Starting Nine
1) Missouri State (5-6) visits No. 6 Oklahoma State (6-4) Tuesday 4 p.m. before hosting 11 consecutive games at Hammons Field from March 11-27.
2) So far this season, the Bears have collected 47 extra base hits, with 23 doubles, four triples and 20 home runs. Missouri State is slugging .519, good for 28th nationally, and ranks 12th overall in home runs. MSU's 7 homers March 2 at Kansas was the most since 2002, and the Bears lead the MVC in homers and slugging percentage
3) Several MSU players rank among the NCAA statistical leaders, including
Mason Hull (11th with 6 home runs; 4th with 21 RBI; 26th with 36 total bases),
Dakota Kotowski (11th with 6 home runs) and
Spencer Nivens (24th with 12 walks). Hull leads the MVC in home runs and RBI, Kotowski shares the MVC home run lead, while Nivens and
Hayden Moore rank 1-2 in walks.
4) 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.
5) 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.
6) Missouri State trails Oklahoma State 17-9 in the all-time series with a 4-11 record in Stillwater. The Bears won the only meeting at O'Brate Stadium, 11-8 on March 23 of last season.
7) The Bears have been victorious the last 15 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 18th overall with 1,314 career wins.
9) The Bears had six victories last season in their final at bat, and two so far this year (
Will Duff RBI triple in 8th vs. Cal Poly; Kotowski two-run HR in 8th vs. Indiana).
Mason Hull had three walk-off hits last season and four in his career. MSU has taken the lead in its final at bat in six of the team's last nine home wins.
