Kansas Jayhawks (12-15) at Missouri State Bears (18-9)
Site:	Hammons Field (8,000)  |  Springfield, Mo.
Date:	Tuesday, April 4
First Pitch:	4 p.m.
Follow:	Live Stats  |  @MSUBearBaseball  |  Facebook  |  Instagram
Radio:	KBFL 1060 AM/96.9 FM  |  RadioSpringfield.com
Game Notes:	Missouri State  |  Kansas  |  MVC Notebook
Series History:	MSU leads 30-25  |  18-10 at home (7-3 at Hammons Field)
Tickets:	MissouriStateBears.com

PRIME 9

• Missouri State brings a 15-9 non-conference mark into Tuesday's game, as well as a 65-22 record against non-MVC foes since the start of the 2015 season; the Bears are 29-7 in non-conference home games over the same stretch
• The Bears have won nine of their last 10 games against Kansas and hold a 30-25 all-time advantage in the series; MSU is 18-10 vs. the Jayhawks at home, including a 7-3 mark at Hammons Field
• MSU's six returning regular position players have combined to hit .429 (36-for-84) for their careers vs. Kansas; Jeremy Eierman went 5-for-8 vs. the Jayhawks last year, while Justin Paulsen (.500), Hunter Steinmetz (.444), Aaron Meyer (.438) and Jake Burger (.412) have each hit .400 or better against KU pitching
• As a team, the Bears rank seventh nationally in WHIP (1.11), eighth in ERA (2.63), ninth in shutouts (5) and 12th in hits allowed per 9.0 IP (7.10) and 15th in strikeout-to-walk ratio (3.21) 
• MSU pitching has allowed 44 fewer runs than the next closest MVC staff (Wichita State) and compiled 27 more strikeouts than Evansville in the No. 2 spot on that chart
• Burger paces the MVC and ranks among Division I baseball's leaders in home runs (5th), total bases (7th) and slugging (10th); additionally, the junior All-American ranks among the top three Valley hitters in batting (.387), on-base percentage (.473), slugging (.774), runs (30), hits (41) and RBIs (31)
• Burger and Eierman have combined for the top home run total by Division I teammates this spring with 21 round-trippers in just 27 games to date 
• Four MSU hurlers rank among the league's top 10 in individual ERA; Jake Fromson's 1.44 mark leads the circuit, while Jordan Knutson (2.78) ranks eighth, Doug Still (3.00) is seventh and Dylan Coleman sits in the No. 9 spot (3.19)     
• The Bears rallied from early deficits in each of their three wins over Bradley this past weekend, giving them 49 come-from-behind victories since the start of the 2015 season

LEADING OFF
After a successful start to the Missouri Valley Conference season over the weekend, the Missouri State Bears briefly return to non-conference action Tuesday (April 4) when they welcome the Kansas Jayhawks to Hammons Field for a 4 p.m. contest.

The Bears (18-9) posted a three-game sweep of Bradley at Hammons Field to open their 27th season of Valley play. MSU rode the combination of shutdown pitching and a resurgent offense to secure its ninth opening MVC series win in the last 12 seasons. Jeremy Eierman powered up to hit three home runs in the first two games of the series, combining with Jake Burger to drive in 12 of MSU's 27 runs on the weekend. Burger won the opener with a two-run blast in the 11th inning Friday, before Eierman went deep twice in Saturday's 13-3 run-rule victory. On the mound, the Bears received three quality starts, in addition to 5.0 strong innings of relief from Jake Fromson as part of Friday's victory.

Kansas (12-15) is coming off a Big 12 Conference series win over traditional power Texas this past weekend. The Jayhawks dropped the opening contest Friday, before rebounding to post a pair of one-run victories. In Sunday's rubber match, KU rallied from a 3-0 deficit to claim a 5-4 win and the series from the Longhorns.

SERIES HISTORY
Missouri State enters Tuesday's matchup riding a recent hot streak against the Jayhawks with wins in nine of the last 10 meetings in the series. The Bears hold a 30-25 overall edge in the series, as well as an 18-10 advantage vs. KU in Springfield.

Last year, Kansas snapped an eight-game skid vs. MSU with a 2-1 win in Lawrence (March 29). The Jayhawks made the most of their four hits, scratching out a pair of runs and using six strong innings from their bullpen to hand MSU its first loss in the series since 2010. The return visit to Hammons Field just a week later bore little resemblance to the first meeting, however, as MSU powered up behind a career performance from Spencer Johnson to take an 18-11 decision. Johnson drove in nine runs and became the first Bear in 17 years to homer three times in a game.

QUALITY AND QUANTITY
The Bears' starting rotation has put together an impressive stretch over the last two weeks with seven quality starts in MSU's last 10 games. Midweek starter Austin Knight and each member of the Bears' weekend rotation consisting of Jordan Knutson, Dylan Coleman and Doug Still completed at least six innings without allowing more than three earned runs last week. After posting just 16 quality starts as a staff in 2016, the Bears have already logged 14 through the first half of the regular season this spring.

FAST STARTS FREQUENT IN VALLEY PLAY
With their three-game sweep of Bradley to open MVC play, the Bears have now won 11 of their last 12 Valley openers and claimed nine of their last 12 MVC-opening series. Additionally, MSU is a combined 24-9 in its opening conference series since 2006. This year marks the 10th time the Bears have started a Valley season with three straight wins. They have gone on to finish first or second in the league race in seven of the previous nine seasons in which they have started 3-0 in MVC play. 

Missouri State also continued its recent string of success against Bradley with its three-game sweep. The Bears have recorded sweeps of the Braves in each of their last five regular-season series at Hammons Field dating back to 2009. MSU has won 17 of the last 20 meetings overall in the series since 2012.

SHUTDOWN STAFF
Missouri State's pitching staff has played an integral role in the Bears' non-conference success this spring. The Bears' bullpen has been nearly untouchable through the first 27 games of the season, combining to allow just 13 earned runs (1.37 ERA) while striking out 101 batters and holding the opposition to a .172 batting mark in 85.2 innings. In all, nine different relievers have teamed up to lock down the late innings, as MSU has outscored the opposition by a whopping 82-24 margin from the sixth inning on this season. 

MSU's rotation has been strong as well, combining to fashion a 3.33 ERA and a .237 opponent batting average. Jordan Knutson leads the staff with four wins and has logged five quality starts and five different outings of at least 7.0 innings in his seven starts. MSU completed the first string of three consecutive shutouts in school history, Feb. 26-March 3, when the Bears blanked Middle Tennessee (5-0), Arkansas State (13-0) and Central Arkansas (5-0) as part of their eight-game win streak. A total of four different MSU starters and five relievers have combined on shutouts so far this season. 

SIXTH SENSE
The Bears continued a recent trend of sixth-inning dominance last week, posting sixth-inning tallies in two of their three wins over Bradley. For the season, the Bears have outscored their opponents by a combined 32-3 margin in the sixth, finally allowing their first sixth-inning runs of the season in a March 19 setback to Memphis. 

MSU has tallied at least one sixth-inning run in 14 of its 27 games to date, going 10-4 in those contesets. Jake Burger has been particularly lethal in the sixth this season, going 8-for-13 with five of his 11 homers and 11 RBIs.

POWERING UP
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 11 long balls to date, while sophomore shortstop Jeremy Eierman is right on his heels with 10 round-trippers after belting three homers in MSU's sweep of Bradley over the weekend.
Burger's game-winning, two-run blast Friday moved the junior into the Bears' career top 10 for homers and his sixth-inning homer in Saturday's win — the 36th of his career — vaulted him into a tie with Matt Gardner for the No. 9 position on the chart. Addtionally, he reached double figures for home runs in his 25th game of the season, which ranked as the sixth-quickest for any Bear. Eierman accomplished the feat in 26 games, good for the No. 7 spot on the list.

In combining to hit 21 of MSU's 28 home runs as a team this spring, Burger and Eierman rank fifth and 10th individually among all Division I hitters, respectively. They lead the duo of Ben Fisher (15) and Daniel McFarland (5) of Eastern Kentucky and Charlie  Madden (12) and Hunter Bening/JT Thomas (8) of Mercer by a single homer as the top Division I home run-hitting combo.