SPRINGFIELD – The Missouri State softball team (20-14) looks to turn the page as it travels to the University of Evansville for an important Missouri Valley Conference series against the Purple Aces on Apr. 6-7 at Cooper Stadium. First pitch on Friday is scheduled for 1 p.m. and Saturday's series finale is slated for 11 a.m.
 
Live stats and live updates will be available for the MVC matchups, and the games will be live streamed on The Valley on ESPN3.
 

Missouri State (20-14, 5-4 MVC) at Evansville (11-19, 4-4 MVC)
Dates	Friday, Apr. 6 | Saturday, Apr. 7
Site | Location	Cooper Stadium | Evansville, Ind.
Game 1	Friday at 1 p.m. | Live Stats | ESPN3
Game 2	Friday at 3 p.m. | Live Stats | ESPN3
Game 3	Saturday at 11 a.m. | Live Stats | ESPN3
Missouri State	Game Notes | 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. Velasquez Zimmer is tied for fourth in the league and leads the Bears with 36 hits while Plummer is tied for seventh in the MVC with 35.
• A solid and consistent element of MSU's lineup, senior Kaitlin Beason is just five hits away from reaching the 100 career-hit mark. She has tallied 28 hits this season, matching her total from last season and just two hits shy of her 30-hit, sophomore season.
• The Missouri State lineup has outscored its opponents 146-118 this season and has collected 58 extra-base hits. The Bears have also out-hit the competition 245-213.
• With 12 steals under her belt this season, Erika Velasquez Zimmer is now tied for second in the MSU career list with 58 stolen bases. She is one behind all-time leader Kate Madden (1993-96) and shares second place with Barb Gaines (1990-93). She has been caught stealing just two times this year.
• MSU has shown more aggression on the base paths this season and has surpassed its stolen base total from the 2017 campaign. Last year, the Bears went 37-for-55 in steals and have already reached 43 steals this season – which ranks second in the league. Led by Erika Velasquez Zimmer (12) and Hailee Vigneaux (11) All but six players on the Missouri State roster have recorded steals this season.
• The Bears rank 17th 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.
• Emerging as the Bears' go-to closer, sophomore Erin Griesbauer ranks ninth in the league with a 2.46 ERA. She ranks 43rd in the nation with two saves while fanning 24 batters in 48.1 innings.
• The MSU offense is on track to surpass its home run production from last season. The Bears belted 16 home runs in 2017 – six dingers coming from current Bears – and have launched 14 balls out of the park this season. MSU is 9-3 this season when it hits at least one home run. Darian Frost and Kaitlin Beason lead the squad with three homers apiece.
• 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.
• MSU senior hurler Holly Kelley ranks fifth in the MVC in strikeouts with 66. As a team, MSU's 165 strikeouts rank third in the MVC behind league leader Drake (273) and Evansville (221).

 
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 769-761-2 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 43-26 all-time against Evansville.
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
The Bears lead the all-time series, 43-26, in a rivalry that dates back to 1994. MSU is 17-14 all-time against the Aces in games played in Evansville.
Missouri State has won seven of the last nine meetings, although the Aces took two out of three from the Bears in Springfield last season (April 14-15). The Bears took game one, 2-1, after a game-winning squeeze play in the sixth by Kaitlin Beason. UE bounced back with a 3-1 victory in game two, plating three unearned runs in the first inning, before UE pounded out 11 hits in a 6-4 win in game three.
 
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 Aces
Hailee Vigneaux is hitting .417 (10/24) lifetime against Evansville, while fellow seniors  Erika Velasquez Zimmer (.391) and Kaitlin Beason (.357) have also been successful vs. UE. Beason hit a home run against the Aces in 2015.
 
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).
Last season, Griesbauer earned MVC Newcomer of the Week honors on Feb. 20.
 
Final Details
Game one of Friday's doubleheader will begin at 1 p.m. and Saturday's first pitch is scheduled for 11 a.m. Live stats, a live stream, and live updates will be available for the weekend. For all the latest information on the Missouri State softball team, visit MissouriStateBears.com or follow @MSUSoftball on Twitter.