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Ole Miss Classic on Tap for Softball Bears

Ole Miss Classic on Tap for Softball Bears

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MSU Athletics Communications

Missouri State Bears (3-6) at Ole Miss Classic (Oxford, Miss.)
Dates Friday, Feb. 28 -- Sunday, March 1, 2020
Site | Location Ole Miss Softball Complex (1,700) | Oxford, Miss.
Game 1 Friday, 9:30 a.m. (CT) vs. California Baptist (5-10) | Live Stats
Game 2 Friday, 12:30 p.m. (CT) vs. Jackson State (6-7) | Live Stats
Game 3 Saturday, 12:30 p.m. (CT) vs. Ole Miss (6-10) | Live Stats | SEC Network Plus
Game 4 Saturday, 3:30 p.m. or 6:30 p.m. (CT) vs. Semifinals | Live Stats
Game 5 Sunday, 9:30 a.m. or 12:30 p.m. (CT) vs. Finals | Live Stats
Missouri State Softball Home Page | Roster | Twitter | Facebook 
Up Next Mizuno Classic, Stillwater, Okla. & Norman, Okla. (March 6-8)

The Prime Nine
  • Missouri State begins play in the Ole Miss Classic in Oxford, Mississippi this weekend with five games slated against Jackson State, California Baptist and host Ole Miss, Friday through Sunday. The Bears (3-6) come into the weekend with three wins in their last five games and are looking to end the season's first month on a high note.
  • Tess Weakly (Fr., Elsberry, Mo.) has reached base safely 5 straight games. In that span, she has 6 hits, including a home run, 5 walks and a .579 on-base percentage. For the season, Weakly has a remarkable .519 on-base percentage, which ranks 8th in the MVC, while her 0.78 walks per game rank 57th nationally.
  • Daphne Plummer (Jr., Lee's Summit, Mo.) has also reached base safely in MSU's last 5 games. She is batting .259 and is tied with Weakly with a team-high 7 hits on the season. She has been Missouri State's starting shortstop in all 111 games of her career, including 66 in a row.
  • Missouri State ranks 51st nationally in double plays per game (0.44) having turned a league-high 4 twin killings over their first 9 games. The Bears also rank 77th among all Division I programs in fielding percentage (.966).
  • The MSU offense has utilized quick starts to set the tone, outscoring opponents 7-0 in the first inning this season.  Additionally, the Bears have been first on the scoreboard in six of their last seven games, including all four contests at the North Texas Invitational. Last season, Missouri State was 21-3 when scoring first.
  • Missouri State returns 16 letterwinners, 8 position starters and all 4 pitchers for a 30-21 squad. The Bears are looking to post 30 wins for a third straight season, something the program has not done since 1996 (34-22), 1997 (36-26), and 1998 (31-22) which all played in the NCAA Tournament.
  • Missouri State head coach Holly Hesse is in her 32nd season as head coach of the Bears. She has a career record of 814-794-2 record. She began the 2020 season tied for 27th among all active NCAA Division I coaches in career victories. Hesse is 3-3 all-time against Ole Miss, 1-0 vs. Jackson State and has not met California Baptist.
  • Steffany Dickerson (Jr., Oklahoma City, Okla.) ranks 4th in the Missouri Valley and 48th nationally in ERA (1.04) through the first three weeks of the campaign. Last season, she earned All-MVC first team and NFCA All-Region honors after going 20-11 in the circle with a 2.37 ERA and 144 strikeouts. She was MSU's first 20-game winner since 2011 (Natalie Rose) and the first sophomore since 1978 (Penny Clayton) to reach the 20-win milestone.
  • Dickerson earned all-tournament laurels at the NFCA Division I Leadoff Classic in Clearwater, Fla., to start the season. Her opening weekend efforts included a 3-0 win over Baylor and 1-0 loss to No. 7 Minnesota. For the weekend, she was 1-1 with 0.50 ERA and 18 strikeouts in 14.0 innings of work.

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 814-794-2 (.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
  • Ole Mss - Series tied 3-3 | Last Meeting: Missouri State 1, Ole Miss 0 (2/17/06)
  • Jackson State - Missouri State leads 1-0 | Last Meeting: Missouri State 3, Jackson State 2 (2/10/07)
  • California Baptist - First meeting
     
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