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Missouri State

Rachel Weber

Softball MSU Athletics Communications

Bears Host Northern Iowa in Key MVC Softball Series

Missouri State Bears (18-9, 4-1 MVC) vs. UNI Panthers (11-10, 2-1 MVC)
Dates Saturday, March 23 & Sunday, March 24, 2019
Site | Location Killian Stadium (1,200), Springfield, Mo.
Game 1 Saturday, 11:02 a.m. | ESPN3 | Live Stats | MSU Game Notes
Game 2 Saturday, (approx.) 1:30 p.m. | ESPN3 | Live Stats | MSU Game Notes
Game 3 Sunday, 11:02 a.m. | ESPN3 | Live Stats | MSU Game Notes
Missouri State Softball Home Page | Twitter | Facebook | MSU Media Guide

The Prime Nine
  • Missouri State concludes its seven-game home stand Saturday (11 a.m.) and Sunday (11 a.m.) at Killian Stadium when the Bears host Northern Iowa in a three-game Missouri Valley Conference series. The Bears are 4-0 at home this season and have won 10 of their last 12 games overall.
  • Missouri State head coach Holly Hesse enters the UNI series just one win shy of 800 for her career. Now in her 31st season as head coach of the Bears, Hesse has compiled a 799-776-2 (.507) ledger. She began the season ranked 32nd on the NCAA's active wins list and would become just the second MVC coach (along with Illinois State's Melinda Fischer) to reach the 800-win milestone.
  • Kelly Metter (So., Columbia, Ill.) was 3-for-9 (.333) in last year's series against UNI, driving in two runs. She enters the weekend having reached base in a team-best 5 straight games.
  • Daphne Plummer (So., Lee's Summit, Mo.) enters the UNI series riding a 4-game hitting streak, tops on the team. She has 91 career hits in 78 games and is hitting .429 this season in Valley games.
    MSU is 16-2 when scoring three runs or more this season.
  • Kyana Mason (Sr., Independence, Mo.) is hitting .531 (17-for-32) in the month of March with a team-high 9 RBI in those 10 games. Her .407 overall batting average ranks 8th in the MVC, while her 33 hits is 2nd in the league, just one behind Indiana State's Bailey Martin (34).
  • Steffany Dickerson (So., Oklahoma City, Okla.) is 6-0 in her last six starts with a 2.03 ERA and 35 strikeouts. She picked up her 11th win of the season in Wednesday's win over Saint Louis and enters the weekend just 7 strikeouts shy of her freshman season (2018) total of 80. Her 73 strikeouts ranks 4th in the MVC.
  • Over her last three appearances, Erin Griesbauer (Jr., Blue Springs, Mo.) is 1-0 with a 0.62 ERA in 11.1 innings of work. In that span, she trimmed her season ERA from 5.81 to 4.60.    
  • Darby Joerling (Jr., Defiance, Mo.) is 6-for-11 (.545) at home this season and is hitting .480 (12-for-25) with a team-best .552 on-base pct. in the month of March.
  • With recent season-ending injuries to senior Morgan Greenlee and redshirt junior Hannah Heinrichs, the Bears are down to one active senior (Mason) and two veteran juniors (Erin Griesbauer and Darby Joerling) among their 16 healthy roster players. MSU has seven freshmen, five sophomores and a junior transfer among its underclass and newcomer talent guiding its early-season success.
  • The Bears are off to a 4-0 start on their seven-game home stand with shutouts in two of their last three games. MSU has recorded four shutouts on the season -- one apiece by Steffany Dickerson, Erin Griesbauer and Bailey Greenlee -- with a combined shutout in Wednesday's win over Saint Louis.
Head Coach Holly Hesse
  • Bears head coach Holly Hesse is in her 31st season leading the Bears' program as the second-winningest coach in Missouri Valley Conference history with a 799-776-2 (.507) record. She began the 2019 season ranked 32nd among all active NCAA Division I coaches in career victories.
  • Coach Hesse is 41-41 all-time against Northern Iowa.
  • Hesse joined the 700-victory club with a 4-0 win at Illinois State on April 18, 2015, completing a doubleheader sweep in Normal, Ill. She then picked up her 750th win on Feb. 9, 2018 with a 4-0 win over Mississippi Valley State at the Bulldog Kickoff Classic in Starkville, Miss.
  • She is the winningest coach in Missouri State history, and her tenure includes two regular-season MVC titles, five MVC tournament crowns and five NCAA Tournament appearances.
  • The most notable program wins under Hesse have come against Michigan (1996), Alabama (2006) and Oklahoma (1995, 1998, 1999, 2008) all of which have gone on to win NCAA DI National Championships.
  • Hesse has coached 34 different first-team all-conference players which have received 49 first-team all-conference honors.  Twenty-one of Hesse's players have gone on to earn NFCA All-Midwest Region honors.  
  • Recent statewide honors for Hesse include induction into the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame in 2018 and the Staff Excellence in Public Affairs Award, presented to her in 2016 by the Missouri State University Board of Governors for distinctive work and accomplishments in support of Missouri States public affairs mission.
 
Series History
  • Northern Iowa leads the all-time series, 49-48, in a rivalry that dates back to 1977. MSU is 26-24 all-time at home against the Panthers and 8-10 at Killian Stadium.
  • Last year in Springfield (March 30-31), UNI took two out of three in a series that was originally scheduled for Cedar Falls but was moved due to snow. In the opener, the Bears took the fight to UNI out of the gates, taking a commanding 5-0 lead in the opening frame en route to an 8-4 win. An RBI single by Madison Hunsaker and two-run hit by fellow freshman Kelly Metter provided the early muscle in the top of the first [BOX SCORE] ... The Panthers evened the series with an early barrage of offense in a 5-0 win in game two. UNI scattered eight hits – four for extra bases – to pick up its second Valley win of the year [BOX SCORE] ... In game three, UNI strung together three consecutive hits in the bottom of the first inning and held on for a 2-1 victory. MSU scattered four hits and left two runners on base as UNI starter Jaclyn Spencer went the distance [BOX SCORE].
#MSUBears­
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Players Mentioned

Steffany Dickerson

#13 Steffany Dickerson

P
5' 8"
Sophomore
Morgan Greenlee

#12 Morgan Greenlee

OF/C
5' 7"
Senior
Erin Griesbauer

#20 Erin Griesbauer

P
5' 9"
Junior
Hannah Heinrichs

#7 Hannah Heinrichs

OF
5' 10"
Junior
Madison Hunsaker

#15 Madison Hunsaker

P/1B
5' 8"
Sophomore
Darby Joerling

#5 Darby Joerling

OF
5' 9"
Junior
Kyana Mason

#2 Kyana Mason

3B
5' 4"
Senior
Kelly Metter

#22 Kelly Metter

2B
5' 9"
Sophomore
Daphne Plummer

#14 Daphne Plummer

SS
5' 7"
Sophomore
Bailey Greenlee

#3 Bailey Greenlee

P/OF
5' 5"
Freshman

Players Mentioned

Steffany Dickerson

#13 Steffany Dickerson

5' 8"
Sophomore
P
Morgan Greenlee

#12 Morgan Greenlee

5' 7"
Senior
OF/C
Erin Griesbauer

#20 Erin Griesbauer

5' 9"
Junior
P
Hannah Heinrichs

#7 Hannah Heinrichs

5' 10"
Junior
OF
Madison Hunsaker

#15 Madison Hunsaker

5' 8"
Sophomore
P/1B
Darby Joerling

#5 Darby Joerling

5' 9"
Junior
OF
Kyana Mason

#2 Kyana Mason

5' 4"
Senior
3B
Kelly Metter

#22 Kelly Metter

5' 9"
Sophomore
2B
Daphne Plummer

#14 Daphne Plummer

5' 7"
Sophomore
SS
Bailey Greenlee

#3 Bailey Greenlee

5' 5"
Freshman
P/OF

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