No. 28 Missouri Tigers (23-9) at No. 24 Missouri State Bears (22-7)
Site	Hammons Field (8,000)  |  Springfield, Mo.
Date/First Pitch:	Tuesday, April 10  |  6:32 p.m.
Watch:	The Valley on ESPN3
Radio:	KBFL 1060 AM/96.9 FM
Follow:	Live Stats  |  @MSUBearBaseball
Game Notes:	Missouri State  |  Missouri
Series History:	MSU leads 29-25 (16-9 vs. MU in Springfield)
Promotions:	Go Green
Tickets:	MissouriStateBears.com

PRIME 9

• Missouri State made its 2018 debuts in both the NCBWA (No. 24) and USA Today Coaches (No. 25) polls, while climbing to a peak position of No. 19 in D1Baseball's Top 25 on Monday 
• The Bears lead the series with Mizzou by a 29-25 margin after claiming both meetings in 2017; MSU has won six of the last seven games in the series overall, as well as six of its last seven contests against ranked MU teams
• After sweeping Evansville to open their longest home stand of the season, the Bears have won 10 straight home games and are 11-2 at Hammons Field this season; MSU is 73-20 (.785) at home since the start of the 2015 season
• MSU leads the Valley in team earned run average (3.11), opponent batting (.222), fewest earned runs allowed (90) and hits allowed (211); Individually, Dylan Coleman paces the circuit in strikeouts (63), while Drew Millas ranks third in RBIs (35) and Jeremy Eierman rates third in runs scored (29) 
• Ben Whetstone has reached base safely via a hit, walk or hit by pitch in each of the Bears' 29 contests this season; the sophomore first baseman has also been solid in games following a Missouri State defeat, hitting .400 with all four of his home runs and seven RBIs in such outings to help the Bears go 7-0 after a loss 
• Millas earned MVC Player of the Week honors for the second time in 2018 Monday after going 6-for-12 with six RBIs in the Bears' series sweep of UE over the weekend; his selection marked the fourth straight week a Bear has earned either MVC Player or Pitcher of the Week
• MSU has won 15 of its last 17 games since March 11, thanks in large part to a bullpen that has posted a 1.22 ERA and allowed an opponent batting average of just .199; additionally, John Privitera and Matt Brown have drawn a combined 31 walks over the same stretch, while posting on-base percentages of .457 and .479, respectively 
• 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 29 contests of the 2018 campaign 

LEADING OFF
Ranked as high as No. 19 in this week's polls, the Missouri State Bears renew their rivalry with another nationally-ranked foe, the Missouri Tigers, Tuesday (April 10) evening at Hammons Field. The Bears and Tigers will square off in a 6:30 p.m., contest that will mark just the third matchup of ranked teams in the 55-game history of the series.

Winners of 15 of their last 17 games, the Bears (22-7) rose to No. 19 in D1Baseball's poll this week, while debuting at No. 25 in the USA Today Coaches poll and checking in at No. 24 in both the NCBWA and Collegiate Baseball Top 30 polls. MSU ran its home win streak to 10 straight victories with its three-game sweep of Evansville over the weekend.

Missouri (23-9) enters the week ranked 28th in the NCBWA's poll, despite dropping two of three SEC games to Alabama over the weekend. The Tigers are 8-6 away from home, including a 6-4 mark in true road games, and have gone 7-0 in midweek action this season.

SERIES HISTORY
The Bears hold a 29-25 edge over the Tigers in a series that dates back to 1975. Missouri State has won six of the last seven meetings, including both of the clubs' contests in 2017.
MSU pitching limited the Tigers to a .209 batting mark while posting a 1.00 team ERA. Tuesday's projected starter, Austin Knight, made both starts in the series last spring, striking out nine hitters and allowing just two earned runs over 11.2 combined innings. MSU has enjoyed a string of recent success against fellow Show-Me State Division I clubs, going a combined 31-15 against SLU, SEMO and MU over the last 12 seasons.

Missouri State claimed each of the previous two meetings of ranked teams in the series—both coming in 2015. The No. 15 Bears (Baseball America) claimed a 9-8 win in Columbia against the No. 14 Tigers in the first matchup of that season on April 21, before posting a 13-8 win over a then-20th-ranked MU squad at home a week later to secure the series sweep.

STREAKING AT HAMMONS
With three straight wins over Evansville to start their current seven-game home stand, the Bears ran their 2018 home mark to 11-2 and extended their current Hammons Field win streak to 10 consecutive victories since March 11. That streak represents the sixth different home win streak of at least six games since the start of the 2015 season, as well as the Bears' third-longest home streak since moving to Hammons Field 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 21-7 at home last spring, following a Hammons Field record 22 victories in 2016. In 2015, MSU posted its best-ever showing at Hammons with a 19-3 (.864) mark, giving the Bears a combined 73-20 (.785) home record, including a 26-7 mark in MVC play, since the start of the 2015 season.

GO GREEN
Even though St. Patrick's Day has come and gone, the Bears will go green this Tuesday when they host in-state rival Mizzou at Hammons Field, as Missouri State University is partnering with Mid-America Transplant for the first of two 'Green Up' games during National Donate Life Month in order to raise awareness about organ, eye and tissue donation, while also celebrating organ and tissue donors and recipients. Fans will have the opportunity to learn more about organ, eye and tissue donation and register their decision to be a donor at designation stations on the main concourse at Hammons Field.

POLL POSITION
With their weekend sweep of Evansville, the Bears solidified their position in four of the major college baseball polls, moving to a peak position of No. 19 in this week's D1Baseball.com poll, while Missouri State debuted in both the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (No. 24) and USA Today Coaches (No. 25) polls. Each position represents a regular-season best for the Bears, who have now garnered a regular-season top 25 ranking in each of the last four seasons. 

Tuesday's game will be the first of four constests this week pitting the Bears against a ranked opponent, as No. 7 Oregon State pays Hammons Field a visit for a three-game set Friday and Saturday. The Beavers will represent the highest-ranked opponent for the Bears at home since 2007, when seventh-ranked Arkansas visited Hammons. MSU, which is 3-1 versus ranked foes this season, posted a road win over an ECU squad that is currently ranked as high as No. 7 (D1Baseball), as well as two home wins over then No. 30 Arkansas State (NCBWA).

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 18-4 since March 3. Over the same span, Steinmetz has hit .322 (29-for-90) with 20 RBIs and 21 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 Friday, Steinmetz responded by going 4-for-9 over the final two games of MSU' sweep of UE.

SHUTDOWN STAFF
MSU pitching has locked into high gear over the last 19 games, posting a 2.88 team ERA and winning 16 of those outings. In all, seven different Bears hurlers have logged sub-3.00 ERA's over the same span, while the staff as a whole has limited the opposition to a .203 batting mark. 

A pair of freshmen have led the charge with Ty Buckner going 3-1 with a 2.28 ERA and Connor Sechler has allowed just one run in 13.2 combined innings, over which he has fanned 18 batters and walked just two to go 3-0 with two saves. The Bears have given up an average of 3.4 runs per outing and have yielded 10 or more hits just three times during the same stretch. 

DOUBLE TROUBLE
The Bears' sophomore catching combination of Logan Geha and Drew Millas turned in a weekend to remember in leading the Bears to a series sweep of Evansville. The duo went 10-for-17 (.588) with four doubles, a triple and six RBIs over the three games. In Sunday's series finale, they were particularly lethal, combining to go 4-for-7 with three walks, three runs scored and three RBIs. They also teamed up to backstop a strong weekend from the MSU pitching staff, which allowed just eight earned runs and struck out 23 Purple Aces and issued only four walks over the 27.0 innings in the series.

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. 

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.