May 2, 2016
- Missouri State is 18-5 at home this season and is a combined 37-8 (.822) at Hammons Field since the start of the 2015 season; the Bears are 12-20 all-time at home vs. Arkansas and have dropped five straight in the series at Hammons Field
- ?The Bears and Razorbacks split their four 2015 meetings, with Arkansas bringing a 53-24 all-time advantage vs. MSU into Tuesday's game; UA claimed two of three games from the Bears at the Fayetteville Super Regional to advance to the NCAA Division I College World Series
- Despite dropping five straight games for the first time in over two years, MSU continues to lead the Valley in overall win percentage (.667) thanks to an offense that paces the circuit in nearly every major statistical category, including batting, slugging, on-base percentage, runs, runs batted-in, home runs, triples and total bases
- ?Jake Burger leads all of Division I baseball with 18 home runs on the season and needs just one more long ball to crack the Bears' single-season top 10 chart; nine of his home runs have come in the seventh inning or later
- ?Burger, who was named to USA Baseball's Golden Spikes Award watch list last week, also leads the Valley in batting (.369), slugging (.716), runs scored (47), hits (65), RBIs (55) and total bases (126)
- Spencer Johnson moved into the Bears' top 25 for career hits on April 23, passing Nolan Keane for the No. 25 spot; with 196 hits, Johnson needs two more to catch Steve Aldridge in the 24th spot
- Jeremy Eierman hit a team-best .397 (23-for-63) with all six of his home runs and 24 RBIs in the month of April; the freshman shortstop leads the MVC in homers (5), slugging (.750), RBIs (15) and total bases (30) in league play
- Fellow freshman Hunter Steinmetz also rates among the league's overall leaders in a number of statistical categories, including league-leading totals for steals (13) and triples (6), the latter of which ranks fifth in all of Division I baseball
- The Bears are 113-8 over the last five years when scoring at least six runs in a game and have rallied for 14 come-from-behind victories in the first 42 games of this season after posting 24 comebacks last year
The Missouri State Bears return to Hammons Field Tuesday (May 3) to kick off a four-game home stand against one of their oldest rivals when the Arkansas Razorbacks come to town for a 6:35 p.m. contest.
The Bears (28-14) enter the front end of their home-and-home series with Arkansas (26-18) on a five-game losing streak following a three-game MVC series sweep at Indiana State over the weekend. MSU has been hard to stop at home, however, with wins in 18 of their first 23 dates at Hammons Field this season. Arkansas has won five of its last eight games overall, including its last four midweek contests.
Arkansas holds a commanding 53-24 all-time edge over Missouri State in a series that dates back to 1966. The Bears are 12-20 vs. the Razorbacks on their home turf.
The Razorbacks have won each of the last five meetings in Springfield, and are 6-1 against the Bears overall at Hammons Field. MSU's lone win at Hammons came during the 2006 season, when the Bears claimed a 4-2 victory.
Missouri State entered the season ranked as high as No. 17 in Collegiate Baseball's Division I poll -- it's highest preseason ranking ever. 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.
The Bears and Razorbacks, who are also to meet May 17 in Fayetteville, will renew their rivalry with a home-and-home season series for the first time since 2009. Last year, the two teams split their four contests, with Arkansas taking two of three from MSU in a Super Regional showdown at Baum Stadium to advance to their eighth CWS appearance.
The Bears did emerge victorious in the two clubs' regular-season meeting last year in Fayetteville, as three MSU pitchers combined to blank the Razorbacks, 2-0. That win halted a 10-game win streak in the series for UA that dated back to 2007, and represented MSU's first shutout victory over the Razorbacks in 46 years.
Bears freshman shortstop Jeremy Eierman turned in a recent hot stretch that saw the rookie hit a team-best .397 (25-for-63) with all six of his home runs as a Bear and 24 RBIs over MSU's 16 April contests. The Warsaw, Mo., product has been MSU's leading hitter (.325) in Valley play, and leads all MVC players in slugging (.750), home runs (5), RBIs (15) and total bases (30) during league action.
Eierman, who has made all 42 starts at shortstop for MSU this spring, has recorded hits in eight of the Bears' 11 conference games and has four multi-RBI games in MVC play, including a four-RBI performance in MSU's 10-6 win over Evansville (April 23). Overall, Eierman's six home runs represents the most for a Missouri State freshman since Luke Voit and Keenen Maddox each clubbed five long balls in 2010.
Graham, Paulsen Join Century Club
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The Bears '100-hit club gained two new members, with Justin Paulsen and Blake Graham each reaching the career milestone this past week. The duo joins fellow century club pledges Matt Fultz (April 16) and Jake Burger (March 13), who each previously reached the 100-hit plateau in 2016.
Graham's 100th hit as a Bear came in game two of Friday's doubleheader at ISU and ultimately resulted in the tying run. Paulsen's milestone hit was also a memorable one--a two-run homer in the ninth inning Tuesday at Mizzou.
Missouri State has gotten off to a blazing start at home in 2015, recording 18 wins in its first 23 games at Hammons Field. The Bears, who are now 207-109 (.655) 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 37-8 (.822) home record over the last two years.
This season, the Bears have hit .311 as a team, averaged 8.6 runs per game and out-homered the opposition by a 32-6 margin at Hammons. Over the last two years combined, MSU has nearly doubled the run production of its 45 opponents at home with a 337-180 scoring advantage.
