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MSU Softball Heads to North Texas Invitational

MSU Softball Heads to North Texas Invitational

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Missouri State Bears (1-4) at North Texas Invitational (Denton, Texas)
Dates Friday, Feb. 14 -- Saturday, Feb. 15, 2020
Site | Location Lovelace Stadium | Denton, Texas | Tickets
Game 1 Friday, 2:00 p.m. (CT) vs. Creighton | Live Stats
Game 2 Friday, 4:30 p.m. (CT) vs. Abilene Christian | Live Stats
Game 3 Saturday, 5:30 p.m. (CT) vs. UT Martin | Live Stats
Game 4 Saturday, 8:00 p.m. (CT) vs. North Texas | Live Stats
Missouri State Softball Home Page | Roster | Twitter | Facebook 
Up Next Feb. 28-March 1 | Ole Miss Classic, Oxford, Miss.

The Prime Nine
  • Missouri State (1-4) looks to carry the momentum from Sunday's 3-0 win over Big XII foe Baylor into this weekend when the Bears travel to the North Texas Invitational in Denton, Texas, Friday and Saturday. MSU will take on Creighton and Abilene Christian on Friday, before squaring off with UT Martin and host North Texas on day two.
  • Missouri State is coming off a respectable showing on opening weekend at the NFCA Leadoff Classic in Clearwater, Fla. The Bears defeated Baylor, 3-0, on their final day of the event (Feb. 9) after battling No. 7-ranked Minnesota to a 1-0 game on opening night (Feb. 7). MSU also dropped a 5-0 decision to Mississippi State (Feb. 7), a 7-5 game to North Carolina State (Feb. 8) and a 16-0 affair to Notre Dame (Feb. 8).
  • Right-hander Steffany Dickerson (Jr., Oklahoma City, Okla.) was named to the All-Tournament Team at the NFCA Leadoff Classic, posting a 1-1 ledger with a 0.50 ERA and 18 strikeouts in 14.0 innings of work. She had a quality start in Friday's narrow 1-0 loss to No. 7 Minnesota and a complete-game shutout against Baylor on Sunday. Dickerson also pitched 2.2 innings of shutout relief against Mississippi State with 3 K's, then allowed just a single run and 4 hits against No. 7 Minnesota a couple hours later, striking out 8 in 5.0 innings in a 1-0 loss. She capped the tournament with a complete-game 5-hitter against Baylor (all singles) with 7 strikeouts in a complete-game effort. Dickerson walked just 4 batters all weekend and also helped her cause by driving in a run in the win over Baylor. She earned NFCA All-Region first-team honors and All-MVC first-team laurels in 2019.
  • Freshman Tess Weakly (Elsberry, Mo.) led the Bears with a .333 average on opening weekend. She launched her first career home run, drove in two runs, and reached base three times against North Carolina State, and then ended the tournament with a 2-for-3 day in MSU's win over Baylor. She was also perfect on 27 defensive chances, including a pair of assists.
  • Madison Hunsaker (Jr., Peculiar, Mo.) reached base safely in all 5 games of the NFCA Leadoff Classic. She also made three appearances in the circle, holding right-handed hitters to just a .133 average (2-of-15), while retiring the leadoff hitter in all but one of her 7.0 innings pitched. A year ago, Hunsaker made 17 appearances in the circle, including one start, striking out 25 batters in 26.0 innings, while batting .325 with 50 hits in 50 starts.
  • Newcomer Olivia Krehbiel (RFr., Lee's Summit, Mo.) successfully advanced 5-of-6 runners in her Missouri State debut last week. The transfer from Central Missouri also batted .500 (2-of-4) with 2 outs.
  • Daphne Plummer (Jr., Lee's Summit, Mo.) was 3-for-7 (.429) when leading off innings last weekend, including a pair of first-inning leadoff singles. She hit safely in 35-of-51 games last year and led the squad in RBI (26). After breaking the team freshman hits record in 2018 (63), she finished her sophomore season just one hit shy of 50 in 2019. Plummer collected her 100th career hit on April 3, 2019 against No. 14 Arkansas at Killian Stadium in Springfield.
  • Missouri State was picked fourth in the Missouri Valley Conference preseason coaches poll, announced Jan. 29. The Bears rank behind defending champion Drake, Northern Iowa and Southern Illinois in the 10-team league, and just ahead of fifth-place Illinois State. MSU was 14-11 in the MVC last year to finish fifth and returns all of its pitching, eight position starters and 16 letterwinners.
  • Returning to the Bears this season is redshirt senior catcher Darian Frost (Lee's Summit, Mo.). Frost missed the entire 2019 season after being sidelined with an injury but led the team in RBI (34) in 2018, starting 47 games overall (39 at catcher) while earning All-MVC first-team honors.
  • Missouri State is coming off back-to-back 30-win seasons for the first time in 21 years after going 32-20 in 2018 and 30-21 a year ago. The last time the Bears posted 30 wins in consecutive seasons was a three-year stretch from 1996 (34-22), 1997 (36-26) and 1998 (31-22) when MSU made three straight NCAA Tournament appearances. The 2019 campaign marked the 10th 30-win season under coach Holly Hesse and the 13th in program history.
  • Bears head coach Holly Hesse (pronounced HESS-ee) enters the 2020 campaign tied for 27th among active Division I coaches in career victories. Hesse has a career record of 812-792-2 (.506) in her 32nd season at Missouri State. Her coaching staff includes two associate head coaches -- first-base coach Sue Frederick, now in her 30th season in the MSU program, and third-base coach Beth Perine, who is in her 25th year with the Bears. Hesse (1982) and Frederick (1989) are alums of Creighton University who the Bears play on Friday afternoon (2 p.m.).

Head Coach Holly Hesse
  • Bears head coach Holly Hesse is in her 32nd season leading the Bears' program as the second-winningest coach in Missouri Valley Conference history with a 812-792-2 (.506) record. She begins the 2020 season tied for 27th among all active NCAA Division I coaches in career victories.
  • Hesse joined the elite 800-win club on March 24, 2019 with the Bears' 3-2 come-from-behind win over Northern Iowa at Killian Stadium to make her the 30th active Division I coach at the time 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. In 2019, Hesse led the Bears to a 4-3 win at No. 16 Auburn.
  • Hesse has coached 36 different first-team all-conference players which have received 51 first-team all-conference honors.  Twenty-three of Hesse's players have gone on to earn NFCA All-Midwest Region honors, including two players -- Kyana Mason and Steffany Dickerson -- in 2019.
  • Recent statewide honors for Hesse include induction into the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame in 2018 and the Missouri State University 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
  • Creighton - Creighton leads series, 49-31. Last meeting: Bears 10, Creighton 5 (4/28/13) Recap
  • Abilene Christian - Bears lead series 2-0. Last meeting: Bears 8, ACU 0 (3/4/18) Box Score
  • UT Martin - First Meeting
  • Notre Dame - Bears lead series, 4-2. Last meeting: UNT 5, Bears 0 (2/17/12)
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