Missouri State at the Louisiana Tech Invitational
Dates	Feb. 10-12
Game 1	Fri., 1 p.m. vs UAPB
Game 2	Fri., 7 p.m. vs Incarnate Word
Game 3	Sat., 3 p.m. vs Samford
Game 4	Sat., 5 p.m. at Louisiana Tech
Game 5	Sun., 9 a.m. vs North Dakota
Location	Ruston, La. | Lady Techster Softball Complex
Follow	@MSUSoftball
Live Stats	LaTechSports.com
Watch	CUSATV.com
Missouri State	Game Notes | Softball Home Page

The Missouri State softball kicks off the 2017 season with five games at the Louisiana Tech Invitational in Ruston, La., on Feb. 10-12 at the Lady Techster Softball Complex.

The Bears open up the season Friday at 1 p.m. against Arkansas-Pine Bluff, followed by a first-time matchup with Incarnate Word at 7 p.m. Saturday afternoon, the squad returns for a 3 p.m. contest against Samford and a shot at host Louisiana Tech at 5 p.m. Missouri State wraps up the invitational on Sunday, taking on North Dakota at 9 a.m.

The Series
Dating back to 2007, Missouri State boasts a perfect 4-0 record over Arkansas-Pine Bluff. The Bears run-ruled Arkansas-Pine Bluff in its first two meetings, putting up a total of 31 runs while limiting the Golden Lions to seven.The last meeting between the two teams was on Feb. 7, 2015 when Missouri State bested the Golden Lions 5-2.

Only meeting at neutral sites, Missouri State leads Samford 4-1 in its series history. The Bears and Bulldogs met up twice in the 2015 season - Samford edged the Bears 1-2 in the first contest (Feb. 7, 2015), but Missouri State returned the next day to win 8-6 (Feb. 8, 2015).

Having played 10 times, Louisiana Tech holds a narrow, 6-4 series lead over the Bears. Missouri State has won the last three matchups against the Lady Techsters, the most recent being in Ruston, La., on Feb. 8, 2015 where the Bears won 9-2.

This will be the first meeting against Incarnate Word and North Dakota

Scouting the Opponents
Arkansas-Pine Bluff
Arkansas-Pine Bluff enters the Louisiana Tech Invitational coming off a 15-36 overall record in 2016. Returning to the field is junior outfielder Tonnay Hawkins, a 2016 All-SWAC First-Team selection. Hawkins racked up team-leading 52 hits and 15 RBI while maintaining a .388 batting average. In the circle, Arkansas-Pine Bluff returns two pitchers from the eight-member, 2016 pitching staff. Collectively, the pitchers carried an 8.80 ERA while surrendering 352 hits, 312 runs and 26 home runs.The Golden Lions look to new leadership this year as head coach Kevin Montgomery enters his first season at the helm.

Incarnate Word
Picked to finish last in the Southland Conference, the Cardinals finished the 2016 season with an 18-13 overall record. Third-team All-Southland Conference selections Mikaela Flores and Alex Alonzo return to the field after finishing the 2016 season with 35 and 32 hits, respectively. Defensively, the Cardinals return four pitchers from their 2016 campaign. Sarah Leal, Incarnate Word's go-to pitcher, led the staff in complete games (5), innings pitched (96.2) and strikeouts (56) while maintaining a 4.27 ERA. Head coach Amanda Gamboa enters her fourth season leading the Incarnate Word softball program.

Samford
After advancing to the NCAA Tournament, the Bulldogs look to carry the moment from their 40-20, 2016 season. Samford heads into the 2017 season without one of its key players – Southern Conference Softball Player of the Year, Megan Dowdy. The senior led the Bulldogs with a .392 batting average (.411 in the regular season), 82 hits, 24 doubles and four triples. Offensively, half of the Samford lineup hit well above .300 and the other half carried a .275 batting average or better. Also missing in the 2017 season will be the SoCon Softball Pitcher of the Year, Mollie Hanson. The ace led the staff with a 23-10 record and compiled 136 strikeouts to complement her 2.47 era. Head coach Mandy Burford enters her sixth season at the helm for the Bulldogs.

Louisiana Tech
Hosting the Louisiana Tech Invitational, the Lady Techsters finished the 2016 season with a 32-22 overall record and 12-9 finish in Conference USA play. Six student-athletes reigned in 2016 all-conference honors, including Morgan Turkoly, who led the squad with 55 hits and jacked 10 balls out of the park. The Lady Techsters return pitcher Bailey Allen, a first-team all-conference member who led the staff with a 2.47 ERA and 94 strikeouts over 153.1 innings of work. Louisiana Tech is under the field direction of Mark Montgomery, who enters his fifth season as head coach for the program.

North Dakota
The Fighting Hawks begin their 2017 season with 36-straight road games. North Dakota finished 17-37 overall last season, with a 4-15 mark in the Big Sky Conference. Returning to the field is Mary Martin, who received all-Big Sky honorable mention honors as a freshman. The Canadian earned 17 RBI while carrying a .298 batting average, which ranked second on the team. North Dakota also returns all-Big Sky first-team member Kaylin VanDomelen, who carried the workload for the Fighting Hawks, tossing 193 innings. Boasting a 14-20 record last season, she led the staff in ERA (3.19), complete games (20), shutouts (4) and strikeouts (151). Jordan Stevens begins his third season as head coach of the North Dakota softball program.

The Starting Nine
? Senior Olivia Roark (Ottumwa, Iowa) enters the 2017 season with a team-best 6-game hitting streak intact. She led the Bears with a .373 batting average last season and earnedAll-Missouri Valley Conference first-team honors. Roark also ranked 23rd nationally in sacrifice bunts per game (0.26) in 2016.
? Sixteen of Missouri State's 18 roster players were recognized on the fall 2016 Athletic Director's Honor Roll after achieving a 3.0 semester GPA or better for the most-recent academic semester.
? Last season, Missouri State boasted the 13th-best team fielding percentage in the NCAA Division I ranks. The Bears made just 39 errors in 1,442 defensive chances a year ago to lead all Missouri Valley Conference clubs.
? Mary Stephens (Sr., Sachse, Texas) is one shy of 200 career total bases. The standout first baseman is MSU's active leader in hits (133), home runs (15) and RBI (77) in 158 career ball games.
? MSU newcomer Holly Kelley (P, Cypress, Texas) was named to the NJCAA Division II and NFCA All-America second teams in 2016 after going 26-5 in the circle with a conference-leading 262 strikeouts, the third-most in the nation, at Hutchinson (Kan.) Community College. She pitched 23 complete games, six shutouts and posted five saves to rank fourth in the NJCAA in wins, second in complete games and 21st in ERA.
? MSU head coach Holly Hesse enters the 2017 campaign ranked 36th among all active NCAA Division I coaches with 726 career victories. Hesse begins her 29th season at the helm of the Bears and owns a 726-721-2 (.502) career ledger with two conference Coach of the Year honors.
? The Bears will play their first 21 games of the 2017 campaign away from home before returning to Springfield on March 18 to open Missouri Valley Conference play against Northern Iowa. The road stretch includes four tournaments which will include 19 possible games.
? Missouri State is opening its 49th season of intercollegiate softball and 35th season at the NCAA Division I level. The Bears are 1105-957-2 all-time with five NCAA Tournament appearances -- all under Hesse -- in addition to 10 AIAW national tournament trips. The Bears claimed the 1974 AIAW Women's College World Series title and were also runners-up in 1970.
? Senior Bethany Sullinger (Kansas City, Mo.) shares the MSU single-season RBI record when she drove in 46 runs as a sophomore in 2014. She also landed on the MVC Scholar-Athlete team that season and earned Valley Player of the Week honors once. She enters her senior campaign with 61 career RBI in 119 games.