Baseball February 13, 2019

Bears Open 2019 Campaign at Texas State Tournament

Missouri State Bears (0-0) at Texas State Tournament
Dates:	Friday, Feb. 15 - Sunday, Feb. 17
Site:	Bobcat Ballpark (2,500) \| San Marcos, Texas
Game 1:	vs. Nevada \| Friday - 12 p.m.
	Live Stats \| Watch
Game 2:	vs. Utah \| Saturday - 12 p.m.
	Live Stats \| Watch
Game 3:	at Texas State \| Sunday - 3 p.m.
	Live Stats \| Watch
Follow:	@MSUBearBaseball \| Tickets
Radio:	KBFL 1060 AM/96.9 FM (Corey Riggs) \| RadioSpringfield.com
Game Notes:	Missouri State \| Nevada \| Utah \| Texas State
Series Histories:	MSU and UNR tied at 1-1 \| Utah leads 3-0 \| MSU leads TSU 3-0

Prime 9

Missouri State will be looking for its seventh-consecutive opening day win Friday; the Bears are 24-12 in openers under head coach Keith Guttin and 36-19 overall in season lid-lifters
The Bears, who return 19 letterwinner's from last year's 40-17 Missouri Valley Conference regular-season and postseason tournament championship squad, were tabbed the league's preseason favorite by the MVC head coaches
The Bears bring a 3-4 all-time record against the field into this weekend's tournament, including a 2-0 mark against host Texas State, a 1-1 ledger vs. Nevada and an 0-3 record against Utah
MSU will be making its 14th season-opening trip to the state of Texas in the last 18 years; MSU has gone 14-7 in the Lone Star State since the start of the 2015 season and is 61-61 all-time on Texas soil
MSU's Ben Whetstone will bring a career-best 13-game hit streak into 2019; the Bears' first baseman has hit .340 (18-for-53) over the course of his streak (since May 11) and has reached base safely in 21 straight contests (April 24)
The Bears' roster features three different returners who have earned All-America recognition during their respective MSU careers, led by 2019 preseason Collegiate Baseball All-America picks Drew Millas and Connor Sechler
MSU has 80 combined come-from-behind wins over the last four seasons and went 13-2 in one-run games in 2018
The Bears have posted a 85-38 (.691) regular-season non-conference mark over the last four seasons
MSU has outscored its opening-game opponents by a combined 53-11 margin over the course of its six-game, opening-day win streak, including a 32-4 margin in its last three such victories against Central Arkansas (12-1), Rhode Island (12-1) and Texas Southern (8-2)

Leading Off
The Missouri State Bears will open their 2019 season this weekend when they travel to San Marcos, Texas to take part in the Texas State Tournament at Bobcat Ballpark. The Bears will kick off their 56th season of varsity baseball Friday (Feb. 15) with a 12 p.m. game against the Nevada Wolf Pack, before taking on the Utah Utes Saturday at Noon, and the host Texas State Bobcats at 3 p.m. Sunday to conclude the weekend.

This weekend's action marks the first of three consecutive road trips for the Bears to open the new campaign. Following a midweek trip to Tulsa to face Oral Roberts next Tuesday (Feb. 19), MSU will travel to San Diego next weekend, where the Bears will face off against a trio of West Coast powers—including two former national champions—as part of the Tony Gwynn Legacy (Feb. 22-24), hosted jointly by San Diego State University and the University of San Diego.

Series Histories
All seven of Missouri State's previous meetings with its three opponents have taken place in the state of Texas. The Bears have enjoyed success in their series with Texas State, winning single contests in San Marcos in their two most recent trips to TSU. MSU emerged victorious with a 3-2 win in 11 innings to open the 2013 campaign, after claiming a 12-8 slugfest from the Bobcats in their season-opening trip to TSU in 2011.

MSU will be looking to gain the upper hand in its series with Nevada Friday, as the two programs have split their only two previous meetings, both of which occurred during the 1997 season. Each of the two contests were decided by a single run, with the Wolf Pack claiming a 7-6 decision in the season opener for both clubs in Houston on Feb. 14, before the Bears returned the favor in late May as part of NCAA Regional play with a 10-9 victory in Lubbock, Texas.

The Bears are seeking their first-ever victory over Utah, which has claimed each of the previous three games in the series. Most recently, the Utes picked up a 7-3 win over MSU in Arlington, Texas, on March 9, 2014.

Lifting the Lid
Missouri State is 24-12 in season openers under head coach Keith Guttin and 36-19 overall as a program in such contests. MSU is just 17-18 all-time in road/neutral field season openers, but will be looking for its seventh-straight opening day victory away from home Friday. The Bears have outscored their last three opening-day opponents by a combined 32-4 margin with matching 12-1 wins over Central Arkansas (2016) and Rhode Island (2017), before topping Texas Southern by an 8-2 count to open the 2018 campaign.

They have also rallied for victories four times during their current six-game, opening-day win streak. MSU has employed a potent offense in its openers in recent years, tallying an average of 10 runs per outing in its last five season debuts. Additionally, this weekend's action will mark the 19th consecutive year the Bears have opened on the road. MSU has swept its season-opening slate of action in two of the last four seasons, going 3-0 in Nacogdoches, Texas in 2015 prior to a 2016 three-game sweep in Conway. The Bears have started each of the last eight campaigns with at least six wins in their first 10 games, including their best-ever start (10-1) to a season in 2017.

Road to Success
MSU has proven to be hard to stop on the road over the past four seasons, logging a 67-36 (.650) record in such contests. Including their 24-9 record in neutral-field games over the same stretch, the Bears have gone 91-45 (.669) away from Hammons Field since the start of the 2015 season.

The Bears went 14-8 in true road games a year ago, after logging 19 road wins in 2017 and a program-record 21 wins in 27 road contests in 2015. MSU's 0.857 win percentage on the road that year represented its best since 1978, when it posted an identical percentage with a 12-2 road mark. Coupled with their 9-3 record in neutral field contests in 2015, the Bears' total of 30 wins away from home was second only to national champion Virginia in the Division I ranks and qualified as the best in school history. The Bears also posted the longest road win streak in Division I baseball in 2015, claiming 11-straight victories from March 15 to April 25.

Millas, Sechler Honored
After earning All-America honors to spearhead the Bears' 2018 MVC title run, both Drew Millas and Connor Sechler were tabbed for 2019 preseason All-America honors by Collegiate Baseball. Millas posted a career year in helping the Bears to their second consecutive Valley regular-season championship last spring, posting team-best figures for batting (.321), hits (68) and RBIs (61) en route to earning first-team All-MVC and second-team All-America honors from the NCBWA. The catcher/DH recorded 18 multi-hit games and 18 multi-RBI efforts, as well as three separate four-hit games as a sophomore.

Sechler was a freshman All-America choice of both Collegiate Baseball and the NCBWA after anchoring the Bears' bullpen with eight saves and a 2.98 earned run average in 2018. The right-hander limited the opposition to a combined .208 batting average, while striking out 59 hitters in 54.1 innings over an MSU freshman-record 32 appearances.

Big Ben Ringing Loudly
First baseman Ben Whetstone will enter the 2019 season looking to pick up right where he left off last spring. The junior brings a 13-game hit streak into the year after leading the Bears charge to the MVC Championship title. The Overland Park, Kan., native has hit .340 (18-for-53) with a pair of homers and 14 RBIs since May 11 of last year. Whetstone locked up Valley Tourney MVP honors after registering a series of crucial hits and eight total RBIs to help MSU sweep its four games in Dallas. He 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 started all 57 games for the Bears at first base last season, also excelled in the field, registering a .992 fielding percentage, with just four miscues in 491 defensive chances on the year.

Non-Con Domination
MSU has been nearly unstoppable against non-conference competition over the last three seasons, compiling an 85-38 (.691) record in regular-season games versus non-league foes since the start of the 2015 season. The Bears, who have won 38 of their last 53 regular-season non-conference home games, outscoring their non-league opponents by a 786-494 margin at Hammons Field over the same stretch.

Cardiac Cubs
Missouri State has made a habit of eliminating leads over the last three seasons, and its late-season hot streak last spring highlighted this trend. The Bears rallied for comeback wins in each of their final three games at the MVC Championship, as well as their NCAA Regional victory over Saint Louis, and have now totaled 80 come-from-behind victories since the start of the 2015 season.

Title Town
Missouri State wrapped up one of the more dominant performances in Missouri Valley Conference history with its fourth league tournament title last spring. 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.

Hand Them the Hardware
Headlined by four first-team selections, a total of nine Missouri State baseball players were selected for 2018 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 at the 2018 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 1,259-776 (.619), Guttin needs 12 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 fifth among all active Division I head coaches entering the 2019 season, his 37th at the Bears' helm.

Valley Forecast
Highlighted by three selections to the 2019 Preseason All-Missouri Valley Conference Baseball Team, Missouri State was the choice of the league's head coaches to claim its third-consecutive conference crown. Leading the Bears' contingent of three preseason All-MVC choices were returning first-team all-conference picks catcher/DH Drew Millas and reliever Connor Sechler, while reigning MVC Championship Most Outstanding Player Ben Whetstone also picked up a nod at first base.

The Bears, ranked as high as No. 24 in Collegiate Baseball's Preseason Poll, captured their third NCAA Regional berth in four seasons last spring after becoming just the second Valley school to win back-to-back regular-season titles (joining Wichita State). MSU (59 points) garnered five of the eight first-place votes to edge DBU for the top spot by just one point. The Patriots, who received two first-place votes, out-gained No. 3 Indiana State (49), which picked up the other first-place vote, while Bradley (39) rounded out the top half of the preseason poll.

Bears on the Radio
Once again in 2019, Meyer Communications is slated to provide live radio coverage of all 56 Missouri State regular-season games, plus all Bears' games in the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament and any 2019 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.

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