Softball April 12, 2019 MSU Athletics Communications

Bears, 'Birds Prepare to Tangle in Normal

Missouri State Bears (24-14, 9-5 MVC) at Illinois State Redbirds (12-24, 6-3 MVC)
Dates	Saturday, April 13 - Sunday, April 14, 2019
Site \| Location	Marian Kneer Field (1,050), Normal, Ill.
Game 1	Saturday, 12:02 p.m. \| ESPN3 \| Live Stats \| MSU Game Notes
Game 2	Saturday, 2:30 p.m. (approx.) \| ESPN3 \| Live Stats \| MSU Game Notes
Game 3	Sunday, 11:00 a.m. \| ESPN3 \| Live Stats \| MSU Game Notes
Missouri State	Softball Home Page \| Twitter \| Facebook \| MSU Media Guide

The Prime Nine

Missouri State heads to Normal, Ill., this weekend for a key three-game Missouri Valley Conference softball series against Illinois State in a battle between two of the league's top four teams. The Bears (24-14, 9-5 MVC) enter the weekend having won four of their last five games, while ISU has lost four of five. The Redbirds are 1-3 at home this year.
Kyana Mason (Sr., Independence, Mo.) is one hit shy of 50 for the season. MSU's only active senior enters the weekend ranked 5th in the league in hitting (.405) and leads all Valley players (47th nationally) with 49 hits. The talented third baseman also leads the MVC in assists (91) and has reached base safely in 12 straight games.
Since March 20 (12 games), the MSU pitching staff has not allowed more than two earned runs in any game. The Bears are 7-5 in that stretch with a 1.02 ERA and a 0.93 WHIP. The team's season ERA has dropped from 3.24 to 2.51 (which now ranks second in the MVC) in that span.
Missouri State ranks in the top 50 nationally in two statistical categories -- 47th in ERA (2.51) and 48th in double plays per game (0.42). MSU has turned a league-high 16 double plays on the year and its .962 fielding percentage ranks fourth in the Valley.
Right-hander Erin Griesbauer (Jr., Blue Springs, Mo.) has a 0.89 ERA over her last seven appearances, covering five starts and 31.2 innings pitched. She has struck out 14 hitters and improved her ERA from 5.81 to 3.55 in that span (dating back to March 14). She is 0-0 in 6 career appearances vs. Illinois State with a 1.85 ERA in 11.1 IP.
Daphne Plummer (So., Lee's Summit, Mo.) leads all MSU players with a .386 average in MVC games. She was 3-for-9 (.333) last year against Illinois State and has hit safely in 30-of-38 games overall this season.
Steffany Dickerson (So., Oklahoma City, Okla.) shares the MVC lead in victories (15-6) and saves (4) while ranking third in the league in ERA (1.72). She is just the third MSU pitcher since 2013 -- along with Chelsea Jones (2013) and Erin Struemph (2015) -- to reach the 15-win plateau. In two career appearances vs. Illinois State, Dickerson is 1-0 with a 1.75 ERA and 11 strikeouts in 8.0 innings.
Dickerson has reached base in 5-of-6 plate appearances this week, going 2-for-3 in Tuesday's win over SIU before drawing a team season-high 3 walks in Wednesday's victory over Tulsa. She is second on the club with 16 RBI on the season.
Payton Minnis (Fr., Blue Springs, Mo.) was 3-for-5 (.600) with a .667 on-base percentage in this week's home stand that included wins over SIU and Tulsa.
Madison Hunsaker (So., Peculiar, Mo.) was 3-for-7 (.429) against Illinois State last year with her first career home run, 5 RBI and a walk in MSU's sweep of the Redbirds at Killian Stadium in Springfield.
Darby Joerling (Jr., Defiance, Mo.) is hitting .333 (9-for-27) in the month of April. The Bears' center fielder has a .396 OBP for the year, which is third on the club.

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 805-781-2 (.508) record. She began the 2019 season ranked 32nd among all active NCAA Division I coaches in career victories.
Coach Hesse is 35-51 all-time against Illinois State.
Hesse joined the elite 800-win club on Sunday, March 24 with the Bears' 3-2 come-from-behind win over Northern Iowa at Killian Stadium to make her the 30th active Division I coach with 800 wins at the time. Hesse 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., after earning her 700th victory with a 4-0 win at Illinois State on April 18, 2015, completing a doubleheader sweep in Normal, Ill.
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. Earlier this season, Hesse led the Bears to a 4-3 win at No. 16 Auburn.
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, including two players -- Kaitlin Beason and Holly Kelley -- in 2018.
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 MSU Board of Governors for distinctive work and accomplishments in support of Missouri State's public affairs mission.

Series History

Illinois State leads the all-time series between the schools, 71-42, including a 30-19 lead in Normal. The Bears swept the Redbirds three games in Springfield last season after getting swept at ISU in 2017. Missouri State last won a road series in the rivalry in 2015, winning both games, 11-0 and 4-0, in Normal.
Last season in Springfield (March 16-17), the Bears swept all three games ... In the opener, Erin Griesbauer pitched 2.2 innings of relief to earn the save, and Madison Hunsaker was 2-for-3 with 2 RBI ... In game two, the Bears scored four runs in the sixth and three in the seventh inning to earn the win. Hunsaker smacked a 3-run homer -- the first of her career -- and Darian Frost hit a walk-off triple ... In the series finale, Frost hit a walk-off home run in the 9th after Darby Joerling drove in two runs in an 8-7 victory. Steffany Dickerson pitched 3.2 innings in relief and struck out five. MSU outhit the MVC preseason favorites from Illinois State by an 18-15 margin in the series.

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