SPRINGFIELD, Mo. - The Missouri State softball team travels to Oxford, Ala., where they will take on five teams at the Leon Smith Clasic, March 10-12. Friday, the Bears kick off the tournament with games against Tennessee State and Jacksonville State, followed by a pair of games against Alabama State and Samford on Saturday. The Bears wrap up the tournament Sunday, with a matchup against Belmont.
 

Missouri State at Ohio Valley Tournament
Dates	March 10-12
Game 1	Friday, 10:30 a.m. vs. Tennessee State | Live Stats
Game 2	Friday, 1 p.m. vs. Jacksonville State | Live Stats
Game 3	Saturday, 10:30 a.m. vs. Alabama State | Live Stats
Game 4	Saturday, 3 p.m. vs. Samford | Live Stats
Game 5	Sunday, 10:30 a.m. vs. Belmont | Live Stats
Location	Choccolocco Park • Oxford, Ala.
Follow	@MSUSoftball

The Starting Nine

• Combining for 12 hits, Kaitlin Beason, Darian Frost and Mary Stephens earned All-Tournament honors at the We Back Pat Tournament, held in Kansas City, Mo., last weekend.
• This weekend, Missouri State takes on four opponents – Alabama State, Belmont, Jacksonville State and Tennessee State – for the first time in school history.
• Junior Erika Velasquez Zimmer leads the squad with 17 hits in 43 at bats. The speedster has tallied six stolen bases, as well as two triples to go along with her .395 batting average.
• Tossing two, run-rule shutouts against UMKC, Beason leads the Missouri State pitching staff with a 1.97 ERA. The righty has tallied 18 strikeouts in her 10 appearances on the season. Carrying a 5-3 record on the season, Beason has surrendered only 27 hits in 42.2 innings of work.
• Named to the Louisiana Tech Invitational All-Tournament team as well as the We Back Pat All-Tournament team, Stephens leads the squad with a .405 batting average, three home runs, 15 RBI and a .730 slugging percentage through 14 games.
• After falling to Samford 10-1 at the Louisiana Tech Invitational on Feb. 11, the Bears look for redemption in the seventh meeting between the two teams since 1994.
• Beason and Frost each blasted two home runs at the We Back Pat Tournament, hitting one apiece in both games against UMKC. Both hitters have two home runs on the season and rank second on the team in home runs.
• Heading into the weekend, the Bears out-hit their opponents 105-90. In the circle, the Bears' three pitchers hold opposing batters to a .267 batting average.
• Ranking third in the Missouri Valley Conference, the Missouri State softball team carries a .303 batting average where five Bears – Stephens, Velazquez Simmer, Hailee Vigneaux, Bethany Sullinger and Madison Jones – boast a batting average over .300.

Head Coach Holly Hesse
Holly Hesse (Creighton, 1982) is 733-728-2 (.502) in her 29th season as head coach at Missouri State and overall.
 
She the second-winningest coach in Missouri Valley Conference history and joined the 700-victory club with a 4-0 win at Illinois State on April 18, 2015, completing a doubleheader sweep in Normal, Ill.
 
She is also the winningest softball coach in Missouri State history. Her tenure includes two regular-season MVC titles, five MVC tournament crowns and five NCAA Tournament appearances. Hesse recorded her 300th win in 2000, her 400th win in 2004, her 500th in 2007 and victory number 600 in 2012.  Missouri State leads all schools with 70 wins in the MVC Tournament and Hesse has the second-most MVC Tournament wins with 49.
 
Hesse's 2016 squad finished ranked 13th in the country with a .973 fielding percentage. The Bears went 22-30 and earned a spot in the MVC Tournament in a do-or-die series to end the regular season.  Her team rallied to the challenge and carried the momentum to the MVC Tournament quarterfinals.
 
The Series
The Bears meet four new opponents this weekend, starting brand new series records against Tennessee State, Jacksonville State, Alabama State and Belmont.
 
Having already met this season, Missouri State is 4-2 overall against the Samford Bulldogs. On Feb. 11, Missouri State and Samford met at the Louisiana Tech Invitational where the Bulldogs made out with a 10-1, run-rule victory over the Bears. Hailee Vigneaux was the lone Bear to score after a deep sacrifice fly from brought her around to score.
 
For more information on the Missouri State softball team, visit www.missouristatebears.com or Twitter (@MSUSoftball).