Tuesday, April 9
Lawrence, Kan.
6:00 p.m.
Missouri State University
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Kansas
Bears Set for Tuesday Midweek Test at Kansas
April 08, 2019 | Baseball
| Missouri State Bears (11-20) at Kansas Jayhawks (16-15) | |
| Site | Hoglund Ballpark (2,500) | Lawrence, Kan. |
| Date/Time | Tuesday, April 9 | 6:00 p.m. |
| Watch: | ESPN+ |
| Radio: | KBFL 1060 AM/96.9 FM |
| Follow: | Live Stats | @MSUBearBaseball |
| Game Notes: | Missouri State | Kansas | MVC Notebook |
| Series History: | MSU leads 31-29 (KU leads 16-13 in Lawrence) |
Prime 9
- The Missouri State Bears continue their nine-game road stretch with a non-conference tilt at Hoglund Ballpark in Lawrence, Kan., against the Kansas Jayhawks Tuesday (April 9) at 6 p.m. (CDT)
- Missouri State enters Tuesday's contest having won four of its five games last week, homering 13 times and averaging 9.6 runs per contest
- MSU holds a narrow 31-29 edge in its series with KU after the Jayhawks claimed a 9-5 win in the two clubs' first meeting of 2019 on March 27 in Springfield; the Jayhawks have won 16 of the previous 29 meetings in Lawrence
- Bears third baseman Joey Polak was named MVC Player of the Week, as well as one of Collegiate Baseball's National Players of the Week Monday after hitting .455 and homering four times in five games last week
- Polak became the ninth Bear in program history to homer three times in a game Friday at Southern Illinois, combining with freshman Dakota Kotowski on five long balls in the 10-5 win, giving MSU its first five-homer game since 2010
- Kotowski, who shares the MVC's home run lead (7), and fellow freshmen Mason Hull and Anthony Herron, Jr., combined to hit eight of MSU's 13 home runs last week; freshmen have accounted for 13 of the Bears' 28 home runs this season
- Missouri State head coach Keith Guttin needs one victory to match the career win total of former Miami coach Ron Fraser (1,270) and move into the No. 19 position on the NCAA's Division I all-time coaching wins list
- Missouri State's bullpen has closed out 161 consecutive victories — including nine this season — when the Bears have taken a lead into the ninth inning, dating back to May 2014
- Junior outfielder Jack Duffy has hit .393 (11-for-28) over his career-best eight-game hit streak since March 29
Riding a recent hot streak that that has seen them win six of their last eight contests, the Missouri State Bears will travel to Lawrence for a non-conference tilt against the Kansas Jayhawks Tuesday (April 9) evening. The Bears and Jayhawks will conclude their annual home-and-home series with a 6 p.m. contest at Hoglund Ballpark.
The Bears (11-20) are coming off a 4-1 start to their current nine-game road swing, including a second-straight MVC series win over Southern Illinois in Carbondale last weekend. MSU's offense powered up to nearly double its season home run total, hitting 13 round-trippers in five games last week.
Kansas (16-15) has dropped five of its seven games since knocking off the Bears two weeks ago, despite posting Top 25 wins against Baylor and Texas Tech the last two weekends.
Series History
Missouri State enters Tuesday's matchup having claimed 10 of the last 15 meetings in the series, desptie dropping each of its last two contests to the Jayhawks. The Bears hold a 31-29 overall edge in the series, but Kansas has won 16 of the previous 29 games in the series in Lawrence. KU claimed a 9-5 win in the two squads' first matchup of the season in Springfield and enter the game having won four of the last five meetings vs. MSU.
Bash Brothers
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 21 contests, clubbing 25 home runs. Of MSU's 28 homers so far, 19 of them have come from newcomers to the Bears roster this season, including an MVC-leading seven by freshman Dakota Kotowski. Additionally, 10 different Bears have gone deep, six of which have homered multiple times so far in 2019.
In their five games last week alone, the Bears homered 13 times, including a season-high five round-trippers in Friday's 10-5 comeback win at Southern Illinois. That performance marked the first five-homer game by MSU since a six-homer game vs. Oral Roberts on April 4, 2010. Kotowski registered his second multi-homer game of the week with two long balls, and Joey Polak became the ninth Bear in program history to hit three home runs in a game. Another MSU rookie, freshman shortstop Mason Hull added three homers to the tally as well, including a pair of go-ahead bombs Wednesday at Murray State and another one Saturday in the Bears' 13-4 victory at SIU.
So Fresh and So Clean
Missouri State's talented freshman class has wasted little time in making an impression on Bears opponents this season. In MSU's two-game sweep of UCA (Feb. 26-27) in particular, Bears freshmen combined to hit .412 with two homers, 11 RBIs and seven runs scored. On the mound, four rookie hurlers logged a 2.84 ERA with 16 strikeouts over 12.2 combined innings in the series. Overall this season, MSU newcomers have appeared a combined total of 107 times in the Bears' starting lineup, with five more rookies drawing a total of 15 starting mound assignments in the first 31 games of the season.
MSU's group of newcomers has been instrumental in the Bears' run production so far this spring, with six rookies combining to account for 60 of the clubs' 131 total RBIs and 19 of its 28 home runs. Sophomore transfer Joey Polak has started all 31 games at third base, hitting .348 with six multi-hit games in MSU's last nine outings. Additionally, Mason Hull and Dakota Kotowski have recorded multi-homer games for the Bears in 2019, with Kotowski entering the week tied for the top spot on the Valley's home run leaderboard. On the mound, Hayden Juenger has logged the second-best ERA (4.67) on the club to go along with a team-best two victories, while both Logan Thomazin and Forrest Barnes have recorded 11-strikeout performances. Barnes is the lone Bear to turn in a complete-game effort, in which he retired 20 consecutive SEMO hitters on April 2 — the longest such streak by any Bears pitcher in six years.
Polak Picks Up National Honor
Sophomore third baseman Joey Polak was not only selected MVC Player of the Week by the league office Monday, but also nabbed one of Collegiate Baseball's national player of the week nods after a red-hot five-game stretch that included four home runs last week. The honor was the first Valley award for Polak as a Bear, as well as the first national player of the week citation for a Missouri State player since Jake Burger picked up the same honor on April 24, 2017. Polak went 10-for-22 at the plate and slugged 1.045 to help MSU win four of its five games last week, including a second-straight MVC series win at Southern Illinois over the weekend. The Quincy, Ill., product registered multi-hit performances in four-straight games — all MSU victories — and became the ninth player in program history to homer three times in a game Friday in the Bears' 10-5 come-from-behind win in Carbondale.
Cardiac Cubs
MSU has made the comeback rally an art form in accumulating the most overall victories over a four-year period (170) in program history from 2015-18. Since the start of the 2015 season, the Bears have rallied for a victory on 86 separate occasions, including 21 times last spring, which represented 52.5 percent of their overall season win total (40). All four of MSU's wins last week were come-from-behind victories, as have six of its last seven wins overall. Additionally, the Bears' 11-8 comeback win over Oklahoma on March 15 represented one of the largest in program history. MSU erased an 8-0, seventh-inning deficit by scoring seven times in the seventh, three more in the eighth and one in the ninth.
Righting the Ship
While the Bears' 5-18 start represented their worst-ever start through 23 games, they have shown unmistakable signs of turning the tide with a pair of MVC series wins and victories in six of their last eight contests since March 29. In their five games last week, the Bears hit .330 while out-homering the opposition by a 13-2 margin. The mound corps has logged a strong week as well, posting a 4.30 team ERA and holding the opposition to a .226 batting mark.
Those results should come as no surprise, as Missouri State owns 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.
Watch the Leather, Man
In addition to serving as a key cog in the Bears' lineup over the past two years, junior first baseman Ben Whetstone has proven to be one of the top defensive performers in The Valley as well. The Overland Park, Kan., native leads the MVC in double plays turned (20) this season. He also moved into the top spot on the Bears' career fielding percentage chart once again after a strong Valley opening weekend vs. Indiana State. Whetstone's 0.993 fielding mark as a Bear narrowly leads Steve Seal's career percentage as the program's all-time best among all MSU defenders with at least 150 career fielding chances.
At the plate, Whetstone has enjoyed a recent resurgence as well, hitting .324 (12-for-37) in his last 10 games. He recorded back-to-back two-hit games vs. Kansas (March 27) and Indiana State (March 29), then powered up in last Wednesday's victory at Murray State to hit his first round-tripper of the season. In that victory, Whetstone reached base safely in each of his final five trips to the plate, tying a Bears program single-game record by being hit by three separate pitches.
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.
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