PRIME 9
- Missouri State's 14-0 MVC start represents its best in 27 seasons as a Valley member, while the Bears' 18-game regular-season conference win streak (dating back to May 15, 2016) is tied for the second-longest in league history
- The Bears climbed three spots to No. 13 in this week's Collegiate Baseball Top 30, and checked in at No. 24 in both the USA Today Coaches and NCBWA polls on Monday
- The Bears enter Friday's series opener with a 66-44 all-time advantage vs. Indiana State, including a 34-18 edge against the Sycamores in Springfield; MSU has won each of its last four MVC home series with ISU, going a combined 10-2 against the Sycamores at Hammons Field since 2009
- The Bears rank fifth nationally in team walks with 276 for the season, which is currently tied for the third-best total in school history and just 41 shy of the program's single-season record of 317, set in 2015
- Jake Burger and Jeremy Eierman have combined to post the top home run total for Division I teammates this spring with 37 homers in just 47 games to date; the duo ranks No. 1 and No. 2 in the Valley in home runs, RBIs, runs scored, total bases and slugging percentage
- Eierman brings a career-best streak of 32 consecutive games reaching base safely via hit, walk or hit by pitch into this weekend's series; that marks the longest such streak for a Bear since Spencer Johnson reached safely in 45 straight games over the 2015-16 seasons
- Since returning from a five-week layoff due to injury on March 31, Blake Graham has led the Bears with a .381 batting mark, logging 11 multi-hit outings in 23 total games; he ranks second in the MVC with 19 RBIs in league play
- Jake Fromson leads the MVC in ERA (2.17), opposing batting average (.162), fewest hits allowed (31), fewest earned runs allowed (13) and victories (6), while his season WHIP (0.81) ranks sixth in the nation
- Senior closer Bryan Young is riding a streak of 11 consecutive outings without allowing an earned run dating back to March 17; the All-American has allowed just one hit and struck out 17 over the same stretch spanning 11.1 innings
LEADING OFF
The
Missouri State Bears will close out the home portion of their regular-season schedule this weekend when they host the
Indiana State Sycamores in a three-game Missouri Valley Conference series at Hammons Field. The No. 13 Bears and Sycamores will open play with a 6:30 p.m game Friday (May 12), before playing single games Saturday (2 p.m.) and Sunday (1 p.m.).
The Bears (33-14, 14-0 MVC) enter the series needing just two more victories to clinch their second MVC regular-season title in three years. MSU is off to its best conference start as a program and its current 18-game regular-season Valley win streak is just one victory shy of matching the conference record for consecutive league wins.
Indiana State (24-20, 10-5 MVC) comes into the weekend riding a six-game win streak and tied with DBU for the second spot in the Valley standings. The Sycamores have been the league's top fielding club, bringing a .978 team fielding average into the series.
SERIES HISTORY
Missouri State brings a 66-44 all-time edge in the series with Indiana State into Friday's opener. The Bears are 34-18 against the Sycamores at home, where they have claimed each of the last four regular-season series with ISU dating back to 2009.
Last year, Indiana State got the better of the Bears during the regular season, sweeping the two clubs' three-game series in Terre Haute (April 29-May 1). But MSU exacted revenge at the MVC Championship, running away with a pair of decisive wins (12-4 and 11-4) over the host Sycamores to eliminate them from the league tournament for the second time in three seasons.
IN RARE COMPANY
Bears head coach
Keith Guttin picked up his 1,200th career victory April 18 against Missouri. The Bears' 35th-year bench boss also moved up to 24th in NCAA Division I history for coaching victories with Sunday's win at Southern Illinois, surpassing Al Ogletree with his 1,209th win. He needs one more victory to match Jay Bergman's career total in the No. 23 spot on the NCAA's all-time wins list.
With a career record of 1,209-753 (.616), Guttin is the second-winningest coach in MVC history, while his win total ranks seventh among all active Division I head coaches.
CARDIAC CUBS
The Bears rallied for its 13th and 14th come-from-behind victories of the season last weekend at SIU, overcoming a pair of one-run deficits to claim the opener by a 7-5 count, before erasing another Sunday in a 7-4 win in 11 innings. Missouri State's two wins at Jones Stadium marked its 54th and 55th comeback victories since the start of the 2015 season. Last year, the Bears posted 17 comeback wins, on the heels of a 2015 season that saw them claim victory in 24 such contests.
MSU's comeback at Evansville on April 29 matched its biggest rally in the last seven years. Last March, the Bears overcame a 5-0 deficit versus Arkansas State, coming all the way back to defeat the Red Wolves by a 15-11 final tally. The Bears' last come-from-behind win after trailing by five runs occurred on May 26, 2010, when MSU overcame a 7-2 deficit against Southern Illinois at the MVC Championship in Wichita.
BEARS AIM TO #STRIKEOUTALS, SALUTE AMERICA'S HEROES
In continuing their efforts to raise awareness for Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), the Bears will collect donations for the ALS Association of St. Louis during Saturday's game at Hammons Field. Fans may also pledge their donations online at webstl.alsa.org. This season's contest will mark the second time the Bears have sponsored an ALS awareness game, as MSU drew nearly 3,800 fans to its September 2012 'Battle for Bell' exhibition contest against cross-town rival Drury that benefited former Bear Howard Bell in his fight against the disease.
MSU will also take time to give back to those who selflessly serve both our nation and local community as part of its `Salute to America's Heroes' Saturday. All U.S. service men and women, as well as all firefighters, police, EMTs and other first responders are invited to attend the contest, to which they will receive a buy-one, get-one free (with a service ID) ticket rate when they present a valid service ID in person at the MSU Athletics Box Office located at JQH Arena, or on game day at the Hammons Field box office.
SENIOR SENDOFF
The Bears will pay tribute to their seven seniors prior to this Sunday's series finale. This year's senior class has helped Missouri State reach the 30-win mark in three consecutive seasons, including a school-record 49-win campaign that culminated in the program's second NCAA Division I Regional title and a No. 12 final national ranking in 2015. Four-year standouts
Blake Graham,
Alex Jefferson,
Jordan Knutson,
Aaron Meyer and
Bryan Young have been a part of 146 MSU victories entering Friday's series opener and third-year Bears
Justin Paulsen and
Danny Rowley were a part of MSU's 2015 Valley championship squad as well.
The class of 2017 has played an integral role for the Bears from day one, combining to play in 836 games including 553 starts during their careers in the Maroon and White while leaving a lasting imprint on the MSU record book. Graham leads the Missouri Valley Conference in on-base percentage this season, while he, Meyer and Paulsen rank among the Valley's top hitters in several major offensive statisitical categories this season. A first-team All-American and three-time NCBWA Stopper of the Year Award candidate, Young is the Bears' all-time saves and ERA leader who is within six outings of the program record for all-time mound appearances. Knutson ranks among the MVC's strikeout leaders and has earned a pair of MVC Scholar-Athlete of the Week honors this spring, while Jefferson is a two-time CoSIDA Academic All-District honoree.
STILL STREAKING
Missouri State extended its best-ever-start to a Valley season with three more road wins against Southern Illinois this past weekend, giving the Bears 14 straight victories to open conference play. The Bears ran their regular-season Valley win streak to a program-record 18-straight games, dating back to their May 15, 2016 win at DBU.
That streak is the second-longest on record by an MVC club, just one shy of Wichita State's 19-game streak (1981-82) The Bears are also within one win of their longest conference win streak, which occurred over the course of three seasons and spanned 19 regular-season games from April 16, 1989 to March 19, 1991. By virtue of their strong Valley start, the Bears are the lone NCAA Division I club to enter the week unbeaten in conference play.
BY THE NUMBERS
Over the course of their 18-game MVC regular-season win streak, the Bears have hit .311 as a team and out-homered the opposition by a 29-15 margin. MSU has gone deep at least two times in nine of the 18 games and is a perfect 13-0 when taking a lead into the seventh inning during the streak.
Individually,
Blake Graham has led the Bears with a .409 (27-for-66) average over the course of the win streak. Additionally,
Jeremy Eierman has hit .377 with nine homers and 30 RBIs over the same stretch and
Jake Fromson has allowed just four earned runs over 30.0 innings.
WALK IT OFF
MSU drew a total of 27 free passes in its three-game sweep of SIU last weekend. The Bears season total of 276 walks leads the Valley and ranks sixth nationally entering play this week. Five different Bears rank among the top six MVC players in bases on balls this season, led by
Hunter Steinmetz's league-leading 36, which ranks 36th nationally. The Bears are just 41 walks shy of the program's single-season record of 317, set in 2015.
VALLEY TOUGH
Several Bears have contributed in big ways to Missouri State's recent run of MVC success.
Jeremy Eierman will bring a .339 batting average with 14 homers and 47 RBIs in 34 career Valley games into this weekend's series. The sophomore shortstop is leading all MVC hitters in RBIs in league play for the second straight year with 22 through MSU's first 14 conference games. He has also hit a Valley-best nine homers to go along with league-leading totals for runs (25), total bases (49), walks (15), slugging (.961) and on-base percentage (.535) to date this spring.
Senior
Bryan Young has also posted a banner career in Valley play that has included a 6-2 mound mark to go along with an 0.95 earned run average and nine saves in 26 career MVC games. The All-America closer ranks third all-time in saves among Valley hurlers (32) just two shy of matching Jaime Bluma of Wichita State in the No. 2 spot on the list. Marc Bluma (WSU) owns the league's career mark with 44 saves.
Jake Burger is also on the cusp of cracking a prestigious MVC career chart with 44 home runs as a Bear. He needs just one more to move into the league's all-time top 20, with Wichita State's Eric Wedge currently occupying the 20th spot with 45 career homers.
