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Missouri State

Steffany Dickerson

Softball MSU Athletics Communications

MSU Softball Prepares for Weekend Showdown at Bradley

Missouri State Bears (20-13, 6-4 MVC) at Bradley Braves (18-13, 5-3 MVC)
Dates Saturday, April 6 - Sunday, April 7, 2019
Site | Location Petersen Hotels Field (1,200), Peoria, 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 returns to the Valley road this weekend for a three-game set at Bradley on Saturday (Noon DH) and Sunday (11 a.m.). The series in Peoria falls in the middle of three consecutive conference road weekends for the Bears who enter the weekend with a 6-4 MVC ledger and sit in sixth place in the Valley standings.
  • On Monday, Steffany Dickerson (So., Oklahoma City, Okla.) pitched MSU's 17th all-time no-hitter with a complete game, 6-0, win at Valparaiso. Dickerson issued 2 walks with 7 strikeouts and faced just one over the minimum. She followed that effort with 5.0 innings of work on Wednesday against No. 14-ranked Arkansas, allowing no earned runs and striking out 3 in a 2-1 loss. She is 5-1 in MVC games this spring with a 1.52 ERA and enters the weekend ranked 30th nationally (and tied for first in the MVC) with 13 victories. Her season ERA (1.65) ranks 3rd in the Valley.
  • Kyana Mason (Sr., Independence, Mo.) enters the weekend riding a 7-game hitting streak, while her .437 season batting average ranks 29th nationally and leads the MVC. Mason also leads all Valley players in hits (45) and assists (76), while ranking 3rd in the league in total bases (64), 6th in on-base percentage (.487) and 9th in slugging percentage (.621). She is hitting .577 (15-for-26) over the last 7 games with a double, a triple and a homer in that span.
  • Right-hander Erin Griesbauer (Jr., Blue Springs, Mo.) has a 0.69 ERA over her last five appearances, covering three starts and 20.1 innings pitched. She earned a 3-0 win over Bradley last season, throwing a complete-game 5-hitter against the Braves with no walks and 6 strikeouts on April 14 in Springfield.
  • Bradley and Missouri State rank 79th and 80th, respectively, in the NCAA Division I rankings for toughest schedules in 2019. Both the Bears and Braves collective opponent win-loss percentage is .545. MSU started the week ranked 57th in the Division I RPI, while Bradley was 74th.
  • Daphne Plummer (So., Lee's Summit, Mo.) collected her 100th career hit in Wednesday's game against No. 14-ranked Arkansas at Killian stadium (84 games). Her 63 hits last season were a Missouri State freshman record, while her 37 hits in 2019 are tied for 7th in the MVC. She is hitting a team-best .452 (14-for-31) in league games.
  • Alex Boze (Fr., Swansea, Ill.) has reached base in 7 straight games and has driven in 6 runs in that span.
  • Since March 14 (11 games), Darby Joerling (Jr., Defiance, Mo.) is hitting .452 (14-for-31) with 3 walks and 5 multiple-hit games in that span. She enters the weekend ranked 16th in the MVC in hitting (.333) among players with 80 or more at-bats.
  • In Wednesday's game against No. 14-ranked Arkansas, Kyana Mason was 3-for-3 with a leadoff walk in the bottom of the 7th inning. She became just the third player this season to collect three hits against Arkansas ace Autumn Storms, joining UT-Arlington's Krista Rude (March 26) and Kentucky's Alex Martens (March 31).
  • Daphne Plummer has hit safely in 27-of-33 games this season and in 9-of-10 MVC games. She collected her fourth double of the year Wednesday vs. Arkansas.

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 801-780-2 (.507) record. She began the 2019 season ranked 32nd among all active NCAA Division I coaches in career victories.
  • Coach Hesse is 54-28 all-time against Bradley.
  • 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
  • Missouri State leads the all-time series against Bradley, 60-34, in a rivalry that started in 1983. Missouri State is 23-16 all-time in Peoria against the Braves and has won the regular-season series each of the last two seasons and three of the last four years.
  • A year ago in Springfield, the Bears earned a two-game sweep over Bradley (April 14) with an 8-7 win in game one and a 3-0 victory in game two at Killian Stadium ... In game one, The Bears trailed 4-0 early before Madison Jones delivered a bases-loaded double in the fourth. Kaitlin Beason was 3-for-3 with a home run and her 100th career hit, while Madison Hunsaker (4-0) picked up the win in relief ... In game two, Erin Griesbauer threw a complete-game shutout, holding Bradley to 5 hits, 0 walks and striking out 6 to improve to 8-3 on the year. Darian Frost was 1-for-3 with 2 RBI.
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Players Mentioned

Kaitlin Beason

#10 Kaitlin Beason

P/1B
5' 8"
Senior
Madison Jones

#1 Madison Jones

2B
5' 8"
Senior
Holly Kelley

#9 Holly Kelley

P
5' 9"
Senior
Steffany Dickerson

#13 Steffany Dickerson

P
5' 8"
Sophomore
Darian Frost

#33 Darian Frost

C
5' 10"
Senior
Erin Griesbauer

#20 Erin Griesbauer

P
5' 9"
Junior
Madison Hunsaker

#15 Madison Hunsaker

P/1B
5' 8"
Sophomore
Darby Joerling

#5 Darby Joerling

OF
5' 9"
Junior
Kyana Mason

#2 Kyana Mason

3B
5' 4"
Senior
Daphne Plummer

#14 Daphne Plummer

SS
5' 7"
Sophomore
Alex Boze

#10 Alex Boze

C
5' 8"
Freshman

Players Mentioned

Kaitlin Beason

#10 Kaitlin Beason

5' 8"
Senior
P/1B
Madison Jones

#1 Madison Jones

5' 8"
Senior
2B
Holly Kelley

#9 Holly Kelley

5' 9"
Senior
P
Steffany Dickerson

#13 Steffany Dickerson

5' 8"
Sophomore
P
Darian Frost

#33 Darian Frost

5' 10"
Senior
C
Erin Griesbauer

#20 Erin Griesbauer

5' 9"
Junior
P
Madison Hunsaker

#15 Madison Hunsaker

5' 8"
Sophomore
P/1B
Darby Joerling

#5 Darby Joerling

5' 9"
Junior
OF
Kyana Mason

#2 Kyana Mason

5' 4"
Senior
3B
Daphne Plummer

#14 Daphne Plummer

5' 7"
Sophomore
SS
Alex Boze

#10 Alex Boze

5' 8"
Freshman
C

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