SPRINGFIELD – After a blanket of snow covered the Panthers' field in Cedar Falls, Iowa, the Missouri State softball team (19-12) is set to host Northern Iowa for a three-game series on Friday and Saturday at Killian Stadium. Friday's doubleheader is slated for 3 and 5:30 p.m. and Saturday's contest is scheduled to begin at 11 a.m.

Missouri State (19-12, 4-2 MVC) vs. UNI (16-13, 1-3 MVC)
Dates	Friday, Mar. 30 | Saturday, Mar. 31
Site | Location	Killian Stadium | Springfield, Mo.
Game 1	Saturday at 12 p.m. | Live Stats
Game 2	Saturday at 2 p.m. | Live Stats
Game 3	Sunday at 11 a.m. | Live Stats
Promotion	Free Admission
Missouri State	Softball Home Page | Twitter

The Starting Lineup

• Erika Velasquez Zimmer and Daphne Plummer both rank in the Missouri Valley Conference top-10 with over 30 hits apiece. Plummer ties for fourth in the league and leads the Bears with 34 hits while Velasquez Zimmer ties for seventh in the MVC with 33.
• Senior standout Kaitlin Beason leads the MSU lineup with a .359 average at the plate. She has racked up 28 hits and has tallied nine extra-base hits – six doubles and three home runs. A force to be reckoned with, Beason has been walked a team-high 10 times this season and has been plunked by a pitch twice.
• Senior hurler Holly Kelley ranks 47^th in the nation with 4.57 hits allowed per seven innings, as well as 95^th in strikeouts per seven innings. She leads the MSU staff with a 7-3 record and five complete games. Kelley has fanned 64 batters this season and limits hitters to an impressive .185 batting average.
• Plummer has struck out just once for every 19.4 at-bats this season, which ranks tops on the team and among the nation's top 150 in toughest to strike out.
• The MSU lineup has out-scored its opponents 137-107 this season and has tallied 57 extra-base hits while opponents have gathered 53. Additionally, MSU has out-hit the competition 227-190 and has brought in 23 more RBI.
• With 12 steals under her belt this season, Erika Velasquez Zimmer is now tied for second in the MSU career record books with 58 stolen bases. She recorded a season-high two steals against Mississippi Valley State (Feb. 11) and Omaha (Feb. 11) and has been caught stealing just two times this year.
• The Bears rank 12th in the nation and lead the Valley in triples per game. MSU has tallied an impressive 12 triples this season, where Kyana Mason and Madison Jones lead the lineup – and the league – with three apiece. Erika Velasquez Zimmer has recorded two triples while Darian Frost, Daphne Plummer and Madison Hunsaker have recorded one each.
• Junior Morgan Greenlee collected the first home run of her career against Saint Louis on Wednesday, Mar. 28. Greenlee scored the first run of the game and launched a solo shot over the left-center field wall at the Billikens Sport Complex.
• 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.

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 768-759-2 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.

Powering Through the Panthers
UNI enters the weekend with a 16-13 overall record and 1-3 mark in MVC play. The Panthers have faced a pair of MSU opponents this season, breaking out an 8-4 win over Kansas. The also dropped two games against UMKC – a 4-3 loss on Feb. 11 and a 5-3 decision on Mar. 11. Brittney Roby leads the UNI lineup with 45 hits and a league-leading .455 average at the plate. Pitchers Brooke Craig and Jaclyn Spencer have seen equal time in the circle this season, combining for 105 strikeouts in 148 complete innings. Spencer leads the staff with a 2.85 ERA while Brooke holds an 8-5 record on the season. The Panthers are led by Ryan Jacobs, who is in his 11^th season as head coach.

Series History
The Bears and Panthers enter this weekend's series tied at 47 wins apiece in its all-time series history. UNI claimed the last two meetings, and the series, after MSU made out with a 6-0 win in game one during the 2017 season. The Bears' longest win streak against the Panthers was from 1993 to 1997, where MSU captured eight consecutive wins.

Final Details
First pitch on Friday is scheduled for 3 p.m. at Killian Stadium. Live stats and live updates 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.