No. 1 Missouri State Bears (38-15, 18-3 MVC) at MVC Baseball Championship
Site:	Horner Ballpark (2,000) | Dallas, Texas
Championship Game:	Sunday, May 27 | 1 p.m.
Opponent:	No. 2 DBU (40-18, 16-5 MVC)
Follow:	Live Stats | MVC Championship Central | @MSUBearBaseball
Radio:	KBFL 1060 AM/96.9 FM | RadioSpringfield.com
Watch:	ESPN+
Game Notes:	Missouri State | DBU
Series History:	DBU leads 16-14 (DBU leads 3-1 in MVC Championship)

PRIME 9

• Missouri State enters the 2018 MVC Championship 51-47 all-time at the tourney, with titles in 1996, 1997 and 2015; coupled with its 23-5 mark at the Mid-Continent Conference Tournament, MSU is 74-52 all-time at league meets 
• MSU holds a 56-40 all-time edge against Evansville, but the Purple Aces have taken seven of the 13 previous meetings between the two clubs in MVC Championship play
• MSU has posted a cumulative 45-14 record in the month of May over the last four seasons, including a 28-8 (.778) mark in Valley games 
• MSU has won at least one game in each Championship appearance since 1994, totaling 51 wins in its last 22 trips; the Bears are a combined 8-1 against the other three teams in 'Bracket A' this season
• Eight Bears were named to All-MVC teams Tuesday, including first-team picks John Privitera, Drew Millas, Dylan Coleman and Connor Sechler, bringing MSU's all-time total number of first-team selections to 65 since joining the Valley in 1991
• Coleman became the third Bears pitcher to reach the 300-career strikeout mark in last Thursday's victory at DBU; the junior also notched his 23rd victory, moving him into a tie with Jeff Gray and Dave Dickensheet for the fourth spot on MSU's career list
• Head coach Keith Guttin earned his seventh Dan Callahan MVC Coach of the Year honor after leading the Bears to their second-straight regular-season title and their 10th conference crown overall    
• Missouri State's bullpen has closed out 149 consecutive victories — including 30 this season — after the Bears have taken a lead into the ninth inning, dating back to May 2014 
• The Bears have 76 combined come-from-behind victories over the last four seasons, including 17 through their first 50 contests of the 2018 campaign; MSU is also 11-1 in one-run affairs this spring 

LEADING OFF
The Missouri Valley Conference Baseball Championship will make its first venture to the Lone Star State this week, as DBU will host the league's postseason tournament at Horner Ballpark. The tournament, which begins with four games Wednesday (May 23) and continues through Saturday's championship game, will determine the Valley's automatic qualifier for the 2018 NCAA Championship.

After claiming their third MVC regular-season championship in four seasons, the Missouri State Bears (35-15, 18-3 MVC) will begin their quest for a fourth MVC tourney title against the eighth-seeded Evansville Purple Aces (12-37, 3-18 MVC) in opening-round action at 12:32 p.m. Wednesday afternoon.

Missouri State enters the 2018 MVC Championship 51-47 all-time at the tourney, including titles in 1996, 1997 and 2015. The Bears have won at least one game in each Championship appearance since 1994, totaling all 51 of their tourney wins in their last 22 trips to the meet. Coupled with its 23-5 mark at the Mid-Continent Conference Tournament, MSU is 74-52 all-time at league meets as a Division I program. The Bears have gone a combined 11-4 in the last three MVC Championships, going 3-2 last year as the host and winning four straight elimination games to reach the title game in 2016, after posting a 4-0 run at the 2015 Championship to claim their third MVC Tourney crown.

SERIES HISTORY
MSU brings a 56-40 series advantage against the Purple Aces into the opening round of the MVC Championship. The Bears swept the Aces in a three-game set at Hammons Field (April 6-8), behind a strong weekend from Drew Millas, who went 6-for-12 against UE. The Bears and Aces last met in MVC Championship play in 2013 in Normal, with the two teams splitting a pair of games.

Against the remaining 'A Bracket' opposition, the Bears won five of their six meetings with Southern Illinois and Indiana State this spring. MSU is 71-45 all-time against ISU, including a 6-6 record in MVC Championship play. The Bears hold a 73-28 advantage over SIU, as well as a 9-5 edge in the Valley Tournament.

HAND THEM THE HARDWARE
Headlined by four first-team selections, a total of nine Missouri State baseball players were selected for All-Missouri Valley Conference honors Tuesday by the league's head coaches, while MSU head coach Keith Guttin was tapped as the Dan Callahan MVC Coach of the Year for the seventh time. 

Missouri State's four selections for the Valley's top postseason squad, including designated hitter Drew Millas, second baseman John Privitera, starting pitcher Dylan Coleman and reliever Connor Sechler, bring the Bears' total number of First-Team All-MVC honorees to 65 since MSU joined the league in 1991. MSU also placed four players on the Valley's second team, with third baseman Matt Brown, shortstop Jeremy Eierman, outfielder Hunter Steinmetz and starting pitcher Ty Buckner earning all-conference honors. Sophomore pitcher Logan Wiley picked up honorable mention recognition, while Steinmetz took home an MVC All-Defensive Team honor as well.

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 165 victories during their time on MSU's active roster. That total is the third-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, and Darren Garrison (1986-89), who won 167 games during his time in Maroon and White.

IN RARE COMPANY
With Missouri State's 6-3 win over Illinois State on April 21, Bears head coach Keith Guttin moved past former Southern Illinois coach Itchy Jones into sole possession of the No. 21 spot on the NCAA's Division I career coaching wins list. 

With a career record of 1,254-774 (.618), Guttin needs one more win to catch Jack Stallings (Wake Forest, Florida State and Georgia Southern) and move into the top 20. Guttin is the second-winningest coach in MVC history, while his win total ranks sixth among all active Division I head coaches.

ROAD WARRIORS
The Bears locked up another road series win in conference play last weekend, taking two of three games and the Valley's regular-season title from DBU. Missouri State, which is 15-4 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 66-37 (.641) record in such contests.  Including their 20-6 record in neutral-field games over the same stretch, the Bears have gone 86-43 (.667) away from Hammons Field over the last four seasons.

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.

THE BUCK STOPS HERE
Right-hander Ty Buckner logged the first complete-game effort by a Bear freshman hurler in 11 years April 29, with his one-hit victory over Bradley. Buckner twirled his gem in the rubber match of the Bears' MVC road series with the Braves, taking a no-hitter into the sixth inning. The St. Louis native retired the first nine hitters of the game and allowed only two baserunners through the first five frames. He struck out six and allowed just a sixth-inning triple in the first complete-game one-hitter by a Bear since Matt Hall throttled Arkansas in the second game of the 2015 NCAA Fayetteville Super Regional.

Buckner was dominant in MVC play, allowing just 15 hits — and a .138 batting average against — in 33.1 innings to go 5-0 in his six total league appearances.

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. 

MVC CHAMPIONSHIP ON ESPN+
Valley fans can take advantage of a free trial offer to watch the 2018 MVC Baseball Tournament from Dallas on ESPN+.  Proceed to https://plus.espn.com and click on the Start My 7-Day Free Trial tile. The free trial timeframe is for new ESPN+ subscribers only. Patrons will be auto-billed unless they cancel before the end of their free trial period. Subscription will automatically renew unless canceled and is subject to the ESPN+ Subscriber Agreement. Participants can cancel their subscription by logging into their account and clicking 'My Subscription," emailing or calling Customer Support at 1-800-727-1800. Pricing is subject to change.