PRIME 9
- Missouri State has been victorious in 21 consecutive Missouri Valley Conference regular-season home contests and 35 of its last 38 league games overall since May 2016, winning or splitting 13 straight Valley series Â
- The Bears enter Friday's series opener with a 70-38 all-time advantage vs. Southern Illinois, including a 28-21 edge at home against the Salukis; SIU was the last team to claim both a league game at Hammons Field and an MVC series against MSU (May 6-8, 2016)
- MSU has posted a cumulative 40-13 record in the month of May over the last four seasons, including a 23-7 (.767) in Valley gamesÂ
- Jeremy Eierman, a preseason All-American who has been named to both the Golden Spikes Award and Brooks Wallace Award watch lists, is the lone Bear to rank among the program's top 10 players in both career steals (42) and home runs (39); he needs one more round-tripper to become the Bears' first-ever 40-40 club memberÂ
- Eierman also needs three more hits to become the 27th Bear to reach the 200-hit plateau; Hunter Steinmetz achieved the feat on April 29 and now ranks 22nd on MSU's all-time hits list, two hits behind Dan Kneeshaw (206)
- Dylan Coleman ranks third on the Bears' career strikeout list (279); the junior also notched his 21st victory as a Bear on April 27 to climb to No. 6 on MSU's all-time list
- MSU has posted three of the top five season walk totals in program history over the last four seasons, ranking first or second in the MVC each year; the Bears have drawn 221 free passes as a team, with John Privitera's 34 bases on balls ranking fourth individually, while Steinmetz's 112 career walks rank seventh in MSU history  Â
- Missouri State's bullpen has closed out 144 consecutive victories — including 25 this season — after the Bears have taken a lead into the ninth inning, dating back to May 2014Â
- The Bears have 74 combined come-from-behind victories over the last four seasons, including 15 through their first 44 contests of the 2018 campaign; MSU is also 11-1 in one-run affairs this springÂ
LEADING OFF
The
Missouri State Bears will close out the home portion of their regular-season schedule this weekend when they host the
Southern Illinois Salukis in a three-game Missouri Valley Conference series at Hammons Field. The Bears and Salukis will open play with a 6:30 p.m game Friday (May 11), before playing single games Saturday (2 p.m.) and Sunday (1 p.m.).
MSU (30-14, 13-2 MVC) enters the weekend with a one-game lead over DBU in the Valley standings after sweeping its three-game set with Valparaiso last week. The Bears have won 11 of their last 12 conference games — and 35 of their last 38 league contests since May 2016 — thanks in large part to a pitching staff that has held its MVC opposition to a .190 cumulative batting average this spring.
Southern Illinois (25-23, 8-7 MVC) comes into the series having dropped three of its last four games, including two of three to Indiana State last weekend in Carbondale. The Salukis feature the Valley's top running game, with 111 stolen bases in 138 attempts this spring.
SERIES HISTORY
Missouri State holds a commanding 70-38 advantage over the Salukis in a series that dates back to 1988. The Bears have won 21 of the 28 previous games played in Springfield, but SIU swept the Bears at home for the first time two years ago in its last regular-season visit to Hammons Field. MSU exacted its revenge in 2017, sweeping the Salukis in Carbondale, then ending their season with a 13-3 victory in an elimination game at the MVC Championship.
The Bears' offense has enjoyed a run of recent success against the Salukis, averaging 10.7 runs per outing over its last six games against SIU.
Hunter Steinmetz has scored nine of those runs, hitting .333 in seven career games against the Salukis entering the series.
ONE-RUN FUN
Missouri State has proven to be proficient in close encounters this spring, with wins in 11 of its 12 one-run decisions. That mark represents a turnaround from the Bears' combined 9-15 record in one-run affairs over the previous two seasons. MSU pitching has been dominant in the Bears' 12 one-run games this year, limiting the opposition to a .219 batting mark.
Connor Sechler has factored in six one-run victories, posting a 3-0 mark with three saves and a 1.08 ERA in 16.2 combined innings.
30 FOR 30
Missouri State's 6-2 win that clinched a Valley series sweep of Valparaiso Sunday also added another chapter to the Bears' lengthy history of producing 30-win campaigns. By reaching the 30-win plateau this spring, the Bears notched their 33rd season with at least 30 wins — and the 30th such season under head coach
Keith Guttin.
SENIOR SENDOFF
The Bears' upcoming series with Southern Illinois will mark the final three home games in the careers of five Missouri State seniors, including four-year lettermen
Austin Knight and
Landan Ruff. Over the course of their four-year careers, the Bears have racked up 160 total wins, captured two MVC regular-season titles, an MVC Tournament championship in 2015 and two NCAA Regional crowns. Additonally, the Bears will honor three-year letterman
Jake Fromson, who was the 2017 MVC Pitcher of the Year and an All-America choice as a junior, and two-year letterwinnersÂ
Matt Brown and
Ryan Skalnik.Â
STREAKING AGAIN
After registering a record-setting 22-game win streak in Missouri Valley Conference play over the previous two seasons, the Bears have continued their winning ways at home this spring to fashion yet another memorable string of victories. With their three-game sweep of Illinois State (April 20-21), the Bears stretched their Hammons Field win streak to 21 straight regular-season wins over Valley foes. MSU, which last suffered a home setback to an MVC opponent on May 8, 2016 vs. Southern Illinois, has hit .338 and outscored the opposition by a 184-65 margin over the course of the streak.Â
With their midweek loss to Mizzou on April 10, the Bears saw their 10-game Hammons Field win streak come to an end. 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 Field in 2004.
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 Illinois State (April 20-21) and have now totaled 74 come-from-behind victories since the start of the 2015 season.Â
This year alone, the Bears have rallied for 15 wins after trailing the opposition. MSU has been good in close encounters as well, recording an 11-1 mark in one-run contests, including three walk-off wins at home.
COLEMAN CLIMBING
Junior right-hander
Dylan Coleman improved his position on several MSU career lists last weekend. The Potosi, Mo., product picked up his league-leading seventh mound victory of the season April 27 with a 5-4 decision over Bradley, marking the 21st win of his Missouri State career. That total moved him into a tie with four other former Bears for the No. 6 spot on MSU's career chart, just two victories shy of the career totals of Jeff Gray and Dave Dickensheet in the fourth position.Â
Coleman also moved into sole possession of third place on the Bears' all-time strikeouts list with nine punchouts vs. BU. Coleman, who fanned an MVC-high 106 batters in 2016, needs 27 more K's to catch Nick Petree (306) in the No. 2 position on the chart. He also ranks among the Bears all-time leaders in starts (fourth) and innings pitched (ninth).
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.Â
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.Â
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 and will conclude with the first two games of this weekend's series with SIU.
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