SPRINGFIELD – Missouri State senior outfielder Dakota Kotowski was recognized as the Missouri Valley Conference Player of the Week and one of Collegiate Baseball's national players of the week Monday after swatting four home runs and driving in nine during four MSU games last week.

Kotowski homered in each game of the Bears' weekend sweep at Valparaiso, improving his league-leading total to 18 bombs on the season, which ranks the Channahon, Ill., native fourth nationally overall and second with 0.51 round-trippers per game.

Kotowski slugged 1.267 with a 1.741 OPS for the week after homering in three consecutive games for the second time this season. In game two at Valpo Saturday, he notched his second multi-homer game of the year and drove in four runs, had a double and homer in the first of Saturday's doubleheader, and closed the series with a two-run homer on Sunday. He collected an RBI single in the Bears' Tuesday game at Missouri and tallied 19 total bases in the four games.

The Bears are home for a pair of midweek games, facing Missouri at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday and Saint Louis at the same time Wednesday. Tuesday is Alumni Night at Hammons Field, with $4 tickets available for Missouri State graduates.