Illinois State Redbirds (14-19, 4-5 MVC) at Missouri State Bears (22-11, 5-1 MVC)
Site	Hammons Field (8,000)  |  Springfield, Mo.
Game 1	Friday, April 20  |  6:32 p.m.
Game 2 & 3	Saturday, April 21  |  1:02 p.m. (DH)
Watch:	ESPN+ (Games 1 & 2)
Radio:	KBFL 1060 AM/96.9 FM
Follow:	Live Stats  |  @MSUBearBaseball
Game Notes:	Missouri State  |  Illinois State
Series History:	MSU leads 59-42 (30-18 vs. ISU in Springfield)
Tickets:	MissouriStateBears.com

PRIME 9

• Missouri State brings an 18-game MVC home win streak into this weekend's series with Illinois State; the Bears have gone 26-7 at home in Valley play since the start of the 2015 season and have not lost a regular-season home game to a league foe since May 8, 2016 vs. Southern Illinois
• The Bears own a 59-42 overall series advantage against Illinois State, including a 30-18 edge at home
• Drew Millas has four multi-hit performances in his last six games, going 14-for-26 (.538) over the same stretch; the sophomore has 10 multi-hit games this season, including three separate four-hit efforts
• Preseason All-America pick Jeremy Eierman was named to the Brooks Wallace Award Watch List Thursday for the second straight year; 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 triples (9), ERA (4.08) and opponent batting (.234); Dylan Coleman paces the circuit in strikeouts (68) and opposing batting (.183), while Eierman leads the league in doubles (14) and rates among the MVC's top 10 in runs scored (30), RBIs (28), triples (2), home runs (5), total bases (74) and steals (17)
• Coleman is currently tied with Brett Sinkbeil for fourth place on the Bears' career strikeout list with 256 K's; the junior also needs one more victory for his 20th as a Bear, which would move him into the school's top 10 for wins 
• MSU pitching has allowed double-digit run totals in three consecutive games for the first time since March 2011; the Bears have also dropped three straight contests in which they have scored at least six runs, after winning 106 of their previous 114 such games over the past four seasons
• 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 33 contests of the 2018 campaign 

LEADING OFF
The Missouri State Bears return to Missouri Valley Conference play this weekend with a three-game series against the Illinois State Redbirds at Hammons Field. The Bears and Redbirds will open the weekend with a 6:30 p.m. game Friday (April 20), before matching up in Saturday (1 p.m.) doubleheader.

The Bears (22-11, 5-1 MVC) will be looking to snap out of a recent funk that has seen them drop four straight contests to ranked opponents. MSU built a four-run lead Tuesday night at Arkansas, only to watch the No. 3 Razorbacks score the final eight runs of the night in an 11-7 setback. MSU has lost three straight home games as well, marking its longest home skid since May 2016.

Illinois State (14-18, 4-5 MVC) dropped a pair of midweek contests to in-state foes SIU Edwardsville and Eastern Illinois, after taking two of three Valley games at Indiana State last weekend. The Redbirds bring the top team fielding percentage (.979) in the conference into this weekend's series.

SERIES HISTORY
Missouri State brings a 59-42 all-time advantage over Illinois State into Friday's series opener. The Bears hold a a 30-18 edge over the Redbirds in Springfield, including a three-game sweep of ISU in its last regular-season trip to Hammons Field in 2016. Last year, the Redbirds stopped the Bears' 22-game Valley win streak in thre regular-season finale in Normal to earn a split of the weather-shortened two-game series. ISU also took two of three games from the top-seeded Bears at Hammons Field in the MVC Championship en route to a runner-up finish at the league meet.

Bears reliever Jake Fromson has a pair of wins and a save in four career appearances against Illinois State. The reigning MVC Pitcher of the Year has struck out 17 Redbirds over 13.0 total innings, while both John Privitera (.333) and Hunter Steinmetz (.303) bring .300 or better career batting marks against ISU into the series.

WATCHING EIERMAN
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 earned another national honor Thursday when he was named to the Brooks Wallace Award Watch List for the second straight year. The honor, for which Eierman was one of five national finalists in 2017, is presented by the College Baseball Foundation and recognizes the top collegiate shortstop in the country. The Warsaw, Mo., native was previously selected for USA Baseball's Golden Spikes Award Midseason Watch List, which features 40 of the nation's top college players.

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 Eierman first-team All-America recognition and a spot on USA Baseball's Collegiate National Team last summer.

STREAKING AT HAMMONS
With their midweek loss to Mizzou last Tuesday, the Bears saw their 10-game Hammons Field win streak come to an end. MSU's 2018 home mark fell to 11-5 with its two-game sweep at the hands of Oregon State, but the Bears' double-digit home win streak represented the sixth different streak of at least six home victories since the start of the 2015 season, as well as the Bears' third-longest home streak since moving to Hammons in 2004. The longest such streak is 16 straight victories from April 18, 2015 through March 6, 2016.

The Bears have logged their top two single-season home win totals over the last two years, going 73-23 (.760) overall at home since the start of the 2015 season.

HEATING UP
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 18-8 since March 3. Over the same span, Steinmetz has hit .333 (35-for-105) with 22 RBIs and 28 runs scored. The Springfield native recorded a hit in nine straight games, March 20-31, hitting .389 with 11 RBIs. After seeing his streak end, Steinmetz has responded by recording hits in six consecutive outings, batting .417 (10-for-24) with 10 runs scored. He brings a .346 MVC batting mark into this weekend's series, while his .338 home average this season is second on the squad. 

Likewise, Drew Millas has been on a tear over the last two weeks, logging four multi-hit performances — including two four-hit games. Since April 7, Steinmetz and Millas have combined to go 24-for-50 (.480) in six games, good for 39 percent of the Bears' 61 total hits over the same stretch.

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 1,241-770 (.617), 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.

CARDIAC CUBS
Missouri State has made a habit of eliminating leads over the last three seasons, and their recent hot streak has highlighted this trend. The Bears rallied for comeback wins in each of their first two wins over Evansville (April 6-8) and have now totaled 71 come-from-behind victories since the start of the 2015 season. This year alone, the Bears have rallied for 12 wins after trailing the opposition. MSU has been good in close encounters as well, recording a 9-1 mark in one-run contests, including three walkoff wins at home.

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, 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. 

BEARS ON ESPN
The Missouri Valley Conference announced on April 9 that selected regular-season digital productions, plus post-season championship coverage, will be distributed on ESPN+ — the first-ever multi-sport, direct-to-consumer subscription streaming service from The Walt Disney Company Direct-to-Consumer and International group in partnership with ESPN.

Fans can subscribe to ESPN+ for just $4.99 per month (or $49.99 per year) and cancel at any time.

Launching on Thursday, April 12, ESPN+ will be an integrated part of a completely redesigned ESPN App. The new ESPN App will be the premier all-in-one digital sports platform for fans and is a showcase of the company's culture of innovation.

The Valley, which is in the fourth year of a 10-year national rights-holding agreement with ESPN, which started its programming schedule on ESPN+ on April 13.