SPRINGFIELD – The Missouri State softball team (12-10) travels to the University of Tulsa on Tuesday, Mar. 13, for a 5 p.m. contest against the Golden Hurricanes at the Collins Family Softball Complex.
 

Missouri State (12-10) at Tulsa (14-9)
Date & Time	Tuesday, Mar. 13 | 5:00 p.m.
Site | Location	Collins Family Softball Complex (1,000) | Tulsa, Okla.
Follow Along	Live Stats | Watch | Tickets
Missouri State	Softball Home Page | Twitter

The Starting Lineup

• Last weekend, two Bears – Hannah Heinrichs and Kelly Metter – hit their first home runs of the season. Heinrichs blasted a two-run homer against Western Illinois and Metter launched a solo shot over the centerfield wall against former Valley foe Wichita State.
• Senior Holly Kelley had another stellar week in the circle, surrendering only four hits through 14 full innings. Kelley's success began on Saturday against Western Illinois where she was just one hit away from her second no-hitter of the season. The righty fanned 10 hitters in the 5-0 shutout and allowed just three base runners in her fifth complete game of the season. In the Bears' Sunday game against the Leathernecks, she surrendered just three hits and one run through seven innings. Kelley leads the staff with a 1.66 ERA and 51 strikeouts and ranks 26^th nationally with 3.93 hits allowed per seven innings.
• Leading the Bears with a .357 batting average, senior Erika Velasquez Zimmer picked up her 170^th career hit this weekend at the Shocker Softball Tournament. Velasquez Zimmer leads the lineup with 25 hits and 17 runs and has earned 10 steals on the season.
• MSU's 10-inning victory against Western Illinois marked the longest game the Bears have played since its MVC Tournament game against Southern Illinois on May 14, 2010.
• Four Bears – Erika Velasquez Zimmer, Kaitlin Beason, Darian Frost and Hailee Vigneaux – carry a .305 or higher batting average. The four have combined for 75 of MSU's 148 hits and have put together 16 extra-base hits.
• An underclassmen on the MSU roster, sophomore Carsten Warner celebrates her 20^th birthday on St. Patrick's Day this coming weekend.  
• Buckling down, the Missouri State defense sits 39^th nationally with a .972 fielding percentage.
• On February 9, 2018, MSU head coach Holly Hesse eclipsed the 750 career-victory mark thanks to the Bears' 4-0 win over Mississippi Valley State. Only 37 active Division I coaches have reached 750 career victories. Hesse is in her 30th season as MSU head coach and is the second-winningest coach in MVC history behind Illinois State's Melinda Fischer. Hesse was inducted into the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame on January 28th, 2018.
• The Bears boasted an impressive 3.648 team grade-point average to rank No. 2 among the nation's major programs in the National Fastpitch Coaches Association's annual academic release.

 
Head Coach Holly Hesse
Head coach Holly Hesse enters her 30th season leading the Bears' program as the second-winningest coach in Missouri Valley Conference history with 751 victories. Hesse joined the 700-victory club with a 4-0 win at Illinois State on April 18, 2015, completing a doubleheader sweep in Normal, Ill.
 
She is the winningest coach in Missouri State history with a 761-757-2 record. 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 72 wins in the MVC Tournament and Hesse is tied with the most tournament wins at 50. Hesse was inducted into the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame on January 28th, 2018.
 
The National Fastpitch Coaches Association has recognized her program four times as a NFCA Division I Top 10 All-Academic Team including 1999, 2000, 2016 and 2017. The 2017 Bears ranked second in the nation with a 3.648 team GPA.
 
In 2017, the Bears finished with three all-conference selections, including first-team pick Bethany Sullinger, and three MVC Scholar-Athlete selections in Kaitlin Beason, Erika Velasquez-Zimmer and Sullinger. Velasquez Zimmer also represented the Bears on the NFCA All-Region Team. Junior Holly Kelley also stood out, earning a spot on the MVC All-Tournament Team after tossing an opening-round no-hitter against Drake, the first at the Valley Tournament in 27 years. Likewise, senior Mary Stephens earned NFCA National Player of the Week on Feb. 14 after a sensational opening weekend.
 
In 2016, the Missouri State University Board of Governors honored coach Hesse with the Staff Excellence in Public Affairs Award in recognition of her distinctive work and accomplishments in support of Missouri States public affairs mission. 
 
Handling the Golden Hurricanes
Making the 2017 NCAA Tournament, the Golden Hurricanes enter the mid-week matchup with a 14-9 overall record. The Golden Hurricanes dropped a 7-2 decision to Drake on March 8 in Tulsa, and walloped UMKC, 12-1, at the 2018 Jayhawk Invitational. The Tulsa offense combines for a .272 batting average while Shelby Estocado leads the lineup with 33 hits, five homers, 21 RBI and a .429 batting average at the plate. Tossing the majority of innings for the Golden Hurricanes, Emily Watson carries a 7-4 record and has tallied 75 strikeouts in 68.2 innings. She maintains a 2.24 ERA and has earned two shutouts this season. The Golden Hurricanes are led by John Bargfeldt, who is in his 13^th season at Tulsa.
 
Series History
Meeting 47 times, Missouri State holds a slim, 24-23 all-time series lead over Tulsa. Missouri State began the series in 1993 with nine straight wins, but Tulsa has won the last 12 meetings. The most recent MSU victory was on April 26, 2006 in Springfield.
 
Final Details
First pitch on Tuesday is slated for 5 p.m. at Collins Family Softball Complex. Live stats, live updates and a live stream will be available for the contest. For all the latest information on the Missouri State softball team, visit missouristatebears.com or follow @MSUSoftball on Twitter.