PRIME 9
- Missouri State's 17-0 MVC start represents the best for any Valley club in the history of the conference; the Bears clinched their fifth regular-season MVC title on May 13 vs. Indiana State and are bidding to become the first Valley club in the modern era to post an unbeaten league slate and the first to do so overall since 1968 (Tulsa)
- The Bears climbed one spot to No. 12 in this week's Collegiate Baseball Top 30, and checked in at No. 21 in the USA Today Coaches poll, No. 22 in D1Baseball.com's poll and No. 24 in the NCBWA's poll on Monday
- The Bears enter Friday's series opener with a 57-39 all-time advantage vs. Illinois State, including a 25-21 edge against the Redbirds in Normal; MSU has swept its last seven regular-season MVC series dating back to its three-game sweep of ISU in Springfield (May 19-21) last spring
- The Bears rank fifth nationally in team walks with 289 for the season, which is the second-best total in school history and just 28 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 38 homers in 50 games to date; the duo ranks No. 1 and No. 2 in the Valley in home runs, RBIs, runs scored and total bases
- Senior closer Bryan Young is riding a streak of 13 consecutive outings without allowing an earned run dating back to March 17; the All-American has allowed just one hit and struck out 22 over the same stretch spanning 13.1 innings
- Young's Missouri State-record 34 career saves is tied for second all-time in the Valley with WSU's Jaime Bluma, while his 1.50 career ERA ranks second among all active Division I pitchers
- Jake Fromson leads the MVC in ERA (2.16), opposing batting average (.156), fewest hits allowed (32) and fewest earned runs allowed (14), while his season WHIP (0.77) ranks second in the nation
- Since returning from a five-week layoff due to injury on March 31, Blake Graham has led the Bears with a .379 batting mark, logging 13 multi-hit outings in 26 total games; he ranks second in the MVC with 21 RBIs in league play
LEADING OFF
The
Missouri State Bears will be looking to make history this weekend when they travel to Normal, Ill., for their final Missouri Valley Conference regular-season series with the
Illinois State Redbirds. The 12th-ranked Bears and Redbirds will open play with a 6 p.m game Thursday (May 18), before playing single games Friday (2 p.m.) and Saturday (1 p.m.) at Duffy Bass Field.
Coming off their seventh-consecutive MVC series sweep, the Bears (36-14, 17-0 MVC) enter the series looking to become the first Valley club to post an unblemished conference ledger during the modern era and the first overall since 1968, when Tulsa logged a 7-0 league slate. The Bears are currently riding a 21-game league win streak, which represents the longest such streak in Valley history.
Illinois State (12-37, 1-17 MVC) comes into the weekend looking to build momentum for the postseason despite a difficult MVC season to date. The Redbirds have dropped six straight games and 11 of 12 overall since knocking off Bradley on April 22 for their lone league win of the season.
SERIES HISTORY
Missouri State brings a 57-39 all-time advantage over Illinois State into Thursday's series opener. The Bears hold a a 25-21 edge over the Redbirds on their home turf and have taken four in a row from ISU overall. Last year, the Bears swept the two clubs' three-game set at Hammons Field, as MSU hit .400 as a team and outscored ISU by a 31-9 margin.
Jeremy Eierman went 5-for-13 with eight RBIs in last year's series, while
Blake Graham batted .556 and scored five times against Illinois State. The senior brings a .400 career average against the Redbirds into this weekend's series.
CROWN 'EM
The Bears locked up their fifth regular-season MVC championship with their 4-1 win over Indiana State this past Saturday, giving MSU two league titles in the last three seasons. The last time the Bears accomplished that feat was during the 2001-03 seasons, when they went 22-10 in Valley play to win the 2001 crown, then took the 2003 league title with a 19-11 mark en route to the program's only Division I College World Series appearance.
With three more wins this weekend at Illinois State, the Bears would become the first Valley club in the modern era to post an unbeaten league ledger, and the first overall since Tulsa logged a 7-0 conference season in 1968, prior to the introduction of series play into the MVC regular season.
BURGER CLIMBING THE CHARTS
Junior All-American
Jake Burger continued his ascension toward the top of several MSU career charts last week, most notably the Bears' home runs and hits lists. Burger homered for the 45th time as a Bear in last Friday's series opener with Indiana State and currently sits in sixth on that list. He also logged five hits in the series with ISU to climb to No. 15 on MSU's all-time hits chart, passing Aaron Conway, Luke Voit and Ryan Howard along the way.
CARDIAC CUBS
The Bears rallied for their 15th and 16th come-from-behind victories of the season last weekend vs. Indiana State, overcoming a 4-0 deficit with 14 unanswered runs in Friday's series opener, then wiping out a 1-0 Sycamore lead in game two. Missouri State's two wins over ISU marked its 56th and 57th 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 from a five-run deficit at Evansville on April 29 matched its biggest rally in the last seven years. Last March, the Bears overcame a 5-0 Arkansas State lead, 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.
STILL STREAKING
Missouri State extended its best-ever-start to a Valley season with its seventh-consecutive regular-season MVC series sweep this past weekend, giving the Bears 17-straight victories to open conference play. The Bears also ran their regular-season Valley win streak to a league-record 21-straight games, dating back to their May 15, 2016 win at DBU. They surpassed the previous all-time win streak by an MVC club with their title-clinching win Saturday, topping Wichita State's 19-game league win streak (1981-82).
By virtue of their strong Valley start, the Bears are the lone NCAA Division I club to enter the week unbeaten in conference play.
WALK IT OFF
MSU drew a total of 13 free passes in its three-game sweep of ISU over the weekend. The Bears season total of 289 walks leads the Valley and ranks fifh nationally entering play this week.
Five different Bears rank among the top seven MVC players in bases on balls this season, led by
Hunter Steinmetz and
Jake Burger, who have each drawn of 37 walks to rank second in the conference. The Bears are just 28 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 .329 batting average with 14 homers and 49 RBIs in 37 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 24 through MSU's first 17 conference games. He has also hit a Valley-best nine homers to go along with league-leading totals for runs (26), slugging (.859) and on-base percentage (.535) during conference play 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 0.90 earned run average and 11 saves in 28 career MVC games. The All-America closer moved into a tie for second on the Valley's all-time saves chart last weekend, matching Wichita State's Jaime Bluma with 34 career saves. Marc Bluma (WSU) owns the league's career mark with 44 saves.
Jake Burger also joined a prestigious group of MVC hitters over the weekend when he clubbed his 45th career home run as a Bear to break into the Valley's top 20. He currently shares the No. 20 spot on the list with Wichita State's Eric Wedge and needs one more long ball to move up to the 19th position (Mike Davis, Wichita State).
