Missouri State Bears (19-14, 12-3 MVC) at Loyola (12-23, 6-11 MVC)
Dates	Saturday, April 23 | 12:00 p.m. (Doubleheader) Sunday, April 24 | 12:00 p.m.
Location	Loyola Softball Park | Chicago, Ill.
Watch	ESPN3  Watch Game 1 | Watch Game 2 | Watch Game 3
Follow	Live Stats Game 1 | Live Stats Game 2 | Live Stats Game 3 Twitter
Missouri State	Game Notes (PDF) | Softball Home Page | Media Guide
Loyola	Softball Home Page
Up Next	Wednesday, April 27 at Southern Illinois | 12:00 p.m.

The Starting Lineup - Storylines for the Loyola Series

• Missouri State continues its seven-game road trip with a three-game Missouri Valley Conference series this weekend at Loyola, its first trip to Chicago since the 2018 season. Last season in Springfield, MSU took the series, 2-1, against the Ramblers.
• The Bears enter the weekend ranked 1st in Earned Run Average in MVC play. In 15 conference matchups, the Bears boast a 1.47 ERA. MSU has given up just 24 earned runs in 114.2 IP, while also giving up the fewsest home runs (6) in league play. 
• Dating back to the 2019 season,     Missouri State has won 12 of its last 13 multi-game Missouri Valley Conference series.
• MSU is 15-2 this season when allowing 3 runs or less and 11-2 in games decided by one or two runs. 
•  Missouri State has won 15 of its last 18 contests, beginning with its win over Wichita State on March 9. The Bears have also won 11 of their last 12 games, dating back to March 19. Their only loss in that 12-game span came at first-place UNI. 
• Steffany Dickerson (Sr., Oklahoma, City, Okla.) owns a 0.92 ERA and .178 opposing batting average in MVC play, both of which lead the league. Overall, Dickerson owns a 1.94 ERA which ranks third in the MVC. She also ranks first or is tied for first in strikeouts looking (21) and saves (2) in Missouri Valley Conference play. With three wins last weekend at Evansville, Dickerson now ranks fourth all-time with 54 career wins in program history.
• 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).
• Daphne Plummer (Sr., Lee's Summit, Mo.) ranks second in the Missouri Valley Conference with a .383 batting average, while she leads the league in stolen bases with 20. Her 20 stolen bases rank 43rd nationally, while 0.61 steals per game rank 25th in the country. Plummer also continues to creep closer to the MSU all-time hits record. She owns 227 career hits and the record is 252 set by All-American Barb Gaines (1990-93). 
• Alex Boze (Sr., Swansea, Ill.) continues to rank first in the MVC in overall slugging percentage (.793) and OPS (1.236). She is also third in the league with 10 home runs this season. With her 10th long ball of the season at Evansville, Boze became just the sixth Bear in program history to record double-digit home runs in a season.

Series History
    Missouri State leads the all-time series against Loyola, 14-5. However, on the road in Chicago, the Bears are just 3-4 against the Ramblers. 
    Last season, MSU took the series against Loyola two games to one, with both of their victories being shutouts. The last time the Bears played in Chicago was the 2018 season, as they came home with a 2-1 series victory.