Missouri State Bears (15-32, 6-9 MVC) at Evansville Purple Aces (21-23, 8-7 MVC)
Site	Braun Stadium (1,200)  |  Evansville, Ind.
Game 1	Friday, May 10  |  6:00 p.m.
Game 2	Saturday, May 11  |  2:00 p.m.
Game 3	Sunday, May 12 | 1:00 p.m.
Watch:	ESPN+
Radio:	KBFL 1060 AM/96.9 FM
Follow:	Live Stats  |  @MSUBearBaseball
Game Notes:	Missouri State  |  Evansville  |  MVC Notebook
Series History:	MSU leads 57-40 (MSU 23-17 vs. UE in Evansville)

Prime 9

• The Missouri State Bears will embark on their final Missouri Valley Conference road trip of the season this weekend when they take on the Evansville Purple Aces in a three-game series at Braun Stadium
• MSU has won six straight games in its series with UE, averaging 9.5 runs per outing over the same stretch; the Bears, who hold a 57-40 overall series edge, have also won six in a row at Braun Stadium since 2013
• Since starting the season 0-5, Logan Wiley has registered a 3-0 mound mark to go along with a 2.47 ERA in his last six starts, striking out 40 hitters in 40.0 innings
• MSU has played the 19th-toughest non-conference schedule in the nation, as well as the 19th-strongest overall, according to WarrenNolan.com; the Bears have matched up against clubs     with .500 or better records in 38 of their 47 contests to date, including 23 games against top 50 RPI teams
• The Bears lead the MVC in pickoffs with 17 on the season; three different MSU hurlers — Logan Thomazin, Davis Schwab and Logan Wiley — have picked off three baserunners, as has catcher Logan Geha
• Junior catcher Drew Millas has reached base safely via a hit, walk or hit by pitch in a career-best 21-straight games entering Friday's contest; he also brings a .375 batting average in six career games vs. UE into the series
• Junior first baseman Ben Whetstone leads the Valley in double plays turned (41), putouts (339) and defensive chances (366) for the season; he ranks second in MSU history in career fielding percentage (.992) as well
• MSU's 41 home runs as a team rank second in the MVC, while the Bears' also rank among the league's best clubs in hit by pitches (45) and walks (190), ranking third and fifth, respectively
• Dakota Kotowski became just the third Missouri State freshman to reach double-digits in home runs with his 10th long ball of the year vs. DBU on May 4; he needs five more to match Jason Hart (1996) in the No. 2 spot on MSU's freshman home run list   

Leading Off
The Missouri State Bears embark on their final Missouri Valley Conference road trip of the season this weekend when they match up against the Evansville Purple Aces in a three-game set at Braun Stadium. The Bears and Purple Aces kick off their series with a 6 p.m. (CDT) contest Friday (May 10), before playing single games Saturday (2 p.m.) and Sunday (1 p.m.) in Evansville.

The Bears (15-32, 6-9 MVC) snapped an eight-game Valley losing streak with their doubleheader sweep of DBU last Saturday, notching their third-consecutive regular-season series win over the Patriots. MSU dropped a tough-luck 9-4 decision to Wichita State in 10 innings Tuesday, despite a 3-for-6 performance from Jack Duffy and a career-long 4.0 innings of relief work from Nick Schmidt.

Evansville (21-23, 8-7 MVC) will be looking to halt a four-game slide Friday after dropping all three of its MVC games at Southern Illinois last weekend, as well as a home midweek tilt with Murray State on Tuesday.

Series History
Missouri State brings a 57-40 advantage over Evansville into the weekend, as well as a 23-17 edge over the Aces on their home field. Last year, MSU took all four meetings with UE, sweeping the two clubs' regular-season series at Hammons Field, before registering a 10-0 white-washing of the Aces in the opening round of the MVC Championship in Dallas.

The Bears have won the last six games in the series, averaging 9.5 runs per outing over the same stretch. MSU has taken 12 of the last 14 contests against UE overall, winning five of the last six season series from the Aces.

Wiley Working Into Form
Bears junior right-hander Logan Wiley has been MSU's most consistent starter since the beginning of Valley play, winning three-consecutive decisions and posting a 2.47 ERA in his last six starts. Since starting the season 0-5 through his first seven starts, Wiley has fanned 40 hitters in 40.0 innings, completing at least 5.0 innings in all six starts since March 31.

The Springfield, Mo., product ranks among the conference's top hurlers in several statistical categories during Valley play. His 31.0 innings is the fourth-ranked total in the MVC, while his two mound victories (fifth), 31 strikeouts (sixth) and 3.19 ERA (seventh) also rank among the top 10 individual marks in the circuit.

Sechler Saves Another
Bears sophomore closer Connor Sechler notched career save number 12 Saturday against DBU, locking up a 4-3 MSU victory with 2.0 hitless innings. The Bolivar, Mo., product climbed into a tie with Grant Gordon (2010-13) for sixth place on the Bears' career saves list and needs one more to match Bob Zimmermann's MSU total for the fifth spot on the chart.

Millas Rolling Down the Stretch
Junior All-American Drew Millas has turned in his best stretch of the season over the last six weeks, bringing a streak of 21-consecutive games reaching base safely via a hit, walk or hit by pitch into Friday's series opener. Over the Bears' last 31 games since March 16, Millas has recorded a hit in 27 contests, batting .311 with three home runs and 17 RBIs while posting team highs for hits (38) and on-base percentage (.406).

Duffy at Home in the Top Spot
Since moving to the top of the Bears' batting order on April 12, Jack Duffy has settled into the role of offensive catalyst nicely, logging a .328 (21-for-64) batting mark in MSU's last 15 games. The junior outfielder has recorded seven multi-hit performances, including a career-best four-hit effort vs. New Orleans on April 20, and has reached base safely in 14 of the 15 contests. The Kansas City product has also swiped three bags, including his second steal of home this season April 27 against Bradley.

Kotowski Climbing
Bears freshman outfielder Dakota Kotowski belted an opposite-field home run in the first inning of the Bears' series finale with DBU Saturday. That solo shot opened the scoring and ultimately factored as the deciding run in the 6-0 MSU victory that clinced the series win for the Bears. Kotowski now owns the top spot on the MVC's home run leaderboard with six during conference play. The Channahon, Ill., native also leads the league in slugging (.760) and ranks fourth in total bases (38) during Valley play.

Additionally, Kotowski took over sole possession of third place on MSU's freshman home run list, surpassing the rookie season totals of Jeremy Eierman (2016), Matt Gardner (1999) and Nick Kays (1997). Kotowski needs to club five more homers to equal the freshman total of Jason Hart (1996) in the No. 2 position on the list and 10 more to catch all-time freshman home run leader Ryan Howard (1999). MSU's group of newcomers has been instrumental in the Bears' run production so far this spring, with six first-year players combining to account for 85 of the clubs' 204 RBIs and 24 of its 41 home runs.

Big Ben Chimes In
Ben Whetstone became the second Bear in three weeks to earn one of Collegiate Baseball's national player of the week honors on April 22. The first baseman entered the week riding a hot streak over which the junior logged six multi-hit performances during a career-best 13-game hit streak, which came to an end with his 0-for-2 performance at Mizzou (April 23).

Whetstone clubbed three home runs and drove in 10 runs while scoring six of his own and helping the Bears turn seven double plays in their four games during the week of April 15-21. The Overland Park, Kan., product hit a team-best .388 (19-for-49) with four homers and 17 RBIs, while slugging .755 during his streak, which began on April 2. He leads the MVC in double plays turned (41), putouts (339) and total defensive chances (366), while also ranking among the league's offensive leaders in several categories.

Bears on Radio
Once again in 2019, Meyer Communications is slated to provide live radio coverage of all 53 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.