Starting 9
1) Missouri State (9-5) takes on SEMO (7-10) in a home-and-home midweek series, the second game of which begins a three-city, five-game road trip that continues with a weekend series at No. 10 East Carolina and concludes March 21 at Saint Louis.
2) The Bears lead SEMO 69-42 in the all-time series with a 40-17 record in Springfield and 29-25 mark in Cape Girardeau. Missouri State is also 12-2 against the Redhawks at Hammons Field.
3) The Bears have continued their slugging ways this year after ranking in the top 17 nationally in 2022 in home runs and slugging percentage with 4.03 extra base hits per game. This season, the Bears rank 28th in homers and 27th in doubles with 4.71 extra base hits per contest.
4) Missouri State homered in the first 11 games this season to extend its streak to 29 consecutive games with a long ball. The Bears went without a homer on March 10 versus SIUE, and have now blasted a round-tripper in 12 of 14 games this year and 30 of the last 32, with 71 total in that span. MSU has also tallied three or more extra-base hits in 12 of 14 games, with eight or more on three different occasions. The Bears lead the Valley in batting average and slugging.
5) Individually, freshman
Taeg Gollert ranks eighth in the nation with eight doubles.
Nick Rodriguez is one shy of the Missouri Valley Conference lead with 23 hits, and
Spencer Nivens paces the league with six homers and a .786 slugging percentage.
6) The Missouri State pitching staff has allowed a .211 opponent average (41-194) over the last six games and tied a school record with 19 strikeouts on March 10 versus SIUE. The Bears lead the MVC in ERA and total strikeouts.
7) 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. Nivens hit for MSU's first cycle since 1998 on Feb. 24 against Central Arkansas.
8) 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.
9) Head coach
Keith Guttin ranks tied for second among active coaches and 14th overall with 1,349 career wins. Among active skippers, Guttin trails only Danny Hall of Georgia Tech (1,359) and is tied with Minnesota's John Anderson (1,349).
Series History
The Bears lead SEMO 69-42 in the all-time series with a 40-17 record in Springfield and 29-25 mark in Cape Girardeau. Missouri State is also 12-2 against the Redhawks at Hammons Field. The teams did not play between 1981 and 1992, and
Keith Guttin is 35-15 against the Redhawks since the series resumed 31 years ago.
Last Time Out
Missouri State took a weekend series from SIUE at home and held the Cougars to a .175 average in the three games.
In game one of Friday's doubleheader,
Brandt Thompson (12) and
Trey Ziegenbein (7) combined for 19 strikeouts to tie an MSU single-game record. Thompson reached double figures without issuing a walk, a first for a Bears pitcher since 2016, but MSU fell 2-1. The offense rebounded in game two with a nine-run second inning to spark a 14-0 victory.
In Sunday's finale,
Hayden Minton retired the final 16 hitters he faced after falling behind 3-0 after two innings, and
Spencer Nivens launched the first pitch he saw in the 10th inning over the right field wall for a walk-off homer and 4-3 win.
