugging percentage.
BEASON'S BEAST WEEKEND
Beason had a breakout weekend in Texas to open the season. The Webb City, Mo.-native notched three career-best on the weekend. In the season opener versus Texas Southern, she drove in four runs for the first time in an MSU uniform. That same day, she took to the circle and pitched all nine innings against Detroit, three innings longer than her previous long outing. Then on Sunday (Feb. 14), Beason drew three walks against Northern Colorado, her first career multi-walk game.
FOLLOWING UP RECORDS
Missouri State set team records in home runs (48), walks drawn (181) and double plays turned (22) in 2015. Through the first month of the season, the Bears belted nine home runs, turned six double plays and drew 52 walks. In Saturday's (Feb. 13) game versus Northern Colorado, MSU drew 12 walks, one shy of the single-game program record set in 2004.
WAITING IN THE WINGS
Head coach Holly Hesse has commitments from three players to join the 2017 squad. Joining the Bears for the 2016-17 academic year are Erin Griesbauer (Blue Springs, Mo.), Darby Joerling (Defiance, Mo.) and Carsten Warner (Nevada, Mo.).
