Bears Set for Series at Illinois State with ESPNU Appearance on Friday

Friday, May 14

Normal, Ill.

2:00 PM

Missouri State University

Illinois State

Bears Set for Series at Illinois State with ESPNU Appearance on Friday

May 13, 2021 | Baseball

By: MSU Athletics Communications

Missouri State Bears Baseball - Games 36-39
Schedule	Friday, May 14 at Illinois State, 2 p.m. Saturday, May 15 at Illinois State, 1 p.m. Saturday, May 15 at Illinois State, 4 p.m. Sunday, May 16 at Illinois State, 1 p.m.
Location	Normal, Ill.
Site	Duffy Bass Field
Game 1	Friday, 2:00 p.m. Radio - KBFL-FM 99.9 \| TV - ESPNU Watch \| Listen \| Live Stats
Game 2	Saturday, 1:00 p.m. Radio - KBFL-FM 96.9 Watch (ESPN3) \| Listen \| Live Stats
Game 3	Saturday, 4:00 p.m. Radio - KBFL-FM 96.9 Watch (ESPN3) \| Listen \| Live Stats
Game 4	Sunday, 1:00 p.m. Radio - KBFL-FM 96.9 Watch (ESPN3) \| Listen \| Live Stats
Missouri State	Game Notes Baseball Home Page
Illinois State	Baseball Home Page

Prime 9
1) The Missouri State Bears (16-19, 6-10 MVC) make their final road trip of the regular season this weekend when they play four games at Illinois State (18-29, 8-12) May 14-16 at Duffy Bass Field in Normal, Ill. Friday's game will be a national TV appearance for the Bears, airing on ESPNU at 2 p.m. with Roxy Bernstein (PxP) and Wes Clements (analyst) on the call.

2) Sixth-year seniors Logan Geha and Ben Whetstone will earn Master's degrees Friday. Both with finish MBAs, while Jack Duffy is in his first year of that program and Logan Wiley is also working towards a graduate degree. All four players are using the additional season of eligibility granted to 2020 spring athletes.

3) Sophomore catcher Drake Baldwin enters the Illinois State series on a 16-game hit streak that began April 3 against Bradley. Baldwin is 21-for-58 (.362) during the streak, MSU's longest since Aaron Meyer hit in 20 consecutive games from March 5-April 5, 2016. Baldwin is also one game shy of Missouri State's longest on base streak of the season - 17 by Cam Cratic from March 23-May 5.

4) Missouri State's current .978 fielding percentage is on pace to break the single-season record of .976 set in 2015. The Bears also fielded .978 in the shortened 2020 campaign, and have committed one error in the month of May. MSU ranks 19th nationally and first in the MVC by turning 0.89 double plays per game.

5) Logan Wiley's start Friday will be the 39th of his career, moving him to eighth in school history. His 252 innings pitched rank 10th. Jack Duffy enters the ISU series with 199 career hits and ranks eighth in MSU history with 216 games played.

6) Missouri State is 16-4 when scoring at least three runs this season and 9-0 when scoring in the first inning.

7) Head coach Keith Guttin picked up his 1,300th career victory on April 13 at Missouri. Guttin's troops beat the Tigers 7-5 in Columbia, and the 39th-year coach currently ranks fourth among active coaches and 19th overall in career wins.

8) The Bears have five victories this season in their final at bat. MSU won in 10 innings on March 30 at SEMO, and has walk-off wins on April 1 against Bradley (Cam Cratic bases-loaded HBP), April 2 vs. BU (Mason Hull single), April 6 versus Drury (Drake Baldwin home run) and May 7 versus Indiana State (Hull single). MSU's last four home victories have come in the bottom of the final inning, with the last win not falling into that category happening March 16.

9) Ben Whetstone ranks 6th nationally by drawing 1.03 walks per game. Cam Cratic is a .362 (17-for-47) hitter with runners on and has reached base 15 times in 33 chances (.455) when leading off an inning this season.