MSU Softball Welcomes Southern Illinois on Wednesday

Wednesday, April 18

Springfield

12:00 PM

Missouri State University

Southern Illinois

MSU Softball Welcomes Southern Illinois on Wednesday

April 16, 2018 | Softball

By: MSU Athletics Communications

SPRINGFIELD – Continuing Missouri Valley Conference play, the Missouri State softball team (25-15) is set to host travel partner Southern Illinois for a mid-week doubleheader on Wednesday, April 18 at Killian Stadium. First pitch in game one is scheduled to go off at 12 p.m. and game two will begin at approximately 2 p.m.

Missouri State (25-15, 10-4 MVC) vs. Southern Illinois (22-17, 5-8 MVC)
Date	Wednesday, April 18
Site \| Location	Killian Stadium \| Springfield, Mo.
Game 1	Wednesday at 12:00 p.m. \| Live Stats \| ESPN3
Game 2	Wednesday at 2:00 p.m. \| Live Stats \| ESPN3
Promotions	Fan Appreciation Day - Lunch with the Bears
Missouri State	Game Notes \| Softball Home Page \| Twitter

The Starting Lineup

Leading the Bears last Wednesday against Big 12 member Oklahoma State, newcomer Daphne Plummer went a perfect 4-for-4 at the plate. She scattered two singles and a season-high two doubles against the formerly-ranked Cowgirls, marking her second four-hit game of the season. Plummer leads the Bears, sits second in the league and ties 14^th among all NCAA Division I freshman with 45 hits this season.
Senior speedster Erika Velasquez Zimmer became the Bears' all-time career stolen base leader on Saturday, Apr. 7. She eclipsed the 22-year-old record with the 60th steal of her career in the final inning of the Bears' 4-3 victory over the Purple Aces.
Kaitlin Beason entered the 100 career-hit club over the weekend after going a perfect 3-for-3 at the plate against Bradley. The senior leads the team with five home runs, 14 walks and a .545 slugging percentage.
Erin Griesbauer posted her first shutout of the season in a complete-game win against Bradley. The sophomore hurler racked up a career-high six strikeouts and limited the Braves to just five hits over seven innings of work. Griesbauer's win marked the eighth time Bradley, who leads the league with 184 runs, has been shutout this season.
Focusing on offensive improvement this season, the MSU lineup is out-hitting its opponents 172-138. The Bears have collected 71 extra-base hits and have out-scored the competition 293-258.
The Missouri State defense sits in a first-place tie alongside Bradley with 18 double plays turned this season. The Bears turned a season-high, two double plays in games against Louisiana Tech, Oklahoma State and Bradley this season.
The Bears rank 10th in the nation and lead the Valley in triples per game. MSU has tallied an impressive 14 triples this season, where Kyana Mason and Madison Jones lead the lineup – and the league – with three apiece. Erika Velasquez Zimmer and Daphne Plummer have both recorded two triples while Darian Frost, Madison Hunsaker and Kelly Metter have recorded one each.
The MSU lineup surpassed its home run production from last season. The Bears totaled 16 dingers last season and now carry 18 in the 2018 season. Kaitlin Beason leads the Bears with five home runs on the season and ties fourth all-time with 19 career homeruns.
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.

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. 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 774-762-2 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.

Hesse is 31-51 all-time against Southern Illinois.

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.

Series History
Southern Illinois holds a 57-45 all-time series lead over the Bears. MSU is 22-16 at home against the Salukis, and has won just seven games since 2008. Southern Illinois currently rides a six-game winning streak coming into Wednesday's doubleheader after claiming four games against the Bears last season. The Bears were swept at Carbondale, Ill., last season and later fell to the Salukis in the second round of the 2017 MVC Tournament, 3-9.

Academic Leaders
Missouri State University ranked second among the nation's NCAA Division I softball programs in the National Fastpitch Coaches Association's Academic Team rankings for the 2016-17 academic year. The Bears boasted an impressive 3.648 team grade-point average to rank No. 2 among the nation's major programs in the organization's annual academic release. A total of 143 Division I teams accumulated grade-point averages of 3.00 or higher in 2016-17.

Bears vs. the Salukis
Kaitlin Beason and Hailee Vigneaux both found offensive success against the Salukis last season. Beason went 5-for-11 at the plate (.455) in four games and Vigneaux collected five hits in 12 at-bats. Beason and Vigneaux combined for three walks and two RBI during the 2017 season.

Young Guns
Missouri State's great crop of young talent has produced three weekly awards from the Missouri Valley Conference this season with freshmen Daphne Plummer (Feb. 19) and Madison Hunsaker (March 19) earning MVC Newcomer of the Week this spring. Sophomore pitcher Erin Griesbauer has also earned an MVC distinction in 2018 as Valley Pitcher of the Week (March 19). Griesbauer has also earned MVC Enterprise Bank Scholar-Athlete of the Week honors this season (March 11).

Final Details
Wednesday's doubleheader is set to begin at 12 p.m. at Killian Stadium. Live stats, live updates and a live stream on The Valley on ESPN3 will be available for both games. For all the latest information on the Missouri State softball team, visit MissouriStateBears.com or follow @MSUSoftball on Twitter.

#MSUBears