Starting 9
1) The Missouri State Bears (17-18, 3-6) play a pair of in-state rivals in midweek home games this week with Missouri (22-15, 5-13 SEC) and Saint Louis (21-16, 8-4 A-10) coming to Hammons Field Tuesday and Wednesday. The last time the Bears played multiple midweek games this late in the season was in 2014, when they lost to Oral Roberts and beat Kansas in May 6 and 7 home games.
2) The Bears have collected 140 extra base hits in 35 games and rank in the top 40 nationally in batting average (40th - .298), slugging (18th - .509), on-base percentage (33rd - .399) and scoring (29th - 8.0). Missouri State has scored five or more runs in an inning 15 times this season.
3) Missouri State has hit five or more home runs in four games this season, has five different players with a multi-homer game, and has hit back-to-back long balls on five occasions.
4) Senior
Dakota Kotowski ranks 4th nationally with 18 home runs and 2nd with 0.51 homers per game. He hit his 10th home run on March 20 in MSU's 18th game of the season. Only Jason Hart has reached double figures in fewer games, hitting his 10th in game 16 of the 1998 campaign. Kotowski was named the MVC and Collegiate Baseball Player of the Week on Monday.
5) Missouri State has turned 32 double plays on the year to rank 33rd nationally in total DPs and 18th in per game average at 0.91.
6) The Bears are hitting .325 and average 4.6 runs per game against opposing relievers. Missouri State has scored more runs than games played in the fourth, fifth, seventh and eighth innings this season.
7) Missouri State and Missouri are tied 30-30 in the all-time series. The Bears own a 16-11 edge in Springfield. MSU leads SLU 49-12 with a 32-4 mark in Springfield.
8) The Bears are 2-2 against fellow Missouri schools this season, taking two of three from SEMO in a March 19-20 home series and falling at Missouri on April 6. MSU owns an aggregate score of 33-20 in the four games.
9) 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 1,326 career wins.
