Missouri State Bears (22-10) at No. 3 Arkansas Razorbacks (27-10)
Site	Baum Stadium (10,737)  |  Fayetteville, Ark..
Date/First Pitch:	Tuesday, April 17  |  6:35 p.m.
Watch:	SECN+
Radio:	KBFL 1060 AM/96.9 FM
Follow:	Live Stats  |  @MSUBearBaseball
Game Notes:	Missouri State  |  Arkansas
Series History:	Arkansas leads 55-28 (34-14 vs. MSU in Fayetteville)

PRIME 9

• Arkansas holds a commanding 55-28 edge over the Bears in a series that dates back to 1966; the Razorbacks are 34-14 all-time vs. MSU in Fayetteville
• Missouri State has won six of the last 10 meetings in the series, however, including three of its four games with the Razorbacks in Fayetteville over the last two seasons; including its NCAA Regional win over Oklahoma State last June, the Bears are 6-3 at Baum Stadium since 2015 
• At No. 3 in this week's NCBWA poll, Arkansas represents the Bears' highest-ranked opponent since their matchup with No. 1 Rice at the 2003 College World Series 
• Preseason All-America pick Jeremy Eierman was named to USA Baseball's Golden Spikes Award Midseason Watch List last week; the junior shortstop is just one stolen base away from becoming the lone Bear on both the program's career lists for home runs and steals
• MSU leads the Valley in team earned run average (3.88), opponent batting (.231), fewest earned runs allowed (124) and hits allowed (245); Dylan Coleman paces the circuit in strikeouts (68) and opposing batting (.183), while Eierman rates among the MVC's top 10 in slugging (.561), runs scored (30), hits (41), RBIs (28), doubles (14), triples (2), home runs (5), total bases (74) and steals (17)
• MSU dropped back-to-back games when totaling six runs or more for the first time in two years this past weekend against Oregon State; the Bears had won 106 of their last 114 games when scoring at least six runs since 2015
• MSU has gone 79-39 away from Hammons Field over the last four years, including a 59-33 mark in true road games
• Head coach Keith Guttin (1,241) needs one more victory to match the career total of former Southern Illinois coach Itchy Jones for the No. 21 position on the NCAA's Division I coaching wins list     
• Missouri State has 71 combined come-from-behind victories over the last four seasons, including 12 through its first 32 contests of the 2018 campaign 

LEADING OFF
After dropping consecutive games for the first time all season, the Missouri State Bears hit the road for a stout midweek test against the nationally-ranked Arkansas Razorbacks Tuesday (April 17) evening at Baum Stadium in Fayetteville. The contest will be streamed live on the SEC Network+.

The Bears (22-10) enter the game on a three-game slide after dropping all three of their contests to ranked foes last week. After seeing their 10-game home win streak come to an end with Tuesday's setback to Missouri, the Bears allowed 27 combined runs in their two losses to Oregon State over the weekend.

Arkansas (27-10) enters Tuesday's game ranked as high as No. 3 in the national polls, following an SEC series win over South Carolina this past weekend. The Razorbacks have won eight of their last nine games overall and are 9-1 in midweek action this spring.

SERIES HISTORY
Arkansas holds a commanding 55-28 all-time edge over Missouri State in a series that dates back to 1966. The Bears are 14-34 vs. the Razorbacks in Fayetteville, but have won five of their last eight against Arkansas at Baum Stadium since 2015. 

Last year, Arkansas claimed a convincing 12-4 win in Springfield (April 11) vs. the Bears to stop a three-game regular-season losing streak against MSU. But the Bears exacted their revenge in the postseason last June, taking two of their three NCAA Championship games against the Razorbacks to claim the Fayetteville Regional crown. Coupled with their Regional-opening win over Oklahoma State, the Bears are 6-3 at Baum Stadium over the last four seasons.

EIERMAN IS GOLDEN
Junior shortstop Jeremy Eierman is just one stolen base away from becoming the lone Bear on both the Bears' career top 10 lists for home runs and steals. Eierman currently ranks ninth on MSU's all-time homer list with 37, while his total of 40 steals is tied for 14th. With one more stolen base, he would tie Bob Blakley (1974-77), Gary Mitchell (1976-78), Greg Brewer (1985-86) and Kevin Medrano (2009-12) for the 10th spot on the Bears career steals list.

A unanimous preseason All-America pick, Eierman picked up another national honor last week with his selection to USA Baseball's Golden Spikes Award Midseason Watch List. The midseason watch list features 40 of the nation's top amateur players from the college ranks. The Golden Spikes Award Advisory Board will continue to maintain a rolling list of athletes, allowing players to play themselves into consideration for the award before announcing the semifinalists on May 21.

Eierman was a unanimous preseason All-America and the No. 9 college prospect for the 2018 MLB Draft, as well as the No. 17 overall prospect, by Baseball America prior to the start of the season. He currently ranks among the MVC's top 10 individuals in nine different offensive categories, on the heels of a breakthrough 2017 season that earned the Warsaw, Mo., product first-team All-America recognition and a spot on USA Baseball's Collegiate National Team last summer.

ROAD WARRIORS
After dropping both of their home games against No. 7 Oregon State over the weekend, the Bears return to the road Tuesday with a stiff test against another top 10 squad in the Arkansas Razorbacks. The non-conference tilt will mark their fourth-straight game against a ranked foe and MSU's eighth such contest overall this spring.

Missouri State has proven to be hard to stop on the road over the past four seasons, logging a 59-33 (.641) record in such contests. Including their 20-6 record in neutral-field games over the same stretch, the Bears have gone 79-39 (.669) away from Hammons Field since the start of the 2015 season. MSU has held its own against top 25 clubs on the road as well, logging five victories in 11 such contests over the same span.

IN RARE COMPANY
With Missouri State's 10-5 win over SEMO on March 20, Bears head coach Keith Guttin moved past former San Diego State coach Jim Dietz into sole possession of the No. 22 spot on the NCAA's Division I career coaching wins list. With a career record of 1,241-766 (.618), Guttin needs one more win to catch former Southern Illinois coach Itchy Jones in the No. 21 position on the list. Guttin is the second-winningest coach in MVC history, while his win total ranks sixth among all active Division I head coaches.

STEINMETZ ON A ROLL
After starting the season with only five hits in his first 30 at-bats, junior outfielder Hunter Steinmetz has keyed a recent surge that has seen the Bears go 18-6 since March 3. Over the same span, Steinmetz has hit .330 (34-for-103) with 21 RBIs and 27 runs scored. The Springfield native recorded a hit in nine straight games, March 20-, hitting .389 with 11 RBIs. After seeing his streak end, Steinmetz responded by going 4-for-9 over the final two games of MSU' sweep of UE.

COLEMAN CLIMBING
Junior right-hander Dylan Coleman picked up his fifth mound victory of the season March 30 with a 4-3 decision over Indiana State, striking out seven Sycamores over 6.2 innings. He moved into the Bears' top five for career strikeouts on April 6, passing Jordan Knutson and Jarrod Mays with his six-strikeout effort vs. Evansville. Coleman, who fanned an MVC-high 106 batters in 2016, also matched the career total of Brett Sinkbeil (256) for the No. 4 spot on MSU's career list. He needs 19 more K's to catch Matt Hall in the third position on the chart.

Coleman also needs one more win to crack the Bears' all-time top 10 list for that category. With 19 wins, he trails five different Bears — most recently Sam Perez (2013-16) — in the 10th spot with 20 victories.

BEARS ON RADIO
Once again in 2018, Meyer Communications is slated to provide live radio coverage of all 52 Missouri State regular-season games, plus all Bears' games in the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament and any 2018 postseason play. 

The broadcasts can be heard primarily on KBFL 1060 AM and 96.9 FM in Springfield with Art Hains, Ben Goss and Corey Riggs describing the action. An online audio stream is available through KBFL's website via RadioSpringfield.com.