PRIME 9
- MSU is making its 11th NCAA Division I Championship appearance and its fourth in the last seven seasons
- The Bears enter the Oxford Regional with an overall postseason mark of 21-22 as a Division I program
- MSU has won at least one game in each of its last eight NCAA Regional appearances dating back to 1996, claiming two or more victories in seven of those trips to the postseason
- MSU has 20 come-from-behind victories this year and 79 total comeback wins since the start of the 2015 season
- MVC Tourney MVP Ben Whetstone brings a 10-game hit streak into the postseason, hitting .375 with 12 RBIs
- Dylan Coleman ranks 13th nationally with 122 strikeouts this spring and second on MSU's career K's list (310)
- In 11 games since May 6, Matt Brown has hit seven homers, driven in 14 runs and scored 15 more
- Missouri State's bullpen has closed out 151 consecutive victories — including 32 this season — after the Bears have taken a lead into the ninth inning, dating back to May 2014
- MSU is 11-1 in one-run games, with Connor Sechler posting a 4-0 mark and three saves in those contests
LEADING OFF
After claiming MVC regular-season and tournament titles en route to their 11th
NCAA Division I Baseball Championship berth, the
Missouri State Bears (39-15) enter the
Oxford Regional as the No. 3 seed and will match up against the second-seeded
Tennessee Tech Golden Eagles (48-9) to open postseason play Friday (June 1) at 2 p.m. (Central) at Oxford-University Stadium/Swayze Field.
The top-seeded
Ole Miss Rebels (46-15) will meet the fourth-seeded
Saint Louis Billikens (38-18) in the second game Friday at 6:30 p.m. Regional play continues through Monday (June 4) with a double-elimination format. Game times for Saturday include a Noon start for an elimination contest pitting the two Friday losers, and 6 p.m., for the winner's matchup. Sunday will shift to a 1 p.m./5 p.m. format, while the deciding game on Monday (if necessary) will commence at 6 p.m. All regional contests will be streamed live online through the ESPN family of networks.
BEARS IN THE NCAA POSTSEASON
The Bears enter the Oxford Regional as the three seed for the fourth time in their last seven NCAA Championship appearances. MSU has gone a combined 6-5 in regional play as the No. 3 seed, most notably starting their 2003 College World Series run as the third seed in the Lincoln Regional. The Bears went 3-1 against Coastal Carolina and host Nebraska to claim the title, then swept Ohio State in the Super Regional round to advance to the school's first Division I CWS appearance.
MSU has recorded a postseason victory in each of its last eight NCAA Championship appearances, claiming at least two wins in seven of those trips. The Bears have captured regional titles in three of their last five postseason appearances (2003, 2015 and 2017), going a combined 10-4 in regional play over the same stretch.
BEARS AGAINST THE REGIONAL FIELD
Missouri State brings a 21-22 all-time NCAA Division I Championship mark into this year's tournament, including an 18-16 record in regional play. The Bears have a 7-5 cumulative record this spring against NCAA qualifiers, including a total of four road wins.
Missouri State has gone a combined 52-14 against the other three participants in the Oxford Regional. The Bears have claimed three of their previous four meetings with top seed Ole Miss, most recently dropping a 6-4 neutral-field decision to the Rebels in Houston in Feb. 2005. MSU and Tennesse Tech split their previous two contests, also staged on a neutral field in Lubbock, Texas, in Feb. 2012.
Contrary to their limited history with the Regional's top two seeds, the Bears are quite familiar with their fellow Show-Me State entrant, the fourth-seeded Billikens of Saint Louis University. MSU has won 48 of the two program's previous 60 contests in a series that dates back to the 1970 season. In his first season as an assistant coach on the SLU staff, former Bear shortstop Joey Hawkins will be a familiar face in Oxford. The Valley's 2015 Defensive Player of the Year, Hawkins anchored the Bears' infield for a school-record 49-win club that swept MVC regular-season and toruney titles before claiming an NCAA Regional crown in Springfield as well.
TITLE TOWN
Missouri State wrapped up one of the more dominant performances in Missouri Valley Conference history with its fourth league tournament title Sunday in Dallas. The Bears swept the Valley Championship field for the second time in four years, logging a 10-0 shutout of Evansville, two comeback wins over Indiana State and a 10-inning, walk-off win over host DBU.
MSU, which also captured its sixth regular-season Valley title and 10th conference championship overall under the direction of Dan Callahan MVC Coach of the Year
Keith Guttin, capped off an unprecedented run of success against MVC foes. The Bears went 18-3 during league play, running their two-year MVC mark to 36 wins in 40 total conference games. Coupled with their 4-0 week at the Valley Tournament, the Bears have won 43 of their 49 total contests against MVC foes over the last two seasons.
VALLEY PROMINENT IN NCAA FIELD
Missouri State was one of two Missouri Valley Conference teams selected for the NCAA Tournament, marking the fifth time in the last seven seasons the league has earned multiple postseason bids and the 24th time overall. The Valley was one of 12 conferences nationwied to have multiple teams earn berths in this year's NCAA Championship. Valley runner-up DBU drew the No. 3 seed at the Fayetteville Regional and will face Southern Miss as its opening-round opponent.
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 as the winningest players in program history with 169 total victories during their time on MSU's active roster. With Sunday's MVC Championship win in Dallas, the duo surpassed previous record-holder Tim Bunton (1986-87; 89-90), who was a part of a Bears record 168 victories during his time in Maroon and White.
BIG BEN RINGING LOUDLY FOR BEARS
Sophomore first baseman
Ben Whetstone led the Bears charge through a perfect 4-0 week at the MVC Championship, locking up tourney MVP honors after registering a series of crucial hits and eight total RBIs. Whetstone logged a career-best four RBIs in the Bears' opening-game win over Evansville, then produced a game-tying, two-run double in the title game against DBU.
Whetstone, who has started all 54 games for the Bears at first base this season, has saved his best work for the stretch drive. The Overland Park, Kan., native brings a career-best 10-game hit streak into the NCAA Championship, hitting .375 with a pair of homers and 12 RBIs since May 11. He has also excelled in the field, registering a .991 fielding percentage, with just four miscues in 470 defensive chances.
ROAD WARRIORS
MSU drew a total of 26 free passes at the MVC Championship last week to surpass the program's single-season record for walks in a season (317 in 2015). The Bears season total of 326 walks leads the Valley and ranks The Bears used another strong road stretch to secure its third Valley championship in four seasons, taking two of three games from league runner-up DBU in Dallas on the final weekend of the regular season.
Missouri State, which is 17-5 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 68-38 (.642) record in such contests. Including their 20-6 record in neutral-field games over the same stretch, the Bears have gone 88-44 (.667) away from Hammons Field over the last four seasons.
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 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.
IN RARE COMPANY
With Missouri State's 4-2 win over Indiana State last Thursday at the MVC Championship, Bears head coach
Keith Guttin moved past Jack Stallings for sole possession of the No. 20 spot on the NCAA's Division I career coaching wins list.
With a career record of 1,258-774 (.619), Guttin needs 13 more wins to catch legendary Miami coach Ron Fraser (1,271) in the 19th position on the chart. Guttin is the second-winningest coach in MVC history, while his win total ranks sixth among all active Division I head coaches.
ONE-RUN FUN
Missouri State has proven to be proficient in close encounters this spring, with wins in 12 of its 13 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 seven one-run victories, posting a 4-0 mark with three saves and a 1.66 ERA in 21.2 combined innings.
