Showdown with First-Place Panthers Next for Softball Bears

Missouri State Bears (13-13, 6-2 MVC) at UNI (13-11, 5-1 MVC)
Dates	Saturday, April 2 \| Canceled Sunday, April 3 \| 11:00 a.m. (Doubleheader)
Location	Robinson-Dresser Sports Complex \| Cedar Falls, Iowa
Follow	ESPN3 \| Live Stats \| Twitter Watch Game 1 \| Watch Game 2
Missouri State	Game Notes (PDF) \| Softball Home Page \| Media Guide
UNI	Softball Home Page
Up Next	Saturday, April 9 vs. Indiana State (DH) \| 12:00 p.m. Sunday, April 10 vs. Indiana State \| 12:00 p.m.

The Starting Lineup - Storylines for the UNI Series
?    Missouri State will hit the road to Northern Iowa this weekend for an important Missouri Valley Conference series. The Bears (6-2 MVC) and Panthers (5-1 MVC) sit atop the MVC standings heading into the three-game series. Missouri State is currently on a five game win streak as they head to Cedar Falls for the first time since April 24, 2016.
?    The Bears enter the weekend ranked 1st in the MVC in fielding percentage (.968) with just 25 errors in 782 chances through 26 games.
? Cardiac Bears - Of their 13 wins this season, 6 of the Bears' victories have been of the come-from-behind variety.
?    Missouri State is 10-1 this season when allowing 3 runs or less and 10-1 in games decided by one or two runs.
?     This week's MVC Pitcher of the Week, Steffany Dickerson (Sr., Oklahoma City, Okla.) led the Bears in the circle with 11.0 innings pitched last week while recording a perfect 0.00 ERA. Dickerson logged two shutouts (one solo and one combined) against Valparaiso as the Bears swept the series. She struck out 10 Beacons, while giving up just five hits and going 2-0 on the weekend. Dickerson has won MVC Pitcher of the Week twice this season and in her career. With two victories last week, Dickerson is now tied for fifth in program history with 49 career victories.
?    Daphne Plummer (Sr., Lee's Summit, Mo.), this week's MVC Player of the Week, sits in second place in program history with 217 career hits after a seven-hit performance last weekend against Valparaiso. She is 35 hits shy of tying All-American Barb Gaines' record of 252 career hits, which she set from 1990-1993. Last weekend, Plummer hit .636 (7-for-11) with a double, triple, three RBI and three stolen bases against the Beacons to earn weekly conference honors for the second time this season and the third time in her career.
?     MSU's 2022 schedule features 8 teams that appeared in the 2021 NCAA Tournament (Oklahoma State, Arizona State, Texas A&M, Arkansas, Kennesaw State, Wichita State, UNI and Southern Illinois), four of which were ranked in the USA Softball Preseason Top 25 (#4 Oklahoma State, #9 Arkansas, #21 Arizona State and #25 Wichita State).
?     Alex Boze (Sr., Swansea, Ill.) surpassed 50 career RBI last weekend (52 in 118 games) with a three-RBI performance against Valparaiso. Boze tops The Valley in slugging percentage (.774) and home runs (8), while ranking second in the league in OPS (1.206) and sixth in RBI (18). Boze's 8 home runs this season are tied for 5th in a single season in program history.
?    McKenzie Vaughan (Fr., Bella Vista, Ark.) has made a major impact in the Bears lineup this season. She currently ranks 5th in the MVC in home runs (5), 6th in slugging percentage (.622) and 8th in OPS (.979).

Series History
   Missouri State trails the all-time series against UNI, 51-52. On the road in Cedar Falls, the Bears are 15-22 against the Panthers.
   Last season, Missouri State secured the series victory against UNI with two wins in Springfield. MSU won the first two games of the series by scores of 2-1 and 4-3 (11) before dropping the finale, 6-7.

Showdown with First-Place Panthers Next for Softball Bears

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Players Mentioned

Alex Boze

Steffany Dickerson

Daphne Plummer

McKenzie Vaughan

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