Missouri State Softball - Games 42-43
 

Missouri State (22-19, 10-10 MVC) vs. Wichita State (27-17, 12-7 MVC) and SIU Edwardsville (35-10)
Dates	vs. Wichita State - Tuesday, April 25, 5 p.m. | Orange Game
	vs. SIU Edwardsville, Wednesday, April 25, 4 p.m.
Location	Killian Stadium (1,200), Springfield, Mo.
Live Stats	Live Stats
Follow Along	ESPN3 (Wed.)
Missouri State	Game Notes | Softball Home Page | Twitter | Facebook | Media Guide
Up Next	MSU vs. Drake | Killian Stadium | Sat., April 29 (DH) Noon | Sun., April 30, 11 a.m.

The Starting Lineup

• On Tuesday, Missouri State will host its annual Orange Game 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 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.
• The Bears host five games at Killian Stadium this week as they wrap up the 2017 home slate. Missouri State is 5-4 at home this season and wraps its home schedule Saturday and Sunday against Drake. MSU has had a winning record at Killian Stadium just twice in its eight previous seasons as home of the Bears -- 2011 and 2015.
• Missouri State third baseman Bethany Sullinger (Sr., Kansas City, Mo.) is making the most of her senior campaign, hitting an impressive .556 in five games last week with a .944 slugging percentage and 17 total bases. She blasted two home runs -- both against different league opponents -- and drove in four runs and scoring three times. She also tallied 9 assists on the week without an error. She now leads the Bears in hitting (.379) and total bases (69) for the season with a .463 on-base percentage.
• Mary Stephens (Sr., Sachse, Texas) will be playing in her 200th career game with her next appearance. Stephens has 19 career home runs and is tied with Michelle Armentrout (2005-08) for the No. 4 spot on the club's career RBI list with 100. The team's all-time top three RBI leaders are: Heather Anderson (1994-98) with 125; Toni Rieke (1993-96) with 121; and Jessie Smith (2006-08) 105.
• Erika Velasquez Zimmer (Jr., Coppell, Texas) has hit safely in 9 straight games, the club's longest active hitting streak. Her 13-game streak earlier this season matched a career best and was the club's second-best hitting streak over the last 12 seasons.
• Kaitlin Beason (Jr., Webb City, Mo.) ranks 11th nationally with an MVC-best eight shutouts on the season. She also ranks fourth in the league in ERA (2.03) and is 12-8 overall.  She has 93 career strikeouts.
• MSU's top career hitters against Wichita State are: Erika Velasquez Zimmer .333 (10/30); Darian Frost .333 (4/12, 2-2B); and Mary Stephens .306 (11/36, 2B, 3HR, 8 RBI).
  Hailee Vigneaux (Jr., Ozark, Mo.) starts the week with 98 career hits. She is a .284 career hitter in 135 games.
• The Bears' defense continues its national prominence, ranking 36th nationally (2nd in MVC) in double plays per game (0.44) and 45th nationally (2nd in MVC) in fielding percentage (.969). Mary Stephens is second in the MVC in double plays with 16.

Head Coach Holly Hesse
   Holly Hesse (Creighton, 1982) is 748-741-2 (.502) in her 29th season as head coach at Missouri State and overall. She is 44-49 all-time against Wichita State and 1-6 against SIU Edwardsville.
   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
   The Bears lead the all-time series, 59-51, and are 29-14 when playing WSU at home (4-8 at Killian). On April 19, MSU ended a five-game WSU win streak, 4-0, behind two-run homers by Elena Gambill and Mary Stephens. WSU won Game 2, 4-0.
   Against SIUE, the Cougars are 6-3 all-time against the Bears and have won the last two meetings between the two teams. Wednesday's matchup will be the first meeting since April 25, 2015, when SIUE edged the Bears, 3-2, in Edwardsville. The Bears took an early 2-0 lead in the first inning, but the Cougars scratched back to win behind a sixth-inning rally.
 
Scouting the Opponent
   Wichita State (27-17 overall) enters Tuesday's game with a 12-7 ledger in MVC play. The Shockers carry the second-highest team batting average (.313) in the league and have recorded the most doubles (65). Kelli Springer continues to lead the Wichita State squad with a .387 batting average while Laurie Derrico has tallied 10 homers. Katie Malone (22-12) has tossed 196.2 innings and has compiled 140 strikeouts through her 39 appearances.
   Riding a two-game losing streak headed into Wednesday's matchup, SIUE (35-10) is led by Allison Smiley, a senior who has racked up 42 hits and five home runs while maintaining a .344 batting average. SIUE has tallied 24 home runs and hits .279 as a team. Haley Chambers-Book (22-6) leads the SIUE pitching staff with a 1.27 ERA and 220 strikeouts in 176.1 innings.