No. 28 Missouri State Bears (28-13, 9-0 MVC) at Evansville Purple Aces (13-27, 4-5 MVC)
Site	Braun Stadium (1,200)  |  Evansville, Ind.
Games 1 & 2:	Saturday, April 29  |  3 p.m. (DH)
Game 3:	Sunday, April 30  |  TBA
Radio:	KBFL 1060 AM/96.9 FM
Watch:	The Valley on ESPN3
Follow:	Live Stats  |  @MSUBearBaseball
Game Notes:	Missouri State  |  Evansville  |  MVC Notebook
Series History:	MSU leads 51-40  (MSU 21-17 in Evansville)

PRIME 9

• Missouri State enters the weekend riding a seven-game win streak and their first 9-0 MVC start in 27 seasons as a Valley member; the Bears 9-0 start is the first for a Valley club since Wichita State started the 2004 MVC season with 15-straight wins, while their 13-game MVC win streak is the fifth-longest in conference history
• The Bears bring the No. 13 RPI rating in all of Division I baseball into the weekend; MSU also rejoined Collegiate Baseball's Division I poll with a No. 28 ranking on Monday
• MSU holds a 51-40 edge over Evansville in a series that dates back to 1986; the Bears have won four in a row vs. the Purple Aces in Evansville, including a three-game sweep at Braun Stadium two years ago
• The Bears have recorded at least one home run in 13 straight games and hit 27 long balls as a team over the same stretch; Led by Jake Burger's six round-trippers, nine different Bears have gone deep during the streak, including five that have recorded at least four homers since April 7
• Burger and Jeremy Eierman have combined to post the top home run total for Division I teammates this spring with 32 round-trippers in just 41 games to date; the duo ranks No. 1 and No. 2 in the Valley in home runs, RBIs, total bases and slugging percentage
• Tied for third nationally with 17 home runs, Burger is the NCAA Division I active leader for career homers; the junior also leads the nation in runs scored (53) and ranks fourth in total bases (121) and sixth in slugging (.747)
• The MSU pitching staff can boast three MVC statistical leaders as well, with Doug Still (2.18) and Jake Fromson (2.54) ranking first and second in ERA, respectively; Jordan Knutson leads the league in strikeouts (64) while Still shares the MVC lead with six victories and Fromson has posted league-best figures for opponent batting (.177), fewest hits allowed (29) and fewest earned runs allowed (13)    
• The Bears' bullpen has allowed just one run over its last 13.2 combined innings spanning five games; senior All-American Bryan Young was named to the NCBWA's Midseason Stopper of the Year Watch List for the third consecutive season on Wednesday
• Blake Graham has hit .453 in the month of April, belting four homers and driving in 17 runs in 16 games

LEADING OFF
Off to their best Missouri Valley Conference start in 27 seasons as a member of the league, the Missouri State Bears will look to keep their April hot streak buring when they travel to Indiana for a three-game MVC set with the Evansville Purple Aces this weekend.  The Bears and Aces will conclude Friday's suspended game at 3 p.m. Saturday (April 29), followed by game two of the series, before meeting for the final contest Sunday (TBA).

MSU (28-13) brings a seven-game win streak into the series after completing a season sweep of Mizzou with a 5-1 decision Tuesday at Hammons Field. The Bears swept Wichita State last weekend to run their Valley win streak to 13 straight victories. MSU has hit a blazing-hot .325 in MVC play to date, while the Bears pitching staff has logged a 3.00 ERA.

Evansville (13-27, 4-5 MVC) has dropped five straight games since sweeping Illinois State two weeks ago in Normal. The Aces lost both ends of a two-game midweek series with Murray State earlier this week, as well as both games of its non-conference series with Northern Illinois last weekend.

SERIES HISTORY
Missouri State brings a 51-40 advantage over Evansville into the weekend, as well as a 21-17 edge against the Aces on their home field. Last year, UE took two of three meetings from the Bears in Springfield, claiming a 14-5 victory in the opening game of the series, as well as a 7-1 decision in the rubber match.  MSU swept the Aces in its most-recent trip to Braun Stadium in 2015, however. 

STREAKING IN VALLEY PLAY
Missouri State is off to a 9-0 start in MVC play for the first time in 27 seasons as a member of the conference. The Bears also ran their regular-season Valley win streak to a program-record 13-straight games with their sweep of Wichita State over the weekend. 

The Bears' unbeaten start in conference play is their longest such start since 1990, when they went 11-0 overall in their final league season in the Mid-Continent Conference. MSU surpassed its previous Valley-best streak of 12-straight wins (May 9, 1993 through April 17, 1994) with last Sunday's doubleheader sweep of WSU.

iNSTA-GRAHAM
Since his return to the Missouri State lineup on March 31 following a five-week layoff due to injury, Blake Graham has provided instant offense for an already-potent Bears' batting order. The senior has batted a team-high .421 (24-for-57) with four home runs and 17 RBIs to help MSU go 13-4 overall and post its best-ever MVC start. Last week, the Edwardsville, Ill., product hit .526 overall, including an unconscious stretch versus Wichita State over which he went 8-for-11 (.727) with 10 RBIs in a three-game MSU sweep. 

Graham has been the Bears' hottest hitter in the month of April, hitting .453 in 16 games. He has also enjoyed the friendly confines of Hammons Field in 2017, batting a team-high .462 (18-for-39) in his 12 home appearances this spring. 

CLIMBING THE CHARTS
Several MSU veterans continue to make their moves up the Bears' career leaderboard in a number of statistical categories. Most notably, Jake Burger belted his 17th home run of the season and his 42nd as a Bear last Sunday to move into a tie with Brian Mahaffey for the No. 6 spot of MSU's career homer list. Burger also climbed past a pair of former teammates on the Bears' all-time hits list over the weekend when he gashed Wichita State for seven hits in a three-game sweep. He passed up Tate Matheny (214) and Spencer Johnson (216) to take over the No. 18 spot and needs just six hits to match the career total of Aaron Conway in the 17th position on the chart.

Additionally, Bryan Young added to his MSU record with his 31st save as a Bear April 18 at Mizzou, and Jordan Knutson made his 41st mound start as a Bear last Saturday to move into a tie with Aaron Meade and Nick Petree for the third-most career starts in program history.

IN RARE COMPANY
Bears head coach Keith Guttin picked up his 1,200th career victory April 18 with MSU's 5-3 win at Missouri. The Bears' 35th-year bench boss ranks 25th all-time in NCAA Division I history for coaching victories. 

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 1,204-752 (.616), Guttin is the second-winningest coach in MVC history.

BEARS IN THE NATIONAL SPOTLIGHT
Several Bears are turning heads on the national level, led by Jake Burger, who leads all Division I players in runs scored (53) entering play this weekend. Burger also ranks fourth in total bases (121) and sixth in slugging (.747), while Jeremy Eierman is right on his heels in homers and total bases, ranking sixth in both categories. The duo also rates among the top 30 D-I players in RBIs. 

On the mound, Jake Fromson also rates among the top hurlers in the country with the 12th-best WHIP (0.85) in the Division I ranks. The junior also ranks 26th in hits allowed per nine innings (5.87), while Doug Still's total of six victories is tied for 34th nationally. 

DIGGING THE LONG BALL
After the MSU duo of Spencer Johnson and Jake Burger teamed up to post the top combined home run total in the country last spring, the Bears can boast the top 1-2 power punch in Division I baseball again this season. Burger is once again a key component in the middle of the MSU order with a Valley-best 17 long balls to date, while sophomore shortstop Jeremy Eierman is right on his heels with 15 after clubbing a key two-run shot in the Bears' 12-5 win over WSU last Saturday. The duo leads Mercer's Charlie Madden (16) and Hunter Bening/J.T. Thomas (12) by four home runs for the national lead in combined homers by teammates. 

Individually, Burger ranks third nationally behind only Morehead State's Niko Hulsizer (19) and Eastern Kentucky's Ben Fisher (18) in the Division I home run race. Eierman, meanwhile is sixth in the country with Wake Forest's Gavin Sheets, just one long ball behind Madden in fifth. As a team, the Bears rank 12th in the nation with their 55 home runs this season. MSU has recorded at least one home run in 13 straight games and hit a total of 27 long balls as a team over the same stretch. Led by Burger's six round-trippers, nine different Bears have gone deep during the streak, including five players that have recorded at least four homers since April 7.