Wednesday, March 24
Carbondale, Ill.
12:00 p.m.
Missouri State University
at
Southern Illinois
Midweek Road Trip to SIU On Tap for Softball Bears
March 23, 2021 | Softball
| Missouri State Bears (11-8, 2-1 MVC) at (RV) Southern Illinois (20-3, 2-1 MVC) | |
| Date | Wednesday, March 24, 2021 |
| Site | Location | Charlotte West Stadium | Carbondale, Ill. |
| Game 1 | 12:00 p.m. | Live Stats | Watch (ESPN+) | Game Notes |
| Game 2 | 30 mins. after Game 1 | Live Stats | Watch (ESPN+) | Game Notes |
| Missouri State | Softball Home Page | Season Stats Roster | Twitter | Facebook |
| Up Next | March 27-28 | vs. Drake | Springfield, Mo. |
The Prime Nine
- Missouri State (11-8, 2-1 MVC) heads out for its first Missouri Valley Conference road trip with a midweek doubleheader against Southern Illinois (20-3, 2-1 MVC) on Wednesday, March 24.
- The Bears won its Valley-opening series against Northern Iowa this weekend with a pair of late-game hits for a day-one sweep of the Panthers on Saturday, March 20. Madison Hunsaker smashed a two-run home run in the bottom of the sixth that proved to be the game-winner. It was the second straight go-ahead homer for MSU after Alex Boze's three-run shot in the seventh inning of Missouri State's 4-3 victory at SLU on March 16. In game two, Daphne Plummer's walk-off single capped an 11th-inning thriller to give the Bears their second win of the day. Despite five extra-base hits, MSU fell just short in completing the weekend sweep with a 7-6 setback on Sunday, March 21.
- MSU battled to four straight one-run games last week in its contests against the Billikens and the Panthers, claiming victories in three of them. The Bears are 7-4 in games decided by two runs or less this season. Saturday's 11-inning slugfest against UNI was Missouri State's second 10-plus inning game of the season after falling in the bottom of the 10th to UTA, 3-2 on March 6. Plummer's walk-off winner gave the Bears their first extra-innings victory of the season after dropping their previous two extended games.
- The Bears have racked up 35 extra-base hits on 20 doubles, six triples and nine home runs this season. MSU's six triples is 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.
- Alex Boze (Jr., Swansea, Ill.) provided a couple of highlight-reel moments last week, including her heroic swing versus the Billikens (March 16). She went on to add another clutch home run in the series finale against UNI (March 20), launching a two-run, game-tying blast in the bottom of the fifth. Over the four-game span, Boze slugged an impressive .917 with six RBI, two home runs, a double and two runs scored.
- Leadoff hitter Daphne Plummer (Sr., Lee's Summit, Mo.) paces the MSU lineup with a .345 batting average and a team-high 20 hits. She has 13 runs scored on the season, setting the stage by going a perfect 10-for-10 on stolen base attempts. Her 10 swipes rank fourth in the conference.
- Madison Hunsaker (Sr., Peculiar, Mo.) ranks in the top-5 of the MVC with a 1.75 ERA on the season. With a 4-2 record, she has pitched 40 innings while tallying 45 strikeouts which ranks seventh-best among Valley pitchers. At the plate, Hunsaker is hitting .276 and has a team-high seven extra-base hits with four doubles, a triple and two home runs. She garnered conference Pitcher of the Week honors on Feb. 22.Â
- Along with Hunsaker, pitchers Steffany Dickerson (Sr., Oklahoma City, Okla.) and Gracie Johnston (So., Augusta, Kan) provide the Bears a three-headed attack from the circle. The trio has contributed scoreless outings to help MSU record four shutouts in 2021, which is second most in the league. Dickerson went 2-1 with a 1.94 ERA and 15 strikeouts in her four appearances last week.
- 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 827-808-2 (.506). She began the year ranked 30th among all active NCAA Division I coaches in career victories.
- Coach Hesse is 35-53 vs. Southern Illinois 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.
- Southern Illinois leads the all-time series between the two clubs by a 59-49 margin, including a 34-14 ledger in games played in Carbondale.
- In 2019, Missouri State took two of three in the season series. The Bears won the series opener, 5-3 with RBI-singles from Daphne Plummer, Madison Hunsaker and Steffany Dickerson while Rachel Weber delivered the two-run game-winning hit in the top of the seventh. Game two went in favor of the Salukis, 11-2 in five innings. The two teams met at Killian Stadium for the finale (April 9, 2019) where the Bears came out on top of a low-scoring affair, 2-1. A two-out bases-loaded grounder from Darby Joerling in the bottom of the seventh brought home Bailey Greenlee with the winning run to lift MSU to the series victory.
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