Bears Softball Heads to South Alabama for Mardi Gras Classic

Friday, February 17

Mobile, Ala.

10:00 a.m.

Missouri State University

Rutgers

Bears Softball Heads to South Alabama for Mardi Gras Classic

February 16, 2023 | Softball

Game Notes (PDF)Live Stats Listen (South Alabama Games Only)

Missouri State Bears (0-4) at Mardi Gras Classic
Dates	Friday-Sunday, Feb. 17-19, 2023
Location & Site	Mobile, Ala. \| Jaguar Field
Tournament Central	Mardi Gras Classic
Game 1	Friday, 10 a.m. vs. Rutgers \| Live Stats
Game 2	Friday, 12:30 p.m. at South Alabama \| Live Stats \| Listen
Game 3	Saturday, 10 a.m. vs. Mississippi Valley State \| Live Stats
Game 4	Saturday, 3:00 p.m. at South Alabama \| Live Stats \| Listen
Game 5	Sunday, 9 a.m. vs. Mississippi Valley State \| Live Stats
Missouri State	Game Notes (PDF) \| Softball Home Page
South Alabama	Softball Home Page
Rutgers	Softball Home Page
Mississippi Valley State	Softball Home Page
Bears Mobile App	App Store (Apple Devices) \| Google Play Store (Android Devices)
Up Next	Feb. 24-26 at Michelle Short Tournament \| Conway, Ark.

The Starting Lineup - Storylines for the Mardi Gras Classic

Missouri State kicked off the 2023 campaign last week at the Lion Classic hosted by Southeastern Louisiana. The Bears went 0-4 to begin the season with a loss to Nicholls and three to the Lady Lions. MSU looks to bounce back this week at the Mardi Gras Classic hosted by South Alabama with contests against Rutgers, South Alabama and Mississippi Valley State.
Missouri State finished the 2022 season with a 28-20 overall record and finished second in the Missouri Valley Conference regular season standings with an 18-7 conference ledger. The Bears went on to defeat Illinois State and No. 1 seed Northern Iowa to take home the MVC Tournament title and advanced to their seventh NCAA Tournament in program history. In the Columbia Regional, the Bears picked up a 2-0 win over Illinois, while losing two close contests to No. 15 national seed Missouri.
Head coach Holly Hesse is entering her 35th season at the helm of the Bears program. She ranks second in the MVC in overall career victories with 872 and second in MVC career victories with 379 league wins. Hesse enters the season ranked 17th among all active NCAA Division I coaches in career victories (872-841-2).
Missouri State was picked to finish fourth in the Missouri Valley Conference this season by the MVC coaches.
The Bears return 12 position players and 4 pitchers from last season's squad, while welcoming five newcomers (four freshmen, one transfer). At the plate, the Bears return two of their top four hitters from a season ago in Alex Boze and Olivia Krehbiel, who batted .325 and .282 respectively, as they both led the team with 11 home runs and 31 RBI. In the cirlce, Missouri State will look a lot different as it lost 83% of its innings pitched from a year ago, with the departures of Steffany Dickerson and Madison Hunsaker. The Bears return four pitchers from last season's staff, while adding two new arms to the mix for 2023.
Fifth-year senior Alex Boze (Sr., Swansea, Ill.) returns to the Missouri State lineup this season following a career season in 2022. She was named to the MVC All-Defensive Team and earned Third Team NFCA All-Region honors after setting the single-season record in MSU program history with a .684 slugging percentage and posting career-highs in batting average (.325), hits (38), home runs (11), RBI (31) and on-base percentage (.448). Boze is also tied for fifth in career home runs with 19, with the current record set at 27 by Jessie Smith (2006-09).
Entering her fourth season, Olivia Krehbiel (Sr., Lee's Summit, Mo.) is looking to improve on an impressive junior campaign that saw her hit 10 doubles and 11 home runs, drive in 31 runs, post a .661 slugging percentage and became just the second Bear to hit at least two grand slams in a single season. She also earned All-MVC Second Team honors and was named to the MVC All-Tournament team last season. Krehbiel and Boze also became just the second pair of MSU teammates to hit 10 or more home runs in a season.
With the retirement of long-time associate head coach Sue Frederick, the Bears welcome first-year assistant coach, Kasey Griffth, to the tenured staff of head coach Holly Hesse (35th season) and associate head coach Beth Perine (28th season). Griffith spent the last 10 years at Drake, where she served as assistant coach since the beginning of the 2015 season. Griffith works closely with the Bear hitters and infielders, and will serve as the first base coach.

Series Histories
Missouri State trails the all-time series against Rutgers, 3-5, including a 3-3 record at neutral site locations. The two teams last met on 2/16/13 at the UTSA Classic, with Rutgers defeating the Bears, 3-0. MSU's last win against Rutgers came on 3/20/89 by a score of 6-0.
MSU and South Alabama have met just once in the programs' histories. The Bears defeated the Jaguars 4-0 at the Sand Dollar Classic in Gulf Shores, Ala., on 2/8/19.
Finally, the Bears lead the all-time series against Mississippi Valley State, 2-0, with both games played at neutral sites. The teams most recently met on 2/21/21 at the Alex Wilcox Memorial Tournament in Starkville, Miss., as Missouri State took home a 5-3 victory.