Thursday, May 11
Normal, Ill.
1:30 P.M.
Missouri State University
vs
(6) Drake
Softball Opens MVC Tournament Play Against Drake
May 10, 2017 | Softball
Missouri State Softball - Game 48
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The Starting Lineup
  Holly Hesse (Creighton, 1982) is 748-747-2 (.500) in her 29th season as head coach at Missouri State and overall. 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.
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Bears in MVC Tournament
Missouri State is 71-45 (.612) all-time in the MVC/Gateway Conference Tournaments with six previous titles -- 1983-1996-1997-1998-2006-2011. The No. 2 team on the all-time tournament win list -- Illinois State -- has 58 wins and also six championships. The Bears are making their 13th straight MVC Tournament appearance and have finished in the top three of the MVC field six times in that span.
All-Conference Nods
MSU senior Bethany Sullinger (Kansas City, Mo.) leads three Bears named to the All-MVC teams on Wednesday. Sullinger is one of two third basemen on the first team, while MSU junior center fielder Erika Velasquez Zimmer (Coppell, Texas) earned All-MVC second-team laurels. It is Sullinger's first all-conference honor, while Velasquez Zimmer was an All-MVC firstt eam selection in 2015. Also earning postseason MVC honors for the Bears was shortstop Elena Gambill (Sr., Broken Arrow, Okla.) who earned a spot on the prestigious MVC All-Defensive Team.
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#MSUBears
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| Missouri State (22-25, 10-16 MVC) vs. Drake (28-26, 11-15 MVC) | |
| Dates | Thursday, May 11 |
| Times | 1:30 p.m. | Central Time |
| Location | Marian Kneer Stadium | Normal, Ill. |
| Live Stats | Live Stats |
| Follow Along | ESPN3Â | @MSUSoftball |
| Missouri State | Game Notes | Softball Home Page | Twitter | Facebook | Media Guide |
The Starting Lineup
- MSU head coach Holly Hesse is just two wins shy of reaching 750 for her career and just one win shy of collecting her 50th all-time win in the MVC Tournament. 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 Illinois State's Melinda Fischer.
- Elena Gambill (Sr., Broken Arrow, Okla.) enters the weekend with 98 career hits (183Â games).
- Mary Stephens (Sr., Sachse, Texas) will be making her 200th career start in her next call to the starting lineup. She is also sitting at 599 career at-bats, which puts her fourth on MSU's all-time list -- 20 behind Kirstin Kutter (2010-13) for the No. 3 spot. Her 101 career RBI also ranks No. 4 all-time at MSU. She needs four RBI to catch Jessie Smith (2006-08) for the No. 3 spot on the Bears' career RBI list.
- Erika Velasquez Zimmer (Jr., Coppell, Texas) ranks 10th in the MVC in hitting with a .358 batting average. She has hitting streaks of 13 and 10 games this season and has accounted for five of MSU's 10 outfield assists from her center field perch. She also ranks fifth in the MVC with 57 hits, and is the Valley co-leader in triples with four.
- Over the last 10 games, Bethany Sullinger (Sr., Kansas City, Mo.) has team-bests with 33 at-bats, 10 hits, four runs, two home runs, 4 RBI, 17 total bases and a .515 slugging percentage. She was named MSU 2017 Senior Female Athlete of the Year at Monday's Bears All-Sports Showcase -- the first Bears' softball player to earn the award.
- Madison Jones (Jr., Overland Park, Kan.) shares the MVC lead with 4 triples, equalling teammate VelasquezZimmer and two others. She ranks 53rd nationally in triples per game (0.09).
- The Bears' defense ranks 32nd nationally (3rd in MVC) in double plays per game (0.45) and is 65th nationally (2nd in MVC) in fielding percentage (.967).
- Missouri State is 16-4 this season when scoring three or more runs. During their current 10-game losing streak, the Bears have scored three runs just once -- a 5-3 loss at Illinois State on April 22.
- In the final regular-season series in Carbondale, Kaitlin Beason (Jr., Webb City, Mo.) hit a team-best .556 (5-for-9) with a double and an RBI. Her eight shutouts in the circle leads all MVC pitchers and ranks 15th nationally.
- The Bears won the Academic Excellence Award at the 2017 Bears All-Sports Showcase, a prestigious honor for having the top GPA among MSU's 17 varsity teams.
- MSU had not lost 10 games in a row in the same campaign since 1989. The Bears have been outscored 49-13 in that span with a .247 average and a .299 slugging percentage.
- Missouri State, which does not graduate any pitchers or catchers, has improved its team ERA from 3.76 (with 148 walks) last year to 2.80 (with 104 walks) this spring.
  Holly Hesse (Creighton, 1982) is 748-747-2 (.500) in her 29th season as head coach at Missouri State and overall. 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.
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Bears in MVC Tournament
Missouri State is 71-45 (.612) all-time in the MVC/Gateway Conference Tournaments with six previous titles -- 1983-1996-1997-1998-2006-2011. The No. 2 team on the all-time tournament win list -- Illinois State -- has 58 wins and also six championships. The Bears are making their 13th straight MVC Tournament appearance and have finished in the top three of the MVC field six times in that span.
All-Conference Nods
MSU senior Bethany Sullinger (Kansas City, Mo.) leads three Bears named to the All-MVC teams on Wednesday. Sullinger is one of two third basemen on the first team, while MSU junior center fielder Erika Velasquez Zimmer (Coppell, Texas) earned All-MVC second-team laurels. It is Sullinger's first all-conference honor, while Velasquez Zimmer was an All-MVC firstt eam selection in 2015. Also earning postseason MVC honors for the Bears was shortstop Elena Gambill (Sr., Broken Arrow, Okla.) who earned a spot on the prestigious MVC All-Defensive Team.
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MVC Standings
| STANDINGS | CONF | OVERALL |
| UNI | 20-6 | 32-18 |
| Illinois State | 20-6 | 30-20 |
| Southern Illinois | 17-8 | 30-22 |
| Wichita State | 16-9 | 31-19 |
| Drake | 11-15 | 28-26 |
| Evansville | 11-15 | 20-32 |
| Missouri State | 10-16 | 22-25 |
| Loyola | 9-17 | 26-25 |
| Indiana State | 8-18 | 24-29 |
| Bradley | 7-19 | 21-32 |
#MSUBears
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Players Mentioned
P/1B
/ Softball
SS/3B
/ Softball
2B
/ Softball
1B
/ Softball
1B/3B
/ Softball
OF
/ SoftballMonday, June 22
Wednesday, June 17
Wednesday, June 17
Wednesday, June 17
