April 21, 2016
- Missouri State is off to its best start in school history with a 27-8 mark and its .771 win percentage is the 11th-best in the Division I ranks; the Bears have won 17 of their 20 home games to date and are 36-6 (.857) at Hammons Field over the last two seasons
- MSU remained at No. 16 in this week's Collegiate Baseball poll, while dropping two spots to No. 17 in the NCBWA's Top 30 poll and three slots to No. 19 in the USA Today Coaches Top 25 poll
- The Bears rank sixth nationally in slugging (.502), eighth in home runs (44) and 18th in scoring (7.9 rpg.); MSU leads the Valley in nearly every major statistical category, including batting, slugging, on-base percentage, runs, home runs, doubles, triples, home runs, stolen bases and total bases
- MSU has won five straight vs. Evansville, including just its second-ever road series sweep of the Aces last April; overall, the Bears own a 50-38 all-time edge vs. UE and a 24-16 home mark vs. the Aces
- The Bears have gone just 3-5 while hitting .286 and averaging 5.8 runs in games started by opposing left-handed pitchers; conversely, MSU has batted .310 and totaled 231 runs (8.6 rpg.) in going 24-3 vs. right-handed starters
- Jake Burger (14) and Spencer Johnson (13) rank fourth and sixth nationally in home runs, respectively; MSU has won 13 of the 14 games in which either Burger and Johnson has homered and the Bears are a perfect 5-0 when both have gone deep in the same game
- 'MSU's bullpen has been stingy this season, going 11-1 with 11 saves while holding the opposition to a .187 batting mark; Bryan Young, who has an MVC-best eight saves this spring, currently ranks ninth among all active NCAA Division I pitchers in career saves (24) and second all-time at MSU in career ERA (1.63)
- Right-handers Sam Perez and Jake Fromson have delivered shutdown performances out of the MSU bullpen as well, combining to go 9-0 with a 2.80 ERA and two saves in 36 total appearances; Perez leads the MVC with 64 strikeouts, while Fromson has strung together 14.2 consecutive scoreless innings over his last six outings
- The Bears are 112-6 over the last five years when scoring at least six runs in a game and have rallied for 13 come-from-behind victories in just 35 games this season after posting 24 comebacks last year
After dropping their first conference series in nearly two years, the Missouri State Bears will look to right the ship this weekend when they host the Evansville Purple Aces in a three-game Missouri Valley Conference set at Hammons Field. In a match-up of the last two MVC regular-season champs, the Bears and Purple Aces will open the series Friday (April 22) with a 6:35 p.m. contest, before meeting again Saturday (2:05 p.m.) and Sunday (1:05 p.m.) to conclue the third weekend of league play.
The Bears (27-8, 2-3 MVC) will be aiming to reverse course in MVC play after dropping two of their three road contests with Wichita State last weekend, marking their first league series loss since May 2014. The Purple Aces (21-14, 4-2 MVC) have claimed each of their first two Valley series, taking two of three games from both Wichita State and Bradley.
Missouri State brings a 50-38 overall edge against the Purple Aces into this weekend's action, including a 24-16 advantage vs. UE in Springfiled. The Bears have claimed each of the last three season series from the Aces, sweeping a three-game set in Evansville last spring after winning two of three in Springfield in 2014 after claiming three of the five games contested by the two clubs in 2013.
Close games with UE have been the norm in recent years, with 16 of the last 20 meetings in the series since 2010 being decided by three runs or less. In last year's series, the Bears hit .330 as a club, while the MSU pitching staff combined to strike out 34 hitters in the three-game sweep at Braun Stadium. Spencer Johnson tied a Bears' record with three doubles, while Jon Harris fanned 10 Aces in holding UE scoreless for 7.0 frames in a 13-2 win in the opener. Dylan Becker's two-run single in the 10th inning secured a 7-5 game two win, before Jordan Knutson blanked the host club on five hits over 8.0 frames and Eduardo Castro's two-run homer provided the only offense in a 2-0 victory in the finale.
Missouri State entered the season ranked No. 17 in Collegiate Baseball's Division I poll -- it's highest preseason ranking ever -- and rose to as high as No. 10 in the March 21 edition of the poll. 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.
Jake Burger was one of 60 players named to the midseason USA Baseball Golden Spikes Award watch list on Wednesday. Burger becomes the fourth Bear in four seasons to be considered for the honor, which recognizes the top amateur baseball player in the country. Sponsored by Major League Baseball, and presented in partnership with the Rod Dedeaux Foundation, 2016 marks the 39th year for the award, which will be presented June 30 in Los Angeles.
Burger has turned in one of the top all-around seasons in the country, currently ranking among the nation's leaders in home runs (14), runs batted-in (46) and slugging percentage (.699). The Chesterfield, Mo., product, who was chosen by Collegiate Baseball as one of its Louisville Slugger National Players of the Week on March 21, has been cited for Missouri Valley Conference Player of the Week honors three times this spring and currently leads the league in runs scored (39), homers and total bases (102).
A Midseason All-America choice at third base by D1Baseball, Burger reached base safely via a hit, walk or hit-by-pitch in each of MSU's first 29 games of the season. He leads the Bears with 12 multi-RBI performances this season, including 10 different games in which he has driven in at least three runs. Burger has logged a pair of two-homer contests, including a 4-for-4 effort on March 16, in which he drove in four runs and scored five times vs. Western Illinois. He also produced a four-hit, five-RBI game vs. Alcorn State on Feb. 27 and drove in five runs against Arkansas State on March 22.
Burger, a third-team All-American as a freshman last year, ranks fourth nationally in home runs and, in addition to his league-leading totals, currently rates among the Valley's top 10 in batting (.363), hits (53), slugging, on-base percentage (.441) and RBIs.
Missouri State has gotten off to a blazing start at home in 2015, recording 17 wins in its first 20 games at Hammons Field. The Bears, who are now 206-107 (.658) all-time in 13 seasons at Hammons, have been hard to stop at home over the last two years. Last year, MSU posted its best-ever showing at Hammons with a 19-3 (.864) mark, giving the Bears a combined 36-6 (.857) home record since the start of the 2015 season.
This season, the Bears have hit .321 as a team at home, averaged 9.1 runs per game and out-homered the opposition by a 27-5 margin at Hammons. Over the last two years combined, MSU has more than doubled the run production of its 42 opponents at home with a 321-153 scoring advantage.
Justin Paulsen matched a Missouri State single-game record with three doubles in last Saturday's 6-1 win over Wichita State. The junior first baseman became the 20th Bear to tally three doubles in a game and the first since Spencer Johnson accomplished the feat last April in Evansville.
As a team, the Bears equaled a season high with their five doubles vs. the Shockers, and MSU currently leads the MVC with 79 two-base hits. The Bears, who rank 21st nationally in doubles per game (2.26), could threaten the progam record for two-baggers in a season, which was set by the 2002 squad's 149 doubles.
