Thursday, March 11
Wichita, Kan.
3:00 p.m.
Missouri State University
vs
North Texas
Softball Bears Travel to Sunflower State for Shocker Tournament
March 10, 2021 | Softball
| Missouri State Bears (8-6) at Shocker Softball Tournament (Wichita, Kan.) | |
| Dates | Thursday, March 11 – Saturday, March 13, 2021 |
| Site | Location | Wilkins Stadium | Wichita, Kan. |
| Game 1 | Thursday, 3:00 p.m. vs. North Texas | Live Stats |
| Game 2 | Thursday, 5:30 p.m. vs. Wichita State | Live Stats |
| Game 3 | Friday, 3:00 p.m. vs. Omaha | Live Stats |
| Game 4 | Friday, 5:30 p.m. vs. Wichita State | Live Stats |
| Game 5Â | Saturday, 11:00 a.m. vs. Omaha | Live Stats |
| Missouri State | Softball Home Page | Season Stats | Roster | Twitter | Facebook |
| Up Next | March 17 | at Southeast Missouri State | Cape Girardeau, Mo.ÂÂ |
The Prime Nine
- Missouri State (8-6) wraps up its non-conference tournament slate with the Shocker Softball Tournament hosted by Wichita State. The tournament was moved up to Thursday – Saturday due to projected inclement weather. The Bears will play games against North Texas (3 p.m.) and WSU (5:30 p.m.) on Thursday, Omaha (3 p.m.) and WSU (5:30 p.m.) on Friday and concluding the tournament with a Saturday matchup with Omaha (11 a.m.)
- The Bears have previously faced all three foes they are slated to play in the upcoming three-day tournament. MSU fell to North Texas, 2-1 (8 inn.) and Wichita State, 8-1 this past weekend at the Boerner Invitational and split games with Omaha at the UCA tournament with a 3-1 victory (Feb. 26) and a 10-1 (6 inn.) setback (Feb. 27).
- MSU closed out a 2-3 showing at the Boerner Invitational (March 5-7) with an emphatic 3-1 win over No. 23 Iowa State. It marked the Bears' first win over a ranked opponent since beating No. 16 Auburn on Feb. 9, 2019 and the third straight year with a victory against a team receiving votes in the top-25 poll. The Bears defeated Baylor 3-0 last season (Feb. 9, 2020), a club that was receiving votes at the time.
- The Bears pitching staff boasts a 2.16 earned run average which ranks second in the MVC. Missouri State has recorded a league-best four shutouts in 2021 with the trio of Steffany Dickerson, Madison Hunsaker, and Gracie Johnston contributing to the scoreless outings. Johnston (1.27) and Hunsaker (1.62) are top-5 among the Valley's ERA leaders, ranking second and fourth, respectively. Hunsaker's 33 strikeouts rank fifth in the conference while Dickerson's 29 rank sixth.
- Missouri State has smacked a league-leading five triples in 2021 with all of them coming in four consecutive games (Feb. 26-March 5), including Darian Frost and Daphne Plummer earning triple-baggers against Western Illinois on Feb. 26.
- Kelly Metter (Sr., Columbia, Ill.) hit a pair of home runs in Missouri State's 11-0 run-rule win over Texas A&M – Corpus Christi on March 5. She followed up a solo shot in the second inning with a three-run homer in her next at-bat in the third. Metter registered the first multi-HR game for MSU since Mary Stephens' on Feb. 10, 2017 while the 4-RBI game was the third of her career after recording one in 2019 and 2020.
- Gracie Johnston (So., Augusta, Kan.) finished with a 0.00 ERA in her three appearances at the Boerner Invitational this past weekend. She tossed five scoreless innings against TAMU-CC (March 5) to pick up her second win of the season. Johnston totaled 7.1 IP in a 10-inning thriller against UTA (March 6) where she pitched three scoreless innings to start the game before re-entering in the sixth and finishing with 5K and 0ER. Overall, her 1.27 ERA ranks second-best in the conference and she's holding opposing hitters to a .223 batting average.
- Bailey Greenlee (Jr., Snohomish, Wash.) slugged a team-best .700 in Arlington for the three-day tournament. She finished the weekend going 4-10 at the plate with four runs scored, a double, a triple and drew two walks. Greenlee recorded three of MSU's five hits against the Shockers on March 5, going a perfect 3-3 at the dish while tallying her first triple of the season before adding another extra-base hit to her day with a double against TAMU-CC.
- Leadoff hitter, Daphne Plummer (Sr., Lee's Summit, Mo.) is hitting .342 on the year, leading the team in hits (13), runs scored (8), and stolen bases (7). Her seven stolen bases is tied for third in the MVC. She owned an eight-game hitting streak to begin her senior campaign, tallying 12 hits during that span before having it snapped against Wichita State (Feb. 27).Â
- Bears head coach Holly Hesse is in her 33rd season leading the Bears' program as the second-winningest coach in Missouri Valley Conference history with a career record of 826-806-2 (.506). She began the year ranked 30th among all active NCAA Division I coaches in career victories.
- Coach Hesse is 4-4 vs. North Texas, 44-53 vs. Wichita State and 2-5 vs. Omaha in her career.
- 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 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.
- North Texas – Series is tied 4-4.Last meeting: UNT 2, Bears 1 (8 inn.) (3/6/21)
- Wichita State – Bears lead series 59-55.Last meeting: WSU 8, Bears 1 (3/5/21)
- Omaha – Mavericks lead series 7-6.Last meeting: UNO 10, Bears 1 (6 inn.) (2/27/21)
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Players Mentioned
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First Base
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