Starting Nine
1) The Missouri State Bears will open their 2023 season in San Luis Obispo, Calif., with a Feb. 17-19 series at Cal Poly. The Bears and Mustangs meet at 8 p.m. (Central) Friday, 6 p.m. Saturday and 3 p.m. Sunday in MSU's first visit to the Golden State since playing at three-game series at UC Santa Barbara in 2019.
2) MSU is looking for its ninth opening day win in its last 11 tries Friday; the Bears are 26-14 in openers under head coach
Keith Guttin and 38-21 overall in season lid-lifters. The Bears have gone a combined 20-7 and averaged 7.2 runs per outing on opening weekend since 2014.
3) The Bears are coming off their fourth NCAA Regional appearance in the last seven tournaments, catching fire late in the season to capture the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament title and advance to the Stillwater Regional. MSU finished 31-29 overall in 2022 and belted 31 home runs in nine conference and NCAA Tournament contests.
4) Senior second baseman
Mason Hull and sophomore outfielder
Spencer Nivens earned preseason all-MVC honors this season. Hull is also a preseason third-team All-American according to Collegiate Baseball, while Nivens was a named a Freshman All-American by the publication last season.
5) Missouri State smashed 110 home runs last season, second-most in school history and the fifth-best total in conference history. Though the Bears' top two long ball hitters are now playing professionally, Missouri State still returns three players who hit double-digit homers last season in
Mason Hull (15),
Spencer Nivens (11) and
Mason Greer (10).
6) The Bears ranked in the top 17 nationally in homers (110) and slugging percentage (.512) last season, the program's best figures since leading the country in both categories in 1999. Missouri State smacked 242 total extra-base hits in 2022.
7) Missouri State has 23 new players on its roster this season with three ranked among D1Baseball's top 50 impact transfers. Pitchers
Jake Eddington (8th) and
Hayden Minton (38th) and catcher
Cody Kelly (49th) appear on the list.
8) Six players on the Missouri State roster began their college careers in the SEC, including
Gage Bradley (Vanderbilt),
Will Duff (Vanderbilt),
Jake Eddington (Alabama),
Mason Greer (Auburn),
Izzy Lopez (Texas A&M) and
Reed Metz (Tennessee).
9) Head coach
Keith Guttin ranks third among active coaches and 16th overall with 1,340 career wins. Among active skippers, Guttin trails only Danny Hall of Georgia Tech (1,348) and Minnesota's John Anderson (1,347).
Series History
Missouri State is 1-2 against Cal Poly with all three meetings taking place last February in Arlington, Texas. The series was moved from Springfield to Clay Gould Ballpark on the University of Texas at Arlington's campus due to winter weather for the home team.The Mustangs won 5-1 and 14-12 with an 8-5 MSU win sandwiched in betweeen.
Lifting the Lid
Missouri State is 26-14 in season openers under head coach
Keith Guttin and 38-21 overall as a program in such contests. MSU is 13-13 all-time in road season openers and is looking for its ninth opening day victory in the last 11 seasons on Friday. The Bears have gone a combined 20-7 and averaged 7.2 runs per outing on opening weekend since 2014. Additionally, this weekend's action will mark the 23rd consecutive year the Bears have opened on the road.
Listen In
All Missouri State baseball games this season will be streamed on the
Varsity Network App. Fans can download the app for iPhone or Android use for instant access to free game day audio streams and receive push notifications to remind them of games starting or upcoming audio broadcasts.
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