The Missouri State Bears will open their 2022 season in Conway, Ark., with a Feb. 18-20 series at Central Arkansas. The Bears and Bears meet at 3 p.m. Friday, 12 p.m. Saturday and 1 p.m. Sunday.
Missouri State heads to Oral Roberts on Feb. 22 before playing five consecutive weekends at home and 17 of 19 games at Hammons Field from Feb. 25-March 27.
Starting 9
1) Missouri State will be looking for its ninth opening day win in its last 10 tries Friday; the Bears are 26-13 in openers under    head coach
Keith Guttin and 38-20 overall in season lid-lifters.
2) The Bears have gone a combined 18-6 and averaged 6.7 runs per outing on opening weekend since 2014.
3) MSU has a pair of preseason all-Missouri Valley Conference players this season in junior catcher
Drake Baldwin and senior reliever
Trey Ziegenbein. Baldwin put together a 21-game hit streak last season - sixth-best in school history - on the way to second-team all-Valley honors, while Ziegenbein was a first-teamer after going 8-2 overall and 6-1 with a 2.22 ERA in league games.
4) The Bears return seven of nine position starters and more than two-thirds of their offensive production from last season while adding 18 newcomers to the roster. Missouri State set a school record with a .978 fielding percentage last year, with MVC all-Defensive Team members
Mason Hull and
Grant Wood back on the infield to give the Bears four returning all-conference players.
5) Missouri State is 22-8 all-time against Central Arkansas with an 11-5 record in Conway. In four games last season, MSU hit .340 with a 3.75 ERA and .179 opponent average against UCA.
6) The last time the teams met in UCA's park, MSU won 15-9 on March 7 of last season, with
Drake Baldwin and
Jaden Rolffs each clubbing grand slams.
7) The Bears have been victorious the last 13 times they have scored in the first inning. The last loss after plating a run in the opening frame came on March 1, 2020 at Rice.
8) Head coach
Keith Guttin picked up his 1,300th career victory on April 13, 2021 at Missouri. Guttin's troops beat the Tigers 7-5 in Columbia, and the 40th-year coach currently ranks third among active coaches and 19th overall with 1,309 career wins.
9) The Bears had six victories last season in their final at bat. MSU won in 10 innings on March 30 at SEMO, and had 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), May 7 versus Indiana State (Hull single) and May 21 versus Valpo (Hull double). In fact, five of Missouri State's last eight home victories have been of the walk-off variety.
