Bears Host Indiana State to Open MVC Play

Friday, March 29

Springfield, Mo.

3:40 p.m.

Missouri State University

Indiana State

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Bears Host Indiana State to Open MVC Play

March 29, 2019 | Baseball

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Indiana State Sycamores (20-2, 0-0 MVC) at Missouri State Bears (5-18, 0-0 MVC)
Site	Hammons Field (8,000) \| Springfield, Mo.
Game 1	Friday, March 29 \| 3:40 p.m.
Game 2	Saturday, March 30 \| Postponed
Game 3	Sunday, March 31 \| 12:00 p.m.
Watch:	ESPN3
Radio:	KBFL 1060 AM/96.9 FM
Follow:	Live Stats \| @MSUBearBaseball
Game Notes:	Missouri State \| Indiana State \| MVC Notebook
Series History:	MSU leads 73-45 (MSU vs. ISU 37-18 in Springfield)
Tickets:	MissouriStateBears.com

Prime 9

The Missouri State Bears will open their 29th season of Missouri Valley Conference play Friday vs. the Indiana State Sycamores at Hammons Field
The Bears and Sycamores have faced off in a conference-opening series on eight previous occasions (1994, 1997, 1998, 2000, 2001, 2013, 2015 and 2018), with the Bears claiming at least a split in all but one, going 20-8 overall in those series
The Bears enter Friday's MVC opener with a 73-45 all-time advantage vs. Indiana State, including a 37-18 edge against the Sycamores in Springfield; MSU has been victorious in 12 of its last 13 Valley openers and has won or split 11 of its last 13 opening MVC series
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
MSU has gone 36-4 in MVC play over the last two seasons to capture back-to-back regular-season titles; the Bears also bring a 24-game regular-season home MVC win streak into the new season, dating back to May 2016
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
Millas has hits in a career-best seven-straight games since March 16, hitting .333 (9-for-27) with a homer during that stretch
The Bears have posted victories in 157 consecutive contests in which they have taken a lead into the ninth inning; ISU was the last club to knock off MSU when trailing entering the ninth, posting a 6-5 victory on May 10, 2014
MSU has 81 combined come-from-behind wins over the last four-plus seasons, including rallying from an eight-run deficit to knock off Oklahoma by an 11-8 score on March 15

Leading Off
The Missouri State Bears open a three-game series and their 29th season of Missouri Valley Conference play Friday (March 29) when they host the Indiana State Sycamores at Hammons Field. The Bears and Sycamores will face off in a 3:40 p.m. (CDT) game to kick off the series, before playing a Noon doubleheader Sunday (March 31) to conclude the weekend.

The Bears will be looking to stop a seven-game losing streak, while also extending a stretch of unprecedented success in MVC play this weekend. MSU brings a 24-game home regular-season MVC win streak into this year's conference season, as the Bears have posted a dominant 36-4 overall Valley mark in capturing back-to-back league titles. Indiana State has been one of the hottest Division I teams in the nation over the first six weeks of the season, including a key win over a nationally-ranked Illinois squad in its last outing Tuesday.

Missouri State will embark on a nine-game road swing next week, beginning with midweek non-conference tilts at SEMO (April 2) and Murray State (April 3).

Series History
With victories in nine of the last 10 overall meetings in the series, Missouri State brings a 73-45 all-time edge over Indiana State into Friday's opener. The Bears are 37-18 against the Sycamores in Springfield, including wins in 13 of the last 15 games vs. ISU at Hammons Field over the last decade. In ISU's last five visits to Springfield, the Bears have posted series wins in each of those, including three-game sweeps in 2009, 2013 and 2017.

Last year, the Bears took four of their five contests against Indiana State, winning two of three games in Terre Haute during the regular season, before sweeping both meetings with the Sycamores at the MVC Championship in Dallas.

Getting Down to Business
While the Bears have struggled during non-conference play thus far in 2019, MSU will shift its focus to league action this weekend on the heels of a historic two-year run to back-to-back Valley regular-season titles. Coupled with four straight MVC wins to close the 2016 league season, MSU has compiled a 40-4 overall record in Valley play in its last 44 conference games. The Bears logged an 18-1 Valley season to capture the 2017 conference crown, then followed that effort with an 18-3 MVC slate last spring to become just the second club (joining Wichita State) to win back-to-back regular-season titles.

The Bears have won 12 of their last 13 Valley openers and have won or split 11 of their last 13 MVC-opening series. Additionally, MSU is a combined 26-10 in its opening conference series since 2006. Several Bears will be looking to build on recent individual successes in Valley play as well. Junior All-American Drew Millas is a career .316 hitter in 34 MVC games after batting .346 with four homers and 24 RBIs in league action last spring. Fellow junior John Privitera earned first-team All-MVC honors last year and brings a career. 426 on-base percentage into this league campaign. On the mound, Connor Sechler led the Valley with seven saves while posting a 2.11 ERA during MVC play as a freshman last year.

Righting the Ship
While the Bears' 5-18 mark represents their worst-ever start through 23 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 .324 (12-for-37) with a .444 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 10-straight games, logging hits in nine of those, including each of his last seven (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 13 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 14 homers so far, five of them (including Anthony Herron, Jr., and Javier Ramos) have come from newcomers hitting their first round-trippers in Maroon and White.

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 81-28 (.743) home record since the start of the 2015 season. The Bears have won 40 of their last 59 regular-season non-conference home games, outscoring their opponents by a 820-527 margin at Hammons over that stretch.

What A Relief
While the Bears have held a lead in just eight of their 23 contests this season to date, the Missouri State bullpen can boast of a recent track record of locking down victories. Dating back to May 2014, the Bears have claimed victories in 157 consecutive games in which MSU has taken a lead into the ninth inning, including a perfect 5-0 mark in such contests this season.

The Bears bullpen has posted an uncharacteristic 7.30 staff ERA through the first 23 games, but two mainstays from last year — sophomore closer Connor Sechler and senior lefty Jake Lochner — have combined to post a 3.94 ERA in 32.0 innings of relief with 29 total strikeouts.

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 Radio
Once again in 2019, Meyer Communications is slated to provide live radio coverage of all 54 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.