Softball Bears Head to Arkansas for Razorback Rumble

Thursday, March 3

Fayetteville, Ark.

5:00 p.m.

Missouri State University

Arkansas

Softball Bears Head to Arkansas for Razorback Rumble

March 02, 2022 | Softball

Missouri State at Razorback Rumble
Dates	Thursday-Saturday, March 3-5, 2022
Tournament Central	Razorback Rumble
Location & Site	Fayetteville, Ark. \| Bogle Park
Game 1	Thursday, 5:00 p.m. at #10/11 Arkansas \| Watch (SECN+) \| Live Stats
Game 2	Friday, 10:30 a.m. vs. Kennesaw State \| Live Stats
Game 3	Friday, 1:00 p.m. vs. Kansas City \| Live Stats
Game 4	Saturday, 10:00 a.m. vs. Kansas City \| Live Stats
Game 5	Saturday, 3:00 p.m. at #10/11 Arkansas \| Watch (SECN+) \| Live Stats
Missouri State	MSU Game Notes (PDF) \| Softball Home Page
Up Next	March 9 vs. Wichita State

The Starting Lineup - Storylines
?    Missouri State is 2-8 to begin the 2022 campaign, but the Bears have faced a strong schedule to this point. Last weekend at the Texas A&M Invitational, the Bears defeated Stephen F. Austin, 2-1, while their signature win so far this season came on Feb. 13 in the Kajikawa Classic as the Bears beat No. 21 Arizona State on the road, 4-0.
?   Missouri State finished the 2021 season with a 26-17 overall record and a 16-6 Missouri Valley Conference record. The Bears concluded the regular as the third-place team in the MVC and advanced to the semifinals of the MVC Tournament before they were knocked off by the No. 2 seed, Northern Iowa, 3-2.
?    Head coach Holly Hesse is entering her 34th season at the helm of the Bears program. She ranks second in the MVC in overall career victories with 846 and second in MVC career victories with 361 league wins. Hesse enters the season ranked 22nd among all active NCAA Division I coaches in career victories (846-825-2).
?   Missouri State was picked to finish third in the Missouri Valley Conference this season by the MVC coaches, while D1 Softball pegged the Bears to place second in the MVC and make an NCAA Tournament appearance at the beginning of the season. Hesse has led MSU to the NCAA Tournament five times in her career, with the Bears' last appearance coming in 2011.
?   The Bears return 13 position players and 4 pitchers from last season's squad, while welcoming six newcomers (five freshmen, one transfer). In the circle, the Bears returned all but one member of their staff that ranked third in the MVC last season with a 2.66 ERA. Meanwhile in the batter's box, Missouri State welcomed back its top four hitters from last season (Plummer, Krehbiel, Weakly and Hunsaker) for 2022.. MSU's veteran presence is highlighted by the return of three seniors for their fifth years: Steffany Dickerson, Madison Hunsaker and Daphne Plummer.
?     Daphne Plummer (Sr., Lee's Summit, Mo.) was named Missouri Valley Conference Player of the Week on Feb. 15, following her performance to open the season against a loaded field at the Kajikawa Classic. Plummer posted a team-leading .429 batting average, logging six hits, six runs scored and a .571 slugging percentage in the tournament. Plummer has a hit in 8 of 10 games this season and owns a .400 average, which ranks sixth the MVC, while leading the team with 12 hits and six stolen bases.
?   Steffany Dickerson (Sr., Oklahoma City, Okla.) continues to lead the way for the Bears in the circle. The fifth-year senior pitched a gem at the Texas A&M Invitational. Against Stephen F. Austin, she threw six innings of shutout softball, while striking out five as MSU picked up their second win of the season. Earlier this season, Dickerson earned MSU's only other win at No. 21 Arizona State, pitching a one-hit complete-game shutout. Dickerson ranks 5th in the MVC with a 1.99 ERA on the season.
?     Alex Boze (Sr., Swansea, Ill.) leads MSU with a .429 batting average in 7 games played. In the TAMU Invitational, Boze went 6-for-10 at the plate, launching 2 homers and hitting two doubles, while collecting five RBI.
?     The Bears will face a challenging non-conference schedule in 2022, as they will take on 8 Power Five squads with 11 games against those opponents. Four teams on Missouri State's schedule are ranked in the ESPN.com/USA Softball Preseason Top 25 (#4 Oklahoma State, #9 Arkansas, #21 Arizona State and #25 Wichita State).
?     The coaching staff of Hesse, Sue Frederick and Beth Perine has been together since the 1996 season, making them the longest-tenured staff in the nation.

Series Histories
Missouri State is 19-22 all-time against Arkansas. In Fayetteville, the Bears are 6-13 against the Razorbacks. MSU has dropped the last three contests against Arkansas, including a 1-9 loss last season.
   MSU is 0-1 all-time against Kennesaw State, with the only meeting taking place in 2013. Kennesaw State won the only matchup by a score of 12-8.
   Against UMKC, Missouri State owns an all-time record of 41-11. At neutral sites, MSU's record against the Roos is 9-0. However, in their meeting last season in Springfield, the Bears lost 3-8 to the Roos.