Prime 9
- The Missouri State Bears return to Hammons Field this week, with non-conference contests against the Arkansas Razorbacks and Kansas Jayhawks on tap for Tuesday and Wednesday, respectively
- Missouri State head coach Keith Guttin ranks fifth among all active NCAA Division I coaches in total wins (1,264) and needs seven more victories to into the No. 19 position on the NCAA's Division I all-time coaching wins list
- Arkansas holds a 56-28 edge over the Bears, including a 21-13 advantage vs. MSU in Springfield; MSU leads KU by a 31-28 margin, with the Bears having won 10 of the last 14 meetings and holding an 18-12 all-time edge at home
- MSU has gone 25-10 against Division I schools hailing from the state of Arkansas since the start of the 2015 season
- The Bears have won 40 of their last 57 regular-season non-conference home games over the last four-plus seasons
- 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 81 combined come-from-behind wins over the last four-plus seasons; the Bears have also won 157 straight contests in which they have taken a lead into the ninth inning dating back to May 2014
- The Bears committed seven errors in a game for the first time since April 2005 Sunday at No. 28 UCSB
- Drew Millas has hits in five straight games since March 16, hitting .353 (6-for-17) with a homer during that stretch
Leading Off
After spending the last three weeks on the road, the
Missouri State Bears return to Hammons Field to open a five-game home stand with midweek non-conference contests against the
Arkansas Razorbacks and the
Kansas Jayhawks. The Bears and Razorbacks will face off in a 6:30 p.m. game Tuesday (March 26), before the Jayhawks visit Wednesday for another 6:30 p.m. tilt.
The Bears (5-16), who went 2-9 on their 11-game road swing, will be looking to stop a five-game slide after wrapping up their road stay with losses in all three of their weekend games at nationally-ranked UC Santa Barbara. Arkansas (20-4), ranked as high as No. 8 in this week's polls, posted an SEC series win over Alabama this past weekend, while Kansas (13-10) will enter Wednesday's game having dropped seven-straight games, including a three-game sweep this past weekend at Oklahoma.
Missouri State will open Missouri Valley Conference play this weekend, when Indiana State will visit Hammons Field for a three-game set, beginning with a 6:30 p.m., game Friday (March 29).
Series Histories
Arkansas holds a commanding 56-28 all-time edge over Missouri State in a series that dates back to 1966. The Bears are 13-21 vs. the Razorbacks in Springfield, with Arkansas claiming six of the last seven meetings at Hammons Field since 2007. Last year, Arkansas claimed an 11-7 win in Fayetteville, after the two clubs split four games in 2017.
Missouri State enters Wednesday's matchup with Kansas having claimed 10 of the last 14 meetings in the series. The Bears hold a 31-28 overall edge in the series, including an 18-12 advantage on their home turf. The two clubs split their home-and-home series in 2018, with MSU routing the Jayhawks by a 12-2 score in Lawrence, and KU returning the favor with a 9-4 decision at Hammons Field.
Free Baseball
In appreciation of the contributions and support of its faculty and staff members, Missouri State University is offering all faculty and staff free admission to Tuesday's contest vs. Arkansas. Tickets are available by visiting the Old Missouri Bank Ticket Window at JQH Arena during normal box office hours Tuesday, by calling (417) 836-7678 or (888) 476-7849 (toll-free), or by visiting the Hammons Field box office prior to first pitch.
Righting the Ship
While the Bears' 5-16 mark represents their worst-ever start through 21 games, they do own a lengthy track record of flipping early results under head coach
Keith Guttin. On four separate occasions, MSU has overcome sluggish starts to post winning overall records. The Bears have registered two seasons (1996 and 1997) in which they ultimately earned postseason bids after getting off to rocky starts, and another (2009) that culminated in a Missouri Valley Conference regular-season title.
In 1996 and 1997, the Bears captured their first two MVC Tournament titles, but not before getting off to a 9-13 start in 1996 and a 1-8 start the following year. MSU's previous all-time worst start in 1993 saw the Bears open with just six wins in their first 21 contests, only to end up with a 32-23 season mark after winning 25 of their final 29 regular-season games. Finally, the 2009 Bears got off to a 4-10 start, only to rebound to finish 34-20, including a 17-5 mark during their Valley title run.
Heating Up
Bears All-American
Drew Millas suffered through a challenging opening month of the season, missing two weeks with a hamstring injury while struggling at the plate with a .129 batting mark through his first eight games. But the junior catcher has caught fire over the last two weeks, hitting .333 (9-for-27) with a .486 on-base percentage, two home runs and four RBIs since March 12. Millas has reached base safely via a hit, walk or hit by pitch in eight straight games, logging hits in seven of those, including each of his last five (since March 16).
Power Boost
After hitting just three home runs as a team through their first 10 games of the season, the Bears have experienced a power surge of sorts over their last 11 contests. MSU doubled its season total with three long balls in its series at Arkansas State (March 8-10), getting solo shots from
Logan Geha and
Collin Clayton and a two-run bomb from
Dakota Kotowski. The home runs by Clayton and Kotowski marked their first as Bears. Of MSU's 12 homers so far, four of them (including
Anthony Herron, Jr., and
Javier Ramos) have come from newcomers hitting their first round-trippers in Maroon and White.
Geha, in particular, has enjoyed a recent power binge, clubbing three long balls in MSU's five games in Oklahoma the week of March 12-17. The junior catcher/outfielder hit all four of his home runs in a six-game span (March 10-17), including his first grand slam as a Bear that helped key MSU's comeback victory at Oklahoma on March 15. Kotowski and junior All-American
Drew Millas added to the recent surge this past weekend, hitting the first back-to-back home runs by Bears this season in the sixth inning of Friday's 7-3 loss at UCSB.
Home Sweet Hammons
Missouri State opened its 2019 home slate with a pair of convincing victories over Central Arkansas (Feb. 26-27), extending a recent home-field advantage of unprecedented proportions. The Bears have logged four of their top single-season home win totals since the 2015 season, going 17-6 at home last spring after a 21-7 home mark in 2017, a Hammons Field-record 22 victories in 2016 and the Bears' best-ever home win percentage at Hammons with a 19-3 (.864) mark in 2015.
With their two wins over UCA, the Bears may now boast of a combined 81-26 (.757) home record since the start of the 2015 season. The Bears have won 40 of their last 57 regular-season non-conference home games, outscoring their opponents by a 813-511 margin at Hammons over that stretch.
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.
Bears on ESPN
Missouri State University, in conjunction with SIDEARM Sports, launched a new partnership in August 2016, unveiling a reconstructed MissouriStateBears.com, the official MSU Athletics web site. The revamped MissouriStateBears.com will provide MSU fans with improved features and overall customer service. The new-and-improved site uses the latest technology to provide fans with a seamless, robust experience unique to Missouri State University.
In 2015, ESPN and the Missouri Valley Conference announced a 10-year extension to their current media rights agreement that will provide increased coverage of conference events across ESPN platforms through the 2023-24 academic year. Fans can keep tabs on the Bears through The Valley on ESPN. As part of the deal, ESPN, the MVC and its 10 member institutions will work jointly to develop in-house production capabilities at each campus that will provide significant coverage for multiple sports on ESPN+/ESPN3.
