Tuesday, March 30
Springfield
5:00 p.m.
Missouri State University
vs
Kansas City
Softball Bears Take Valley Break, Host Kansas City Tuesday
March 29, 2021 | Softball
| Missouri State Bears (16-9, 7-1 MVC) vs. Kansas City (14-11, 0-4 Summit) | |
| Date | Tuesday, March 30, 2021 |
| Site | Location | Killian Stadium | Springfield, Mo. |
| Game Info | 5:00 p.m. | Live Stats | | Watch (ESPN+) | MSU Game Notes |
| Missouri State | Softball Home Page | Season Stats Roster | Twitter | Facebook |
| Up Next | April 2-3 | at Bradley | Peoria, Ill. |
The Prime Nine
- Missouri State (16-9, 7-1 MVC) wraps up a five-game homestand with a single-game non-conference bout with Kansas City (14-11, 0-4 Summit) on Tuesday, March 30 with first pitch scheduled for 5 p.m. The Bears are coming off a five-game sweep of its Missouri Valley Conference competition last week which culminated with MSU taking all three games of its weekend series against Drake. A bases-loaded walk in the sixth inning secured a 5-4 victory for MSU in the opener before pitcher Madison Hunsaker held the visitors to one run to help lead the Bears to a 4-1 win in game two. A 14-run outburst punctuated the weekend with MSU enforcing the run-rule in the series finale for a 14-4 victory. The Bears began their week by winning a pair of games at SIU on March 24.
- With a league-best seven wins, the Bears are off to their best start (7-1) in conference play since the 2006 team rattled off 10 straight wins to begin their league campaign. The triumphs have come against opponents who were predicted to be among the top tier in the MVC with all three challengers - UNI (4th), SIU (1st) and Drake (5th) - landing in the top-5 of the Valley preseason poll. Missouri State was picked to finish third, according to the league poll.Â
- MSU scored a season-high 14 runs against Drake on Sunday to extend a hot-hitting stretch for the Bears who are outscoring league opponents by a 43-21 margin. MSU has scored four or more runs in seven straight games with Tess Weakly leading the power surge with her eight RBI during that span.
- The Bears rank fourth in the league in extra-base hits, racking up a total of 45 with 24 doubles, seven triples and14 home runs. The seven triples are a league-best with all of them coming in a four-game span (Feb. 26-March 5). Daphne Plummer's triple-bagger against Drake on Sunday was her second of the season and the sixth of her career after recording two in 2018 and 2018.
- In MSU's five-game sweep last week, Tess Weakly (So., Elsberry, Mo.) hit .400 (6-15), tallied a team-high seven RBI, smacked two home runs and added a double to finish with a .867 slugging percentage. Weakly launched a leadoff solo shot in the second inning in MSU's 4-0 win over the Salukis before going on to belt her second homer of the week in game one against Drake. She closed out her week with her seventh extra-base hit of the season on an RBI-double in the series finale.Â
- Steffany Dickerson (Sr., Oklahoma City, Okla.) and Madison Hunsaker (Sr., Peculiar, Mo.) provide a potent one-two punch for MSU in the circle, highlighted with both pitchers combining for all five wins last week. Dickerson began the week in stellar fashion with a shutout performance against SIU on March 24, blanking a Salukis squad that leads the league in runs scored. She went on to add another complete-game effort in MSU's 5-4 win against Drake on March 27 before picking up her third win of the week in the series finale. Hunsaker posted a 0.88 ERA in her three appearances which included two complete-game outings where she allowed just two earned runs and struck out nine.
- Kelly Metter (Sr., Columbia, Ill.) extended her five-game hitting streak by registering her third three-hit performance of the season in Sunday's win over the Bulldogs. Metter is hitting .309 on the year and added her third home run of the season in Saturday's 5-4 win.
- Leadoff hitter Daphne Plummer (Sr., Lee's Summit, Mo.) paces the MSU lineup with a .319 batting average and a team-high 23 hits. She has 17 runs scored on the season, setting the stage by going a perfect 10-for-10 on stolen base attempts.  As a four-year player for coach Holly Hesse, Plummer has made 144 career starts.
- Darian Frost (Sr., Lee's Summitt, Mo.) added two more doubles to her 2021 ledger against Drake this weekend to give the senior catcher 26 extra-base hits for her career. In league games, Frost's four doubles ranks first among Valley hitters.
Head Coach Holly Hesse
- 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 834-809-2 (.508). She began the year ranked 30th among all active NCAA Division I coaches in career victories.
- Coach Hesse is 39-10 vs. Kansas City 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.
- Missouri State leads, 41-10 in the all-time series between the two clubs and carries a 10-game winning streak against the 'Roos into Tuesday's matchup. The Bears are 20-5 when facing Kansas City in Springfield.
- The last meeting resulted in a 4-1 road win for the Bears back on April 23, 2019. Erin Griesbauer threw seven innings of one-run ball and Payton Minnis recorded a two-RBI game to lead MSU to victory. Minnis drove in the opening run on an infield single in the third before her and Kyana Mason notched back-to-back triples in the fifth to extend the lead. A seventh-inning error from the 'Roos led to two more MSU runs and sealed the Bears' non-conference win.
#BearsUnite
Players Mentioned
P
/ Softball
C
/ Softball
P
/ Softball
P/1B
/ Softball
Third Base
/ Softball
OF
/ Softball
2B
/ Softball
SS
/ Softball
C/1B
/ SoftballMonday, June 22
Wednesday, June 17
Wednesday, June 17
Wednesday, June 17
