Missouri State Bears (9-13) at Southern Illinois Salukis (17-3)
Dates	Tuesday-Wednesday, March 14-15, 2023
Location & Site	Carbondale, Ill. | Charlotte West Stadium
Game 1	Tuesday, March 14, 2 p.m. | Watch (ESPN+) | Live Stats
Game 2	Wednesday, March 15, 12 p.m. | Watch (ESPN+) | Live Stats
Missouri State	Game Notes (PDF) | Softball Home Page
Southern Illinois	Softball Home Page
Bears Mobile App	App Store (Apple Devices) | Google Play Store (Android Devices)
Up Next	March 17-19 vs. Drake | Springfield, Mo.

The Starting Lineup - Storylines

• Last weekend, the Bears closed out tournament play with a trip to the Shocker Classic, hosted by Wichita State. MSU went 1-3 in four games against Nebraska and #23 Wichita State with a 2-1 upset of No. 23 WSU on Saturday. The win marked the third consecutive season that MSU has defeated a top-25 opponent. Gracie Johnston (Sr., Augusta, Kan.) was stellar in the circle against the Shockers as she earned the complete-game victory, allowing no earned runs and scattering eight hits while striking out five. 
• Olivia Krehbiel (Sr., Lee's Summit, Mo.) leads the way for MSU offensively so far this season with a .308 batting average, 16 hits, 6 doubles, 12 RBI and a .519 slugging percentage. She went 6-for-12 (.500) last weekend at the Shocker Classic with two doubles, an RBI, two runs scored and three stolen bases.
• Krehbiel's grand slam against South Dakota St. on 2/25 marked the third of her career, as she joined Staci Wattie and Jessica Acton as one of only three Bears in program history to accomplish the feat in their careers. She also became just the third player in program history to drive in six or more runs in a single game with six RBI versus SDSU. 
• Freshman Abby Ford (Fr., Ozark, Mo.) leads Missouri State with 14 stolen bases in 17 attempts on the season. Her 14 swipes rank first in the Missouri Valley Conference and 24th nationally. 
• McKenzie Vaughan (So., Bella Vista, Ark.) was named MVC Pitcher of the Week on March 7 for her performance at the Ole Miss Classic. Vaughan owned a 0.40 ERA in 17.1 innings pitched and earned her first victory of the season as she went 1-0. She allowed one earned run on 15 hits and walked three, while striking out 17 batters. She owned a .221 opposing batting average, giving up one XBH, while recording a save, complete game and a combined shutout .
• Head coach Holly Hesse is in her 35th season at the helm of the Bears program. She ranks second in the MVC in overall career victories with 881 and second in MVC career victories with 379 league wins. Hesse entered the season ranked 17th among all active NCAA Division I coaches in career victories and is currently 881-850-2.
• Missouri State was picked to finish fourth in the Missouri Valley Conference this season by the MVC coaches. 
• The Bears return 11 position players and 3 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 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 looks 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 three pitchers from last season's staff, while adding two new arms to the mix for 2023.
• With the retirement of long-time associate head coach Sue Frederick, the Bears welcome assistant coach, Kasey Griffth, to the tenured staff of head coach Holly Hesse and associate head coach Beth Perine. Griffith spent the last 10 years at Drake, where she served as assistant coach since the start of the 2015 season. Griffith works closely with the MSU hitters and infielders, and serves as the first base coach. 
• 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 take home the MVC Tournament title and advanced to their seventh NCAA Tournament in program history.

Series History
Missouri State trails the all-time series against Southern Illinois, 53-60, including a 17-34 record on the road in Carbondale. The Bears won the series last season two games to one with a split in Springfield, before clinching the series win on the road. Game one of the series went 15 innings with SIU winning 6-2 courtesy of a final-inning grand slam, before MSU responded in game two with a 2-1 victory. In Carbondale, the Bears won a pitcher's duel, 1-0, with a solo homer securing the series for MSU.