Starting 9
1) Missouri State (1-2) visits Oral Roberts (4-0) at 3 p.m. Wednesday before hosting Central Arkansas (3-1) Feb. 24-26. Friday's game with UCA will be the earliest home opener since 2000 and earliest ever at Hammons Field.
2) The Bears are 28-34 all-time against Oral Roberts after dropping both games last season by one run. Prior to that, MSU had won five straight in Tulsa from 2017-21. Missouri State is 24-9 against UCA after taking the opening series in Conway last season.
3) Missouri State has continued its slugging ways this year and leads the Missouri Valley Conference in nearly every major offensive category. MSU ranks third nationally with 12 doubles and freshman
Taeg Gollert owns the individual lead with five. Gollert's brother Harley is a sixth-year senior pitcher for ORU.
4) 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.
5) 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.
6) 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). MSU ranked in the top 17 nationally in homers 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 1,341 career wins. He will tie long-time Southern Cal coach Rod Dedeaux for 15th with his next win. Among active skippers, Guttin trails only Danny Hall of Georgia Tech (1,351) and Minnesota's John Anderson (1,347).
Series Histories
The Bears are 28-34 all-time against ORU and dropped both games with the Golden Eagles last season as ORU scored the game-winner in the ninth inning of both contests. Prior to last year's visit to J.L. Johnson Stadium, the Bears won five straight in Tulsa from 2017-21.
   Missouri State is 24-9 against Central Arkansas after taking two of three in the season-opening series of 2022 in Conway. MSU is 9-2 against UCA at Hammons Field.
