PRIME 9
- Missouri State has emerged victorious in 38 of its last 41 regular-season Missouri Valley Conference games since its last visit to DBU in May 2016, winning or splitting 14 straight Valley series
- DBU leads the series with MSU by a 15-12 count and has won eight of the previous 13 meetings on its home turf; the Bears swept last year's three-game set in Springfield and are 7-5 against the Patriots in regular-season MVC action
- MSU has posted a cumulative 43-13 record in the month of May over the last four seasons, including a 26-7 (.788) mark in Valley gamesÂ
- MSU and DBU enter the final weekend of the regular season ranked first or second in eight different offensive team statistical categories and 10 unique pitching categories during league play; most notably, the Bears' 21 home runs, 3.32 team ERA and eight saves are tops among all MVC clubs during conference play
- Jeremy Eierman became the Bears' first member of the 40-40 club, belting the 40th and 41st home runs of his career last weekend against SIU; Eierman also ranks among the Bears' all-time leaders in steals with 43, making him the only player in program history to rank among the top 10 in both career homers and steals
- Dylan Coleman ranks third on the Bears' career strikeout list (292); the junior also notched his 22nd victory as a Bear last Friday to take over sole possession of the No. 6 spot 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 240 free passes as a team, with John Privitera's 35 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 147 consecutive victories — including 28 this season — after the Bears have taken a lead into the ninth inning, dating back to May 2014Â
- The Bears have 76 combined come-from-behind victories over the last four seasons, including 17 through their first 47 contests of the 2018 campaign; MSU is also 11-1 in one-run affairs this springÂ
LEADING OFF
Riding a seven-game Missouri Valley Conference win streak, the
Missouri State Bears will wrap up their regular-season schedule this weekend with a decisive three-game series with the
DBU Patriots at Horner Ballpark in Dallas. Separated by just one game in the Valley standings, the Bears and Patriots will open play with a pair of 6:30 p.m games Thursday (May 17) and Friday (May 18), before concluding the series with a 2 p.m. contest Saturday (May 19).
The Bears (33-14, 16-2 MVC) finished off their second-straight MVC series sweep this past weekend, totaling 27 runs in three games against Southern Illinois. MSU is within one victory of securing a share of its third Valley regular-season title in four seasons.Â
DBU (35-15, 15-3 MVC) is also riding a hot streak into the Valley's deciding series with wins in each of its last seven outings. The Patriots have posted back-to-back series sweeps of Evansville and Bradley, outscoring the two clubs by a combined 52-12 margin.
SERIES HISTORY
DBU holds a 15-12 all-time edge in the series, but the Bears have claimed eight of the two clubs' 12 regular-season MVC meetings since the Patriots joined the conference in 2014. The Patriots have gone 8-5 vs. MSU in Dallas, including series wins in each of the Bears' two previous trips to Horner Ballpark for Valley play (2014 and 2016).
Last year, Missouri State swept the Patriots in Springfield, with six different Bears powering up to go deep in the three-game set. In all, MSU clubbed 10 home runs against DBU pitching, including three from
Justin Paulsen. Since 2015, the Bears have claimed six of the last 10 meetings in the series, after the Patriots won eight of the previous 10 contests.
EIERMANÂ ESTABLISHES 40-40 CLUB
Junior All-American
Jeremy Eierman added another chapter to his illustrious MSU career Saturday, when the shortstop became the first member of Missouri State's career 40-40 club. Eierman led off the Bears' three-run sixth inning with the 40th round-tripper of his MSU career to become the first player in Bears history to record both 40 homers and 40 stolen bases. For good measure, he closed his home season out in style, belting a two-run shot in perhaps his final Hammons Field at-bat in the bottom of the eighth inning of Sunday's 8-3 victory.
Eierman also became the second Bear to reach the 200 career hit mark this season, going 2-for-5 in Sunday's win. With 201 hits, Eierman is one hit behind Keenen Maddox and Chad Lakin, who share the 25th position on the list.Â
SENIOR CLASS
Missouri State's senior class is nearing the home stretch of what has been a remarkable four-year run with the Bears. Four-year letterwinners
Austin Knight and
Landan Ruff already rank among the winningest players in program history with 163 victories during their time on MSU's active roster. That total is the sixth-best in school history, trailing only Tim Bunton (1986-87; 89-90), who was a part of a Bears record 168 victories during his career, Darren Garrison (1986-89) with 167 and the trio of Greg Faron, Evan Pratte and Jeff Rowold, who were a part of 164 wins from 1988-91.
THRICE WOULD BE NICE
With a one-game lead over DBU in the Missouri Valley Conference standings entering Thursday's series opener, Missouri State is aiming for its first back-to-back MVC regular-season championships since joining the Valley in 1991. A league title would also give the Bears their third in the last four seasons and their sixth overall since joining the circuit. Wichita State was the last Valley team to win three titles in a four-year span, claiming league crowns in 2008, 2009 and 2010.
WHAT A RELIEF
The Bears' bullpen has played a pivotal role in Missouri State's Valley success this season, going 5-0 with a league-high eight saves, a 1.84 ERA and a .192 batting average against in MSU's 18 conference games to date. In particular,
Connor Sechler is 2-0 with six saves and 22 strikeouts in his 19.1 MVC innings, while
Jake Lochner and
Jake Fromson have combined to allow just one run over 13.2 combined innings.
BIG BEN RINGING LOUDLY FOR BEARS
Sophomore first baseman
Ben Whetstone led the Bears offense last weekend with a .455 batting average, playing pivotal roles in each of MSU's three wins over Southern Illinois. Whetstone logged a pair of two-hit games, homering twice and driving in four runs in the series to help extend the Bears Valley home win streak to 24 games. He sparked the decisive rally in Friday's opener with a sixth-inning single as part of a 2-for-3 night, then ignited two more MSU scoring rallies in game two, going 2-for-4 with a home run, two runs scored and two RBIs. Finally, he belted the go-ahead two-run homer in Sunday's finale to help finish off the sweep.
ROAD WARRIORS
The Bears locked up another road series win in conference play May 4-6, with their sweep of Valparaiso. Missouri State, which is 13-3 on the road in Valley play over the last two years, has proven to be hard to stop on the road since the start of the 2015 season, logging a 64-36 (.640) record in such contests. Â Including their 20-6 record in neutral-field games over the same stretch, the Bears have gone 84-42 (.667) away from Hammons Field over the last four seasons.
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
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