Missouri State Softball - Games 39-41
 

Missouri State (22-16, 10-7 MVC) at Illinois State (24-17, 14-3 MVC)
Dates	Saturday, April 22 (DH) | Sunday, April 23
	Marian Kneer Stadium (1,050), Normal, Ill.
Time (Central)	Saturday 12 p.m. (DH) | Sunday 11 a.m.
Live Stats	Game 1 Live Stats | Game 2 Live Stats | Game 3 Live Stats
Follow Along	ESPN3 (Sat.). | ESPN3 (Sun.) | Listen Live (Sun.)
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Up Next	MSU vs. Wichita State | Orange Game | Killian Stadium | Tuesday, April 25 | 5 p.m.

The Starting Lineup

• With her two-run blast at Wichita State on Tuesday, senior Mary Stephens (Sachse, Texas) became the fifth Bear to join the career 100 RBI club. In her 196 career games, Stephens now has 19 home runs and is tied with Michelle Armentrout (2005-08) for the No. 4 spot on the club's career RBI list. Jessie Smith (2006-09) is the next target up on that list with 105. Heather Anderson (1994-98) with 125 RBI and Toni Rieke (1993-96) with 121 rank first and second.
• MSU's 2.43 team ERA ranks third in the MVC and is 52nd nationally.
• Erika Velasquez Zimmer (Coppell, Texas) has accumulated 10 hits in the Bears' last six games. The speedster leads the squad with 14 stolen bases, 24 runs, four triples, and 63 total bases in addition to her .385 batting average. She enters the weekend ranked seventh in the league in hitting and fourth in total hits.
• Kaitlin Beason (Webb City, Mo.) ranks 9th nationally with an MVC-best eight shutouts on the season. She also ranks fourth in the league (82nd nationally) with a 1.85 ERA.
• At 22-17 and 10-7 in the MVC, the Bears have matched their overall and conference win totals for the entire 2016 season. MSU was 22-30 overall a year ago and 10-14 in Valley games. The Bears have 11 games remaining on the regular-season slate.
• MSU head coach Holly Hesse is just two wins shy of reaching 750 for her career. Starting the 2017 season, only 33 active Division I coaches had reached 750 career victories. Hesse is in her 29th season as MSU head coach and is the second-winningest coach in MVC history behind ISU's Melinda Fischer.
• Elena Gambill (Broken Arrow, Okla.) has reached base safely in seven straight games for the Bears, while Erika Velasquez Zimmer (Coppell, Texas) has hit safely in six straight games. Velasquez Zimmer matched a career-best with her 13-game hitting streak earlier this season -- the club's second longest streak in the last 12 seasons.
• The Bears are 20-3 this season when out-hitting their opponent. Likewise, the Bears are 19-6 when scoring first.        
• Missouri State will host its annual Orange Game on Tuesday, April 25 against Wichita State to help honor Leukemia survivor Allie Alvstad and raise money for cancer research through St. Jude's. Admission for the game is free with all gate donations going directly to St. Jude's.
• MSU's top career hitters against Illinois State are: Darian Frost .500 (1/2, RBI); Bethany Sullinger .400 (4/10, 3B, HR, 4 RBI); and Olivia Roark .250 (1/4).
• In Wednesday's MVC twin bill at Wichita State, Darian Frost (Lee's Summit, Mo.) and Elena Gambill (Broken Arrow, Okla.) both reached base four times, accounting for two hits and two walks apiece with 8 combined total bases.
• MSU ranks second in the MVC with a .968 team fielding percentage, third in batting (.291) and third in ERA (2.43).

Head Coach Holly Hesse
   Holly Hesse (Creighton, 1982) is 748-738-2 (.503) in her 29th season as head coach at Missouri State and overall. She is 32-48 all-time against Illinois State.
   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 as part of a doubleheader sweep in Normal.
   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 started the 2017 campaign ranked 36th among all active NCAA Division I coaches with 726 career victories.
   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
   In a series that dates back to 1969, the Redbirds hold a 68-39 overall record against the Bears. MSU is 19-27 all-time in Normal and 32-48 against the Redbirds under current head coach Holly Hesse.
   The teams split two games in Springfield last season where the Redbirds claimed game one (8-0) and Missouri State grabbed game two (3-2). In game two, MSU's Erin Duewel lined a two-run homer over the left-center field wall in the bottom of the sixth that sealed a 3-2 victory for the Bears. Game three of the series was called off due to freezing weather.
 
Scouting the Opponent
   The league-leading Redbirds are 6-3 at home this season and boast a .311 team batting average and conference-leading 41 home runs. Six Redbirds led by DP Shannon Felde (.441), maintain a .300 or better batting average. Perhaps the biggest threat for Illinois State is senior Jordan de los Reyes, who leads the team with 49 hits, 13 doubles, 13 home runs and 47 RBI. She ranks 28th nationally in RBI per game (1.08).
   In the circle, workhorse Sarah Finck (17-8) leads the ISU pitching staff in nearly every category with 64 strikeouts, two shutouts and a 2.47 ERA in 159 innings of work. Illinois State's pitching staff ranks sixth in the conference with a collective 3.69 ERA. The staff has surrendered 33 home runs while holding its opponents to a .281 batting average.