Tuesday, March 16
St. Louis, Mo.
6:30 p.m.
Missouri State University
at
Saint Louis
Midweek In-State Road Trip on Deck for Softball Bears
March 15, 2021 | Softball
| Missouri State Bears (8-8) at Saint Louis (5-8); at SEMO (7-9) | |
| Dates | Tuesday, March 16 – Wednesday, March 17, 2021 |
| Sites | Locations | Billiken Sports Center | St. Louis, Mo. Southeast Softball Complex | Cape Girardeau, Mo. |
| Game 1 | Tuesday, 6:30 p.m. at Saint Louis | Live Stats |
| Game 2 | Wednesday, 3:00 p.m. at SEMO | Live Stats | Watch (ESPN+) |
| Missouri State | Softball Home Page | Season Stats |Â Roster | Twitter | Facebook |
| Up Next | March 20-21 | vs. UNI | Springfield, Mo. |
The Prime Nine
- Missouri State (8-8) altered its midweek non-conference road slate with the game against Saint Louis being moved up to Tuesday, March 16 at 6:30 p.m. The Bears will then travel to face Southeast Missouri State on Wednesday, March 17 at 3 p.m.
- MSU dropped a pair of games in the opening day of the Shocker Softball Tournament on Thursday, March 11, falling to North Texas, 4-3 and Wichita State, 13-2. The remainder of the originally three-day tournament was canceled due to inclement weather.
- With the impromptu conclusion of the weekend games in Wichita, Kan., the Bears wrapped up their string of non-conference tournaments that opened up the 2021 campaign. MSU finished with tournament records of 3-1 at Mississippi State (Feb. 21-22), 3-2 at UCA (Feb. 25-27), 2-3 at UT Arlington (March 5-7) and 0-2 at Wichita State (March 11).
- 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. The MSU pitching staff boasts a season ERA of 2.69 which ranks fourth in the conference. Hunsaker ranks second in the MVC with a 1.31 ERA on the season and is fifth in both strikeouts (39) and opposing batting average (.213). Hunsaker (1.31) and Johnston (2.41) are top-10 among the Valley's ERA leaders, ranking second and tenth, respectively. Hunsaker's 39 strikeouts rank sixth in the conference while Dickerson's 29 rank tenth.
- The Bears have hit five triples on the season – tied for best in the MVC – with all of them coming in a four-game stretch (Feb. 26-March 5), including Darian Frost and Daphne Plummer earning triple-baggers against Western Illinois on Feb. 26. Plummer has five triples in her four-year career with the Bears after hitting two in both the 2018 and 2019 seasons.
- Madison Hunsaker (Sr., Peculiar, Mo.) turned in a complete-game effort in Missouri State's opening game of the Shocker Softball Tournament on Thursday, March 11. After North Texas scored four runs in the first – none of which were attributed to her – Hunsaker tossed five straight scoreless innings and finished with a pitching line of 6IP, 0ER, 4H, and 6K. She ranks second in the conference with a 1.31 ERA on the season and is fifth in both strikeouts (39) and opposing batting average (.213). She garnered conference Pitcher of the Week honors on Feb. 22 for her performance at the Alex Wilcox Memorial Tournament (Feb. 21-22) where she struck out 17 in her 11.2 innings of scoreless ball.
- Leadoff hitter, Daphne Plummer (Sr., Lee's Summit, Mo.) is hitting .333 on the year, leading the team in hits (15), runs scored (9), and stolen bases (9). Her nine stolen bases ranks fourth 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
- Gracie Johnston (So., Augusta, Kan) is tied for fourth in the league with 10 appearances in 2021 while drawing the start in five of them. She's struck out 23 hitters on the year while registering a solo shutout outing in the Bears' 11-0 win over Texas A&M – Corpus Christ on March 5 where she held the Islanders to four hits in the contest.
- Kelly Metter (Sr., Columbia, Ill.) owns a .405 slugging percentage with four extra-base hits in 2021. She hit a pair of home runs in the 11-0 win over the Islanders (March 5) after following 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. Metter smacked two doubles against Western Illinois on Feb. 26.
- 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 826-808-2 (.506). She began the year ranked 30th among all active NCAA Division I coaches in career victories.
- Coach Hesse is 20-10-1 vs. SLU and 25-8 vs. SEMO 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.
- SLU – Bears lead series 41-7-1. Last meeting: Bears 6, SLU 0 (3/20/19)
- SEMO – Bears lead series 31-11. Last meeting: SEMO 5, Bears 2 (3/14/19)
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Players Mentioned
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First Base
/ SoftballMonday, June 22
Wednesday, June 17
Wednesday, June 17
Wednesday, June 17
