Missouri State Bears (21-11) at New Mexico Lobos (18-13-1)
Site:	Santa Ana Star Field (1,000)  |   Albuquerque, N.M.
Game 1:	Thursday, April 13  |  7:30 p.m. (CDT)
Game 2:	Friday, April 14  |  7:30 p.m. (CDT)
Game 3:	Satuday, April 15  |  1:00 p.m. (CDT)
Follow:	Live Video  |  Live Stats  |  @MSUBearBaseball
Radio:	KBFL 1060 AM/96.9 FM (Art Hains)  |  RadioSpringfield.com
Game Notes:	Missouri State  |  New Mexico
Series History:	UNM leads 12-9

PRIME 9

• Missouri State is off to a 6-0 start in Missouri Valley Conference play for the first time since 2001; MSU rejoined Collegiate Baseball's Division I poll with a No. 28 ranking and rated 24th in the NCAA's RPI report as of Thursday
• New Mexico brings a 12-9 advantage over MSU in a series that dates back to 1979; the Bears and Lobos split a pair of games in February 2014 in MSU's last trip to the Duke City
• Missouri State has compiled a 39-18-1 overall mark in eight previous trips to Albuquerque, trailing only Wichita (40 wins) for the Bears' top win total in any single city outside of Springfield 
• As a team, the Bears rank 13th nationally in shutouts (5), 14th in WHIP (1.17) and strikeout-to-walk ratio (3.12) and 17th in hits allowed per 9.0 IP (7.46) and in ERA (3.07) 
• Jake Burger and Jeremy Eierman have combined to post the top home run total for Division I teammates this spring with 25 round-trippers in just 32 games to date; the duo ranks No. 1 and No. 2 in the Valley, with Burger's 13 homers leading the league and Eierman right on his heels with 12
• Burger, who was named to the Golden Spikes Award midseason watch list on Wednesday, also paces the MVC and ranks among the Division I leaders in slugging (8th) and total bases (9th); the junior leads all MVC hitters in runs scored (36), on-base percentage (.474) and RBIs (35) as well
• Eierman has been one of the MVC's hottest hitters in league play, hitting .524 and slugging a Valley-best 1.286, while also leading the circuit in runs scored (9), hits (11), RBIs (11), homers (5) and total bases (27) in MSU's six games
• Four MSU hurlers rank among the league's top 10 in both individual ERA and strikeouts; Jake Fromson's 1.73 ERA leads the MVC, while his 40 K's is sixth; Jordan Knutson paces the league in strikeouts (55) and his 2.53 ERA ranks third; Doug Still ranks fourth in ERA (2.74) and fifth in strikeouts (47); Dylan Coleman is fourth in strikeouts (48) and sits in the No. 10 spot for ERA (3.54)     
• The Bears have amassed a 65-24 regular-season record against non-conference foes since the beginning of the 2015 season, including a     36-15 road mark vs. non-MVC competition over the same stretch

LEADING OFF
After completing a successful 6-3 home stand, the Missouri State Bears embark on five-game non-conference road swing, beginning with a trip to Albuquerque to face the New Mexico Lobos. The Bears and Lobos will square off in a three-game series at Santa Ana Star Field, beginning with a 7:30 p.m. (CDT) contest Thursday (April 13) and concluding with single games Friday (7:30 p.m.) and Saturday (1 p.m.). 

Despite dropping a 12-4 decision to No. 11 Arkansas on Tuesday to close their home stand, the Bears (21-11) picked up three-game Missouri Valley Conference series sweeps of Bradley and Dallas Baptist the last two weekends to re-enter the national rankings at No. 28 in this week's Collegiate Baseball poll. MSU powered up to hit 16 home runs on the home stand, with Jake Burger and Jeremy Eierman combining to account for nine of those.

New Mexico (18-13-1) is also off to a strong conference start with an 11-2-1 Mountain West mark to date. But the Lobos have gone 0-3-1 in their last four outings, including a 12-4 setback at Texas Tech on Tuesday. UNM is hitting .309 as a team, led by two-way threat Luis Gonzalez's .374 mark. The junior right-hander has also gone 3-2 with a 3.62 earned run average to anchor a staff that has fashioned a 4.62 team ERA to date.

SERIES HISTORY
New Mexico holds a 12-9 edge over MSU, including an 11-8 mark on their home field. The Bears have fared much better against the rest of the current makeup of the Mountain West Conference, going 4-2 against the remaining six baseball-playing league members. This weekend's series will mark the Bears' third trek to Albuquerque in the last five seasons, with the two clubs splitting two-game season series in both 2013 and 2014, thanks to a pair of shutdown performances from Matt Hall. 

LAND OF ENCHANTMENT
This year's trip to Albuquerque marks the Bears' ninth visit to the Lobos' home turf and their third in the last four years. Prior to splitting a pair of two-game series in both 2013 and 2014, the Bears visited Albuquerque five straight years from 1979 to 1983, and again in 1987, with substantial success. Missouri State brings a 39-18-1 overall mark in 58 previous games played in Albuquerque into the weekend, including a 31-7-1 record against all opponents other than the host Lobos.

For the sake of comparison, the Bears have played more games in Albuquerque over the years than they have in all but one other city outside of Springfield, including eight of the primary Valley cities since MSU joined the league in 1991, as well as in-state hubs Cape Girardeau (50), St. Louis (40), Rolla (31), Joplin (30), Warrensburg (26), Bolivar (26) and Columbia (26) and traditional rival homes in Fayetteville (48), Tulsa (38) and Jonesboro (34). 

Only Wichita (99) has hosted more Missouri State baseball games, with the Bears going 16-42 in true road games against the Shockers and 24-17 vs. the rest of the Valley in MVC Tournament games at Eck Stadium.

NON-CON DOMINATION
Another 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 65-24 record in regular-season games versus non-league foes. They have won 29 of their last 38 regular-season non-conference home games, but have been nearly as potent on the road, going 36-15 in true road and neutral-field contests over the same stretch.

QUALITY AND QUANTITY
The Bears' starting rotation has put together an impressive stretch over the last two weeks with nine quality starts in MSU's last 15 games. This past weekend, the trio of Jordan Knutson, Dylan Coleman and Doug Still combined to limit Dallas Baptist to just one run in the first five innings of each contest in MSU's sweep, allowing the Bears to take leads of at least two runs into the sixth inning in all three outings. 

MSU would outscore the Patriots by a 15-1 combined margin in the first five innings and the three Bears starters combined to strikeout 26 DBU hitters over their 21.0 innings of work. After posting just 16 quality starts as a staff in 2016, the Bears have already matched that total through the first 32 games of the regular season this spring.

GUTTIN CLOSING IN ON MILESTONE
Bears head coach Keith Guttin enters the weekend needing three more wins to become the 25th NCAA Division I head coach to reach the 1,200 career win milestone. The Bears' 35th year bench boss 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 1,197-750 (.615), Guttin is the second-winningest coach in MVC history, while his win total ranks seventh among all active Division I head coaches. 

LIGHT TOWER POWER
After the MSU duo of Spencer Johnson and Jake Burger teamed up to post the top combined home run total in Division I baseball last spring, the Bears can boast the top 1-2 power punch in the nation again this season. Burger is once again a key component in the middle of the MSU order with a Valley-best 13 long balls to date, while sophomore shortstop Jeremy Eierman is right on his heels with 12 after hitting two key homers vs. DBU over the weekend.

Burger's first-inning home run in Tuesday's loss to Arkansas moved the junior into a tie for seventh place on MSU's career home run chart. His 38th career long ball matched the MSU total of Ben Carlson's (2007-09) and Burger needs four more round-trippers to catch Brian Mahaffey (1985-88) in the No 6 position. Burger, who was named to the Golden Spikes Award midseason watch list on Wednesday, moved up to 20th on MSU's career hits chart with the 205th and 206th hits as a Bear in Tuesday's game.

In combining to hit 25 of MSU's 39 home runs as a team this spring, Burger and Eierman rank fourth and eighth individually among all Division I hitters, respectively. They own the national lead for combined homers, leading the Mercer duo of Charlie Madden (14) and Hunter Bening (10) by one home run.