Wednesday, March 9
Springfield, Mo.
4:00 p.m.
Missouri State University
vs
Wichita State
Softball Bears Host Shockers in Home Opener
March 08, 2022 | Softball
| Missouri State (4-11) vs. Wichita State (11-6) | |
| Date | Wednesday, March 9 | 4:00 p.m. |
| Location | Killian Stadium | Springfield, Mo. |
| Tickets | Free Admission |
| Program | Flip Card |
| Follow | ESPN+ | Live Stats | Twitter |
| Missouri State | Game Notes (PDF) | Softball Home Page | Media Guide  |
| Wichita State | Softball Home Page |
| Up Next | Jayhawk Invitational | March 13 | Lawrence, Kansas |
The Starting Lineup - Storylines
- Missouri State is 4-11 to begin the 2022 campaign, but the Bears have faced a strong schedule to this point. Last weekend at the Razorback Rumble, MSU picked up two victories against Kennesaw State and Kansas City, 5-4 and 3-1, en route to a 2-3 record on the weekend. MSU's signature win this season was a top 25 victory at No. 21 Arizona State, 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 848 and second in MVC career victories with 361 league wins. Hesse entered the season ranked 22nd among all active NCAA Division I coaches in career victories (848-828-2).
- 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 in the preseason. Hesse has led MSU to the NCAA Tournament five times in her career, with the Bears' last appearance coming in 2011.Â
- The Bears returned 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.Â
- Alex Boze (Sr., Swansea, Ill.) currently leads the Missouri Valley Conference in batting average (.440), slugging percentage (.920), on-base percentage (.563) and OPS (1.483). Boze leads the Bears in home runs (3), RBI (7), total bases (23) and is tied for the team lead in walks (5). At the Razorback Rumble last weekend, Boze paced MSU with a .455 batting average and a .600 on-base percentage, after collecting 5 hits, 2 extra-base hits and drawing 3 walks.
- McKenzie Vaughan (Fr., Bella Vista, Ark.) burst onto the scene at the Razorback Rumble after launching two two-run homers, both of which served as game winners for the Bears. The freshman hit .400 on the weekend, collecting a team-leading 5 RBI and leading the team with a 1.000 slugging percentage in four games started. Vaughan was also impressive in the circle, leading the way for the Bears on the weekend with a 2.62 ERA. In 3.1 combined innings pitched against the No.10/11 Arkansas Razorbacks, Vaughan gave up just one earned run.Â
- Daphne Plummer (Sr., Lee's Summit, Mo.) leads MSU with four multiple hit games this season. Plummer has a hit in all but three games in 2022 and recorded her 200th career hit in the final game at Arkansas last weekend.
- 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 History
Missouri State is 59-56 all-time against Wichita State, including a 29-15 record against the Shockers in Springfield. The Bears have lost the previous six matchups, including 8-1 and 13-2 losses last season to Wichita State. MSU's last victory against the Shockers was on April 19, 2017 on the road, 4-0.Â
Players Mentioned
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/ SoftballMonday, June 22
Wednesday, June 17
Wednesday, June 17
Wednesday, June 17
