Softball Hits Road to Central Arkansas, Schedule Changes Announced

Thursday, February 23

Conway, Ark.

5:00 p.m.

Missouri State University

Central Arkansas

Softball Hits Road to Central Arkansas, Schedule Changes Announced

February 22, 2023 | Softball

Live Stats

Missouri State Bears (3-6) at Michelle Short Memorial Collegiate Classic
Dates	Thursday-Saturday, Feb. 23-25, 2023
Location & Site	Conway, Ark. \| Farris Field
Tournament Central	Michelle Short Memorial Collegiate Classic
Game 1	Thursday, 5 p.m. at Central Arkansas \| Live Stats
Game 2	Friday, 2:30 p.m. at Central Arkansas \| Live Stats
Game 3	Friday, 5 p.m. vs. Mississippi Valley State \| Live Stats
Game 4	Saturday, 4 p.m. vs. South Dakota State \| Live Stats
Missouri State	Softball Home Page
Central Arkansas	Softball Home Page
Mississippi Valley St.	Softball Home Page
South Dakota St.	Softball Home Page
Bears Mobile App	App Store (Apple Devices) \| Google Play Store (Android Devices)
Up Next	March 3-5 at Ole Miss Classic \| Oxford, Miss.

Schedule changes have been announced to this weekend's Michelle Short Memorial Collegiate Classic hosted by Central Arkansas. The Bears will now play in four games beginning Thursday, Feb. 23 through Saturday, Feb. 25. Missouri State's updated schedule for this weekend is below.

Schedule
Thursday, Feb. 23 at Central Arkansas, 5 p.m.
Friday, Feb. 24 at Central Arkansas, 2:30 p.m.
Friday, Feb. 24 vs. Mississippi Valley State, 5 p.m.
Saturday, Feb. 25 vs. South Dakota State, 4 p.m.

Storylines for the Michelle Short Memorial Collegiate Classic

Missouri State (3-6) picked up its first wins of the season at last week's Mardi Gras Classic hosted by South Alabama. The Bears defeated host South Alabama (3-1), before picking up two wins against Mississippi Valley State (8-2, 7-0).
The Bears went a perfect 24-for-24 on stolen base attempts last weekend at the Mardi Gras Classic. Freshman Abby Ford led the way with eight stolen bases across the tournament and set a Missouri State single-game record with four stolen bases against Mississippi Valley State on Feb. 18. Eight different Bears swiped bases throughout the tournament, including five with two or more stolen bases on the weekend.
A couple of freshmen are shining early this season for the Bears in outfielder Abby Ford and pitcher Makenzi Swick. Ford is leading MSU with a .350 batting average on the season, collecting seven hits, an RBI and two walks at the plate. She is also 10-for-11 in stolen base attempts after going a perfect 8-for-8 on the base paths last weekend in Mobile. In the circle, Swick is 1-0 on the season and owns a team-leading 0.00 earned run average in 11.0 innings pitched. She has struck out seven batters, tossed a complete-game shutout against Mississippi Valley State and opposing hitters are batting just .108 against her.

Series Histories
   Missouri State leads the all-time series against Central Arkansas, 8-5, including a 5-2 record in Conway. UCA took home the 5-0 victory in the teams' last meeting in the same tournament in Conway on Feb. 25, 2021. MSU's last victory against Central Arkansas was an eight-inning, 6-4, win on the road on March 2, 2019.
   MSU owns the all-time series advantage versus Mississippi Valley State, 4-0, with all the games played at neutral site locations. MSU and MVSU met twice last weekend at the Mardi Gras Classic in Mobile, Ala., with the Bears taking home 8-2 and 7-0 victories.
   Finally, the Bears lead the all-time series against South Dakota State, 4-2, with a 3-0 advantage at neutral site locations. Missouri State has won the last three games in the series as the Bears and Jackrabbits meet for the first time since 2014, in which MSU defeated SDSU twice at the UTA Maverick Invitational (7-1, 2-0).