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Bears Entertain Drake on Senior Weekend at Killian

Bears Entertain Drake on Senior Weekend at Killian

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Missouri State Bears (27-17, 11-8 MVC) vs. Drake Bulldogs (34-13, 19-1 MVC)
Dates Saturday, April 27 and Sunday, April 28, 2019
Site | Location Killian Stadium (1,200), Springfield, Mo.
Game 1 Saturday, 12:02 p.m. | ESPN+ | Live Stats | MSU Game Notes
Game 2 Saturday, (approx.) 2:30 p.m. | ESPN+ | Live Stats | MSU Game Notes
Game 3 Sunday, 11:00 a.m. | Live Stats | MSU Game Notes
Missouri State Softball Home Page | Twitter | Facebook | MSU Media Guide
Promotions Senior Day Ceremony (pregame Saturday) | Mid-America Transplant Green Up Game (Saturday)

The Prime Nine
  • Missouri State will close out its 2019 home schedule this weekend when the Bears take on Missouri Valley Conference leader Drake in a three-game series at Killian Stadium. The Bears and Bulldogs will play a Noon doubleheader on Saturday before an 11 a.m. single game on Sunday on senior weekend. MSU is coming off a 4-1 win at UMKC on Tuesday in its non-conference finale.
  • Second baseman Payton Minnis (Fr., Blue Springs, Mo.) is 6-for-9 (.667) over the last three games with a pair of multiple-hit games. She went 2-for-4 with 2 RBI in Tuesday's win at UMKC and was 3-for-3 against Evansville last Sunday. She has a .727 on-base percentage over the last 3 games with a double, a triple and  2 RBI.
  • Steffany Dickerson (So., Oklahoma City, Okla.) enters the weekend 3 strikeouts away from 200 for her career and one win away from 25. Her 17 victories this season ranks 3rd in the MVC and 32nd nationally.
  • Daphne Plummer (So., Lee's Summit, Mo.) went 5-for-11 (.455) against Drake in last year's series in Des Moines. Plummer (95 games) enters the weekend one RBI shy of 50 for her career and leads the Bears with 23 RBI on the season.
  • This weekend's series features the league's top two hitters in Drake's Mandi Roeemich (59 hits) and Missouri State's Kyana Mason (58). Mason is just 6 hits outside the MSU single-season top five and is working toward becoming the first Bear since 1997 (Diedre Shores) to collect 64 hits in a single campaign.
  • MSU sophomore Kelly Metter and Drake senior Taryn Pena were high school teammates at Columbia (Ill.) High School. Metter leads the Bears -- and ranks sixth in the MVC -- with 9 doubles on the season. Coincidentally, Pena shares her team lead and ranks second in the league with 12 doubles.
  • The Bears have outscored their opponents 20 to 7 this season in the sixth inning. As a result, MSU is 22-1 when tied or leading heading into the sixth and 23-1 when tied or leading coming out of the sixth inning.
  • Kyana Mason (Sr., Independence, Mo.) has had multiple hits in 4 of her last 6 games and smacked her league-leading 5th triple of the season Tuesday at UMKC. She ranks 4th in the MVC with a .408 average.
  • Erin Griesbauer (Jr., Blue Springs, Mo.) is coming off her third complete-game of the season in Tuesday's win at UMKC as she went 7.0 innings and allowed 6 hits, 1 run, 0 walks and struck out 3 Kangaroos to improve to 7-7 in the circle. She enters the weekend 5 strikeouts shy of 100 for her career and has a 1.31 career ERA against Drake (5.1 IP) in three appearances.
  • The Bears have gone 3 straight games without an error for the second time this season. MSU also went from March 16-20 (3 games) without a defensive mishap. The last time the Bears went 4 or more games without an error was March 12-25, 2017 (5 games).

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 808-784-2 (.508) record. She began the 2019 season ranked 32nd among all active NCAA Division I coaches in career victories.
  • Coach Hesse is 39-50-1 all-time against Drake.
  • 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
  • In a rivalry that dates back to 1979, Drake leads the all-time series, 54-48-1. MSU is 12-22-1 all-time at home against the Bulldogs and 2-6 at Killian Stadium.
  • Last year in Des Moines (May 5-6), Drake swept the Bears to clinch the MVC regular-season title ... In game one, Drake used a two-out double from starting pitcher Nicole Newman in the second to ignite a four-run rally en route to a 6-2 win. The Bears answered with a two-run single from freshman Daphne Plummer in the third to cut their deficit in half but couldn't crack Newman who walked four and fanned eight in a complete game ... In game two, Sarah Maddox hit a walk-off homer in the eighth to give the Bulldogs a 4-3 win and spoil an 8-hit performance by MSU. Darian Frost's RBI single in the fifth gave MSU a 3-1 lead at the time, while Plummer and Erika Zimmer each had two hits ... In game three, Hannah Heinrichs tied the game, 1-1, on an RBI single in the fifth, but Tasha Alexander's RBI triple in the sixth won it for DU. Newman (19-3) fanned four of the six batters she faced in relief.
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