Prime 9
1) Missouri State returns from a rare in-season off weekend to host Oral Roberts and Kansas in midweek contests at Hammons Field, where the Bears have won 47 of their last 72 regular-season non-conference home games.
2) The Bears swept a two-game series from Oral Roberts in Tulsa on Feb. 23 and 24, winning by scores of 8-2 and 14-11.
Ben Whetstone reached base safely nine times in the two contests.
3) Missouri State trails ORU 32-27 and leads Kansas 31-30 in the all-time series.
4) The MSU offense has scored at least 12 runs three times in 10 games this season after doing so just once in the previous 34 games dating to April 2019.
5) Missouri State has four college graduates on the roster, with
Jack Duffy,
Logan Geha,
Ben Whetstone and
Logan Wiley each electing to use the additional season eligibility granted to 2020 spring athletes.
6) The Bears' roster features five players who have earned all-Missouri Valley Conference honors during their respective careers, led by former Collegiate Baseball Freshman All-America picks
Ty Buckner and
Dakota Kotowski; Buckner was a second-team choice in 2018, Kotowski earned first team and Freshman of the Year honors in 2019, while
Jack Duffy (second team),
Logan Wiley (second team) and
Ben Whetstone (honorable mention) were also honored that season. Additionally,
Grant Wood was the Ohio Valley Freshman of the Year in 2018 at Murray State.
7) The Bears have scored 67 runs through 10 games this season, and did not score their 67th run last year until the 8th inning of game 17.
8) Keith Guttin currently ranks third on the NCAA's Division I wins list for active coaches and 19th all-time with 1,293 for his 39-year career; he is 7 wins away from Fresno State's Bob Bennett in the 18th spot on the chart.
9) Jack Duffy leads the MVC in batting average (.455) and ranks sixth nationally with 2.0 hits per game.
Ben Whetstone is sixth nationally with 1.4 walks per game and 20th with 14 total bases on balls. The Bears average one double play per game defensively to rank 12th in the nationally.
