Central Arkansas Bears (6-3) at Missouri State Bears (7-1)
Site:	Hammons Field (8,000)  |  Springfield, Mo.
Game 1:	Friday, March 3  |  3:05 p.m.
Game 2:	Saturday, March 4  |  2:05 p.m.
Game 3:	Sunday, March 5  |  1:05 p.m.
Follow:	Live Stats  |  @MSUBearBaseball
Radio:	KBFL 1060 AM/96.9 FM (Rob Evans)  |  RadioSpringfield.com
Game Notes:	Missouri State  |  Arkansas State
Series History:	MSU leads 11-5
Tickets:	MissouriStateBears.com

PRIME 9

• Missouri State is off to its 12th 7-1 start as a program and its ninth during head coach Keith Guttin's 35 years at the helm; the Bears' start is tied for the third-best in program history, trailing only the 8-0 starts turned in by the 1999 and 1976 MSU squads
• MSU enters the weekend with an 11-5 advantage in its series with Central Arkansas, including a three-game road sweep of the Bears in Conway last spring; MSU has claimed two of the three previous meetings in Springfield
• With 1,183 wins as MSU's bench boss, Guttin ranks 25th among all NCAA Division I coaches for career victories; he trails Al Ogletree in the No. 24 position by 25 wins
• MSU's bullpen has allowed just one earned run on 14 hits and six walks, while striking out 38 batters in 29.1 combined innings this season; senior closer Bryan Young shares the top spot on the career saves leaderboard for active NCAA Division I pitchers with a Missouri State record 29 saves
• Justin Paulsen ranks among the Missouri Valley Conference's top 10 in individual batting (.419), on-base percentage (.514), slugging (.645), runs scored (11), hits (13), doubles (4), total bases (20), RBIs (12) and walks (6); he also leads the Valley fielding percentage     (1.000) and double plays turned (10)
• As a team, the Bears pace all MVC clubs in runs scored (62), RBIs (59) and walks (52), while ranking second in doubles (20) and on-base percentage (.390); on the mound, MSU hurlers have posed the second-best team ERA (1.73) to date, while striking out a league-high 79 hitters and issuing a Valley-low 17 walks
• MSU pitchers have combined to post double-digit strikeouts in five straight games for the second time in as many seasons; Last spring, the Bears logged 10 or more K's in a club-record seven consecutive outings, Feb. 27-March 8    
• MSU has produced a total of 44 come-from-behind wins since the beginning of the 2015 season, including three on its current five-game win streak (ORU, Belmont and Lipscomb)
• The Bears have amassed a 57-14 regular-season record against non-conference foes since the beginning of the 2015 season, including a 24-4 home mark against non-MVC competition over the same stretch

LEADING OFF
After a 7-1 start to the 2017 campaign, the Missouri State Bears finally return to the friendly confines of Hammons Field Friday (March 3) to open the home portion of the season with a three-game series against the Central Arkansas Bears. MSU and UCA will square off in a 3:05 p.m. contest to kick off the weekend, before meeting again at 2:05 p.m. Saturday and 1:05 p.m. Sunday.

MSU has posted back-to-back shutouts of Middle Tennessee and Arkansas State in its last two outings, extending a string of early-season dominance by its pitching staff. As a team, the Bears have posted the nation's best WHIP (0.88), held the opposition to a cumulative .184 batting mark and struck out 79 batters, while allowing just 47 hits and 17 walks in 73.0 total innings this season. Offensively, MSU leads the Missouri Valley Conference in scoring (62 runs) and ranks fifth in all of Division I baseball with 52 walks on the year.

Central Arkansas (6-3) split a pair of midweek contests with Tennessee Tech on Tuesday, following series wins over Evansville and Eastern Illinois to open the season. The Bears, who average 7.9 runs per outing, have logged seven triples so far this year, which is good for the No. 2 total in the nation.

Up next, Missouri State travels to Stillwater for a Tuesday (March 7) afternoon contest with Oklahoma State.

SERIES HISTORY
Missouri State holds an 11-5 advantage over UCA in a series that extends back to the 2008 season. Last year, the Bears swept UCA in a three-game series in Conway to open the season, led by a big weekend from Jake Burger, who homered three times and drove in seven runs.

This weekend's series will mark the third trip to Springfield for Central Arkansas, which dropped two of its three previous games with the Bears at Hammons Field over the 2009 and 2010 seasons. MSU holds a 56-49 all-time advantage against the current membership of the Southland Conference, but dropped a 4-3 road decision to Southland member McNeese for its lone setback of the 2017 season to date.

HOLDING SERVE AT HAMMONS
Missouri State will open its 2017 home slate this weekend looking to extend a recent home-field advantage of unprecedented proportions in the history of the MSU program. The Bears logged a Hammons Field record 22 victories at home last spring after piling up 19 home wins in 2015. MSU posted its best-ever showing at Hammons with a 19-3 (.864) mark in 2015, giving the Bears a combined 41-11 (.788) home record over the last two years. 

Last season, the Bears hit .320 as a team, averaged 8.8 runs per game and out-homered the opposition by a 39-11 margin at Hammons. Over the last two years combined, MSU has nearly doubled the run production of its 52 opponents at home with a 404-226 scoring advantage.

OFF AND RUNNING
As part of their 7-1 start to the season, the Bears locked up their seventh-consecutive .500 or better month of February. Since the start of the 2011 season, Missouri State has gone a combined 39-13 in February, including a cumulative 24-6 mark over the last four seasons. Overall, the Bears ran their February record to 79-61, with a total of 18 winning months out of the 25 years MSU has seen action in February.

MSU has been even better in the month of March, which has traditionally been the Bears' most successful month. Since the beginning of the 2015 season, MSU has won 28 times, while dropping just nine total contests in March. Since 2001, the Bears have logged 14 winning months of March. Overall, MSU has posted a .634 March winning percentage and finished .500 or better in the month 44 times in 53 years as a varsity program.

CARDIAC CUBS
The Bears logged three come-from-behind victories last week, rallying from deficits of at least two runs at ORU, Belmont and Lipscomb. Saturday's win in 11 innings marked the Bears' 44th comeback victory since the start of the 2015 season. Last year, the Bears posted 17 comeback wins, on the heels of a 2015 season that saw them claim victory in 24 such contests.

MSU rallied from its biggest deficit in nearly six years last March vs. Arkansas State, coming all the way back from a 5-0 hole to defeat the Red Wolves 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 MVC Championship in Wichita. MSU was particularly resilient in MVC play in 2015, capturing eight of their 18 conference victories in comeback fashion. 

NON-CON DOMINATION
A key factor in Missouri State's success over the past few seasons has been its dominance against non-conference competition. Since the beginning of the 2015 season, the Bears have compiled a 57-14 record in regular-season games versus non-league foes. They have won 24 of their last 28 regular-season non-conference home games, but have been nearly as potent on the road, going 33-10 in true road and neutral-field contests over the same stretch.

GUTTING CRACKS TOP 25
Bears head coach Keith Guttin cracked the NCAA's top 25 coaching wins list on opening weekend, moving past Andy Lopez with MSU's victories over Stony Brook and Rhode Island. With a career record of 1,183-740 (.616), Guttin is the second-winningest coach in MVC history, while his win total ranks seventh among all active Division I head coaches. 

WELCOME WAGON
Despite returning 15 letterwinners and six regular position starters from last year's 38-21 club, MSU has had several newcomers log substantial playing time over the first two weeks of the season. The Bears' opening day lineup featured three newcomers, including catcher Logan Geha, designated hitter Matt Brown and starting pitcher Doug Still, while freshmen Drew Millas and Jack Duffy drew starting assignments in game two vs. Stony Brook, and rookie left-hander Nate Witherspoon got the mound start Sunday against McNeese.

A total of 12 different Bears made their MSU debuts in the Lake Area Classic, led by the performance of Still, who earned the win over Rhode Island after allowing just one run in 6.0 innings. Millas came through with a key two-out, two-run double to help ice the 7-0 win over Stony Brook, plated another with a two-out hit in MSU's win at Oral Roberts (Feb. 21), then provided the go-ahead tally in the 11th at Lipscomb (Feb. 25) with his first home run as a Bear. Perhaps the biggest blow from a newcomer came at ORU, as Ryan Skalnik put the Bears on top for good with a bases-loaded double, before Trey Turner helped shut down the Golden Eagle attack with 2.1 innings of no-hit relief to earn the victory in his first mound outing as a Bear.