Prime 9
- Missouri State claimed two of three games from Central Arkansas in the two clubs' season-opening series in Conway last weekend, with the Bears' pitching staff holding UCA to seven runs for the series
- The Bears, who return 19 letterwinners from last year's squad, were picked second in the Missouri Valley Conference's preseason poll by the league's head coaches
- Keith Guttin ranks fourth on the NCAA's Division I wins list for active coaches and 19th all-time with 1,281 victories for his 38-year career; he needs 19 wins to catch Fresno State's Bob Bennett in the 18th spot on the chart
- Logan Wiley picked up MVC Pitcher of the Week laurels for the second time in his MSU career on Monday, following 7.0 shutout innings over which he struck out seven UCA batters and scattered three hits in a 1-0 victory
- Wiley logged team-leading totals for wins (5), innings pitched (90.2) and strikeouts (82) last spring, and has recorded a 5-0 mark and 1.98 ERA over his last seven starts, dating back to April 19, 2019
- Thanks to Wiley's effort Friday, the Bears pitching staff posted MSU's first opening day shutout since a 2-0 win over  Wayne State to kick off the 1970 season; since 2013, the Bears have won seven of eight season openers and amassed a combined 18-7 record on opening weekend
- The Bears received notable contributions from seven newcomers in their opening series win at UCA; Grant Wood led the club with a .455 batting mark, as five position newcomers combined to go 10-for-36 (.278) with two homers at the plate, while two hurlers – Hayden Minton and Trey Ziegenbein – combined to allow just one run on three hits while fanning seven hitters over their 8.2 total innings
- Minton became the second Bears hurler in as many seasons to log his first career victory against UCA in his debut start for MSU; the freshman right-hander held UCA to one run on two hits over 6.0 innings of a 6-2 win on Saturday
- MSU's flashed the leather in Conway as well, committing just two errors in 115 total chances in the series for a team .983 fielding percentage, while turning four double plays
Leading Off
With two victories in their first three contests of the season, the
Missouri State Bears will be looking to continue their winning ways this weekend when they take part in the
Turface Classic at four different sites in Tennessee. The Bears will open play with a Thursday (Feb. 20) afternoon game against the
Austin Peay Governors at Raymond C. Hand Park in Clarksville (3 p.m.), followed by a pair of games in Nashville, starting with Friday's (Feb. 21) 3:30 p.m. contest against the
Belmont Bruins at E.S. Rose Park, before taking on the
Lipscomb Bisons Saturday (2 p.m.) at Dugan Field. On Sunday, play shifts to Murfreesboro, where MSU will square off against the
Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders in a 1 p.m. game at Reese Smith, Jr. Field.
Â
This weekend's action marks the second of five consecutive road trips for the Bears to open the new campaign. Following their four-game stay in Tennessee, MSU will travel to Oral Roberts (Feb. 25) for its first midweek contest of the season. The Bears will head to Houston for a three-game series with Rice (Feb. 28-March 1), then conclude their 12-game road stretch with a March 3 visit to Stillwater, Okla., for a tilt with Oklahoma State.
Series Histories
The Bears bring a cumulative 31-12 overall record against their four SAF Dirt Classic opponents into this weekend's action. MSU, which brings a four-game win streak vs. Austin Peay into Thursday's game, is 5-3 all-time against the Governors, including an 11-4 victory in the two clubs' last meeting (Feb. 28, 2016 in Clarksville). The Bears also defeated Belmont (7-5) and Lipscomb (6-4) in their only previous meetings with those two programs as part of MSU's 3-0 showing at the 2017 version of the same tournament. MSU capped that trip with a 5-0 victory over Middle Tennessee, running its all-time mark against the Blue Raiders to 24-9.Â
Lifting the Lid
Thanks to 7.0 shutout innings from
Logan Wiley, the Bears notched their first opening day shutout in 50 years with their 1-0 win over Central Arkansas last Friday. The Bears are now 25-13 in season openers under head coach
Keith Guttin and 37-20 overall as a program in such contests. MSU has also gone a combined 18-7 on opening weekend since 2013. MSU has started seven of the last eight campaigns with at least six wins in its first 10 games (failing to do so only in 2019), including their best-ever start (10-1) to a season in 2017.
Wiley Honored by Valley
After turning in a dominant start to the 2020 campaign in Friday's season opener at Central Arkansas,
Logan Wiley picked up MVC Pitcher of the Week recognition Monday. Wiley pitched the Bears to a 1-0 victory over UCA in his second-consecutive opening-day start, tossing 7.0 scoreless innings to help pave the way to a series win for MSU in Conway. The Springfield, Mo., native retired the final 12 batters he faced, struck out seven UCA hitters overall and scattered three hits in a 77-pitch effort that spearheaded MSU's first opening-day shutout since 1970.
With his opening-day win, the two-time All-MVC choice and MSU's 2019 Dave Dickensheet Pitcher of the Year honoree logged his sixth quality start in his last seven outings (since April 19, 2019), over which he has gone 5-0 with a 1.98 ERA. The honor is the second MVC Pitcher of the Week citation of Wiley's career. He previously earned the same award on April 22 of last year after tossing his first complete game as a Bear versus New Orleans.
Welcome Mat
The Bears received significant contributions from a host of newcomers to claim their opening series from Central Arkansas. Junior transfer
Grant Wood led MSU with a .455 batting mark and a .538 on-base percentage, while also registering a perfect weekend in the field, handling all 11 of his defensive chances at third base. Freshmen
Drake Baldwin and
Greg Ziegler also enjoyed strong showings in their initial series with the Bears. Baldwin turned in a 2-for-4 day Friday, then sparked MSU's go-ahead, three-run rally in game two with a seventh-inning home run. Ziegler delivered a double and a home run in Sunday's finale.
Â
On the mound,
Hayden Minton turned in a memorable mound effort Saturday, holding UCA to one run on two hits, while fanning four and issuing three walks in his 6.0 innings of work in his collegiate debut. Sophomore right-hander
Trey Ziegenbein also chipped in to help MSU claim each of the first two games, totaling three strikeouts in a combined 2.2 scoreless innings of relief.
Sophomore outfielder
Dakota Kotowski played a pivotal role in a pair of Missouri State victories over Central Arkansas, hitting .417 for the week with a home run and four RBIs. Kotowski drove home go-ahead tallies in all three contests, including the lone run in MSU's 1-0 victory in Friday's season opener. He also homered in game two of the series, logging his second-straight two-hit effort and driving in two runs on the day. The Channahon, Ill., product capped his weekend with a run scoring single — his third two-out, RBI hit of the series — to stake the Bears to an early lead in Sunday's finale.
Duffy on a Tear
All-MVC outfielder
Jack Duffy entered his senior campaign looking to build on a torrid stretch drive to the 2019 season that saw him record a hit in each of the Bears' final 12 contests. Over the Bears' final 33 games of the season Duffy logged a .371 (49-for-132) batting mark (March 29-May 23) and finished the year with a team-high 17 multi-hit performances.
Â
After moving into the top spot in the MSU batting order, the two-time MVC Scholar-Athlete Team selection recorded 12 multi-hit performances, including a career-best four-hit effort vs. New Orleans on April 20, and reached base safely in 23 of the 24 contests, including 19 in a row to end the season. Duffy also swiped three bags, including his second steal of home this season April 27 against Bradley, and recorded two of his three outfield assists on the season during the same stretch.
Non-Con Domination
MSU has been nearly unstoppable against non-conference competition over the last five seasons, compiling an 96-63 (.604) record in regular-season games versus non-league foes since the start of the 2015 season. The Bears have won 42 of their last 64 regular-season non-conference home games, outscoring their non-league opponents by a 856-575 margin at Hammons Field over the same stretch.
In Rare Company
With Missouri State's 6-1 win over New Orleans on April 19, 2019, Bears head coach
Keith Guttin moved past legendary Miami coach Ron Fraser (1,271) to climb to the 19th position on the NCAA's Division I career coaching wins list.
Â
With a career record of 1,281-813 (.612), Guttin now needs 19 more victories to match the career total of Fresno State's Bob Bennett (1,300) in the No. 18 spot on the chart. Guttin is the second-winningest coach in MVC history, while his win total ranks fourth among all active Division I head coaches entering the 2020 season, his 38th at the Bears' helm.
Bears on the Radio
Once again in 2020, Meyer Communications is slated to provide live radio coverage of all 56 Missouri State regular-season games, plus all Bears' games in the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament and any 2020 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.
Â
