Missouri State looks to keep its grip on second place in the Missouri Valley Conference standings this weekend when the softball Bears (29-16, 14-5 MVC) entertain Indiana State at Killian Softball Stadium. MSU will feature its partnership with Mid-America Transplant during Saturday's first game with a Green Up event, while the team will recognize its seven seniors during ceremonies between games one and two.
 

Missouri St. (29-16, 14-5 MVC) vs. Indiana St. Sycamores (23-22, 10-10 MVC)
Dates	Saturday, April 28 -- vs. Indiana State (12 p.m.) doubleheader Sunday, April 29 - vs. Indiana State (11 a.m.)
Site | Location	Killian Stadium (capacity 1,200), Springfield, Mo.
Game 1	Saturday, April 28 | Live Stats | ESPN3
Game 2	Saturday, April 28 | Live Stats | ESPN3
Game 3	Sunday, April 29 | Live Stats | ESPN3
Promotion	Green Up Game (Game 1 Saturday) | Mid-America Transplant
Missouri State	Game Notes | Media Guide | Softball Home Page | Twitter

 
The Starting Lineup

• Daphne Plummer (Fr., Lee's Summit, Mo.) is hitting a team-best .486 (17-for-35) over the Bears' last 10 games and is batting .436 in the month of April. Plummer also leads MSU with 24 two-out hits this year, well ahead of the club's second-best two-out hitter, Kaitlin Beason, who has 14.
• With 191 career hits, Erika Velasquez Zimmer (Sr., Coppell, Texas) enters the weekend needing just 3 hits to move into the top five in program history. Only four MSU players -- Barb Gaines (1990-93), Sarah Madden (1997-00), Kate Madden (1993-96) and Diedre Shores (1995-98) have collected 200 career hits. Zimmer is already MSU's career leader in stolen bases (63), while her 106 runs ranks fifth on the Bears' career chart
• The Bears are 9-2 in the month of April and have won four straight MVC series. MSU is also 10-5 this season at Killian Stadium.
• Off to a 14-5 start in Missouri Valley Conference play, MSU has compiled 14 or more conference wins for just the fifth time in program history, joining previous milestone seasons in 1992 (14-4), 2005 (16-11), 2006 (18-4) and 2015 (17-9).
• In 2018, the Bears are 19-4 when they score first and 22-3 when they out-hit their opponent.
• Holly Kelley (Sr., Cypress, Texas) was 3-0 last week with a 1.12 ERA and 22 strikeouts in 18.2 innings of work while allowing just seven total hits. She picked up a pair of complete-game victories in MSU's road series at Loyola, while opponents hit just .113 against the Bears' right-hander on the week.
• MSU is seeking its 30th victory of the year, a milestone achieved just 11 times in program history. Since 2000, only four Bears teams have reached 30 wins (2000, 2006, 2011 and 2015), and only the 2006 club -- with a school-record 40 wins -- reached 31 victories.
• All-time Bears' great Barb Gaines (1990-93) was named to the MVC All-25 Year Team on April 26. Gaines, the program's only NFCA Division I All-American, had a career batting average of .403 -- tops on MSU's career list -- and is also the program's career hits leader with 252.
• In the month of April, Madison Jones (Sr., Overland Park, Kan.) is second on the club -- behind Plummer -- with 14 hits, batting .368 (14-for-38) in that span.
• Missouri State will honor its seven seniors during ceremonies between games Saturday. The group has combined for 1,001 MSU games, 603 hits and 215 RBI.
• The Bears rank 2nd in the MVC and 51st nationally in team fielding percentage (.969), while ranking 29th nationally in double plays per game (0.44).

  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 778-763-2 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 28, 2018.

Hesse is 53-22 all-time against Indiana State.

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 State's public affairs mission.  


Series History
Missouri State leads the all-time series against Indiana State, 61-26. The Bears are also 29-10 all-time at home against the Sycamores, including an 8-4 ledger at Killian Stadium.

Last season in Terre Haute, MSU took two of three, including a doubleheader sweep on April 8 (1-0 and 2-1). Bethany Sullinger's solo homer in the 6th won game one, while Kaitlin Beason had a no-hitter through 6 IP. In game two, Holly Kelley struck out five in a complete game, while Beason had the GW RBI, and Hailee Vigneaux went 2-for-3. ISU won the third game, 3-2, as the Bears left 7 runners in scoring position despite a 4-for-4 day by Erika Velasquez Zimmer.


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.