Softball April 02, 2019 MSU Athletics Communications

Bears Step Out of League Play to Host No. 14 Arkansas

Missouri State Bears (20-12) vs. #14 Arkansas Razorbacks (25-11)
Dates	Wednesday, April 3, 2019
Site \| Location	Killian Stadium (1,200), Springfield, Mo.
Game Info	Wednesday, 5:02 p.m. \| ESPN+ \| Live Stats \| MSU Game Notes
Missouri State	Softball Home Page \| Twitter \| Facebook \| MSU Media Guide

The Prime Nine

Missouri State entertains nationally-ranked Arkansas on Wednesday at Killian Stadium in the only home game for the Bears in a six-game week. Coach Holly Hesse's squad picked up its 20th win of the season in Monday's 6-0 win at Valparaiso as part of an MVC series split and returns to the road Saturday and Sunday for three games at Bradley.
Steffany Dickerson (So., Oklahoma City, Okla.) pitched MSU's 17th all-time no-hitter (and second this season) in Monday's first game vs. Valpo. She pitched a complete game with 2 walks, 7 strikeouts and faced just one over the minimum in a 6-0 Bears win. Dickerson ranks third in the MVC in ERA (1.73), second in innings pitched (105.1) and third in strikeouts (88). She is also tied for the MVC lead in wins at 13-4. She was 7-1 in March with a 1.61 ERA.
The Bears are 5-2 at Killian Stadium this season and hitting .304 as a team at home. The club's top home hitters are Kyana Mason .458 (11-for-24), Darby Joerling .421 (8-for-19), and Daphne Plummer .400 (8-for-20).
Right-hander Erin Griesbauer (Jr., Blue Springs, Mo.) has a 0.69 ERA in her last five appearances, covering three starts and 20.1 innings pitched.
Kyana Mason (Sr., Independence, Mo.) leads the MVC in hits (42) and is second in batting average (.420) behind UNI's Sammey Bunch (.432). Mason is coming off a 3-for-7 day at Valparaiso on Monday with her fourth home run of the season. Defensively, the senior leads the Valley in assists (75). She hit .523 (23-for-44) in the month of March.
As a team, the Bears lead the MVC in hits (248) and are third in team batting (.295). Likewise, MSU's 2.73 team ERA is third in the Valley while its 153 strikeouts is tied for second.
The Bears are 1-2 (with 18 total hits) against SEC teams this season, defeating No. 16-ranked Auburn, 4-3, on Feb. 9 in Gulf Shores, Ala., before dropping two games to No. 6 Alabama on Feb. 22 and 23 -- 11-1 and 7-5, respectively -- in Tuscaloosa. Against SEC foes this year, MSU's top hitters are Alex Boze .500 (1-for-2, HR, 3 RBI), Darby Joerling .400 (2-for-5), Madison Hunsaker .333 (3-for-9), and Kelly Metter .222 (2-for-9, 2 2B).
Daphne Plummer (So., Lee's Summit, Mo.) is sitting at 99 career hits (83 games). Her 63 hits last season was a Missouri State freshman record, while her 36 hits in 2019 are tied for 8th-best in the MVC.
Alex Boze (Fr., Swansea, Ill.) has driven in 6 runs over her last 6 games. She and Kyana Mason have reached base safely in six straight games with Mason's 6-game hitting streak leading all MSU players.
Darby Joerling (Jr., Defiance, Mo.) is coming off a 4-for-6 series at Valparaiso. She has 5 multi-hit games over the last two weeks and is hitting .480 (12-fo4-25) in that 9-game span. Joerling is also batting a team-best.423 (11-for-26) in those situations.
All eight of Missouri State's newcomers saw action in Monday's doubleheader at Valparaiso, including three freshmen in the starting lineup -- Rachel Weber, Alex Boze and Payton Minnis.

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 801-779-2 (.507) record. She began the 2019 season ranked 32nd among all active NCAA Division I coaches in career victories.
Coach Hesse is 19-20 all-time against Arkansas.
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

Arkansas leads the all-time series, 20-19, in a rivalry that started in 1997. Missouri State is 12-7 all-time at home against the Razorbacks, including an 0-3 ledger at Killian Stadium.
Three of the last four meetings between MSU and Arkansas have ended in run-rule finishes, including Missouri State's 11-1 win in Fayetteville on March 29, 2016 and Arkansas' 9-0 win in Fayetteville last season (Feb. 28). In that game, Junior Darian Frost was the lone Bear to record a hit as Missouri State fell 9-0 in five innings. Bears' starter Steffany Dickerson (2-2) recorded a pair of strikeouts to keep the Razorbacks at bay in the first inning, but a pair of identical, solo home runs put Arkansas on top 2-0 in the bottom of the second. Arkansas tacked on four more in the fourth on a grand slam by Hannah McEwen to make it 6-0 before Haydi Bugarin ended it in the fifth with a three-run homer off MSU reliever Madison Hunsaker. Frost broke up Arkansas starter Mary Haff's no-hitter in the top of the fifth with a single to center.

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