Baseball Bears Hit Valley Road for First Time at Illinois State

Friday, March 31

Normal, Ill.

12 p.m.

Missouri State University

Illinois State

Baseball Bears Hit Valley Road for First Time at Illinois State

March 30, 2023 | Baseball

Listen Live Live Stats ESPN3 (Sat.)ESPN+ (Sun.)Game Notes

By: MSU Athletics Communications

Missouri State at Illinois State
Schedule	Game 1 - Friday, March 31, 12 p.m. Game 2 - Saturday, April 1, 3 p.m. Game 3 - Sunday, April 2, 1 p.m.
Location	Normal, Ill.
Site	Duffy Bass Field
Listen Live	Varsity Network App
Live Video	Saturday (ESPN3) Sunday (ESPN+)
Live Stats	StatBroadcast
Missouri State	MSU Game Notes Baseball Home Page
Illinois State	Baseball Home Page

Starting 9
1) Missouri State (11-12, 0-3 Missouri Valley Conference) hits the road for a three-game set at Illinois State (8-11, 1-2) at Duffy Bass Field in Normal from March 31-April 2. Game times are 12 p.m. Friday, 3 p.m. Saturday and 1 p.m. Sunday.

2) The Bears are 66-49 all-time against Illinois State with a 27-28 record in Normal. Missouri State had lost seven consecutive road games in the series prior to ending that streak with a 2-1 win in the 2021 series finale at Duffy Bass 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 50th in homers and 21st in doubles with 4.09 extra base hits per contest.

4) Missouri State freshman outfielders Zack Stewart and Taeg Gollert have made an immediate impact this season and rank 1-2 in the MVC in doubles with 11 and 10, respectively. Stewart is hitting .344 with five homers and 21 RBI, while Gollert sits at .291 with four long balls and 17 driven in.

5) Missouri State homered in the first 11 games this season to extend its streak to 29 consecutive games with a long ball. The Bears have now blasted a round-tripper in 17 of 23 games this year and 35 of the last 41, with 78 total in that span. MSU has also tallied three or more extra-base hits in 17 of 23 games, with eight or more on three different occasions. The Bears lead the Valley in doubles and rank third in homers and slugging.

6) The Missouri State leads the MVC in total strikeouts (232) and strikeouts per nine innings (10.07), the best rate in school history (9.10 in 2016 is 2nd), ranking 51st nationally in the latter category. The Bears have a 4.35 ERA and .248 opponent average in the last 15 games. Brandt Thompson leads the league with 17 strikeouts looking and ranks second with 42 total. Thompson (49th - 6.0) and Trey Ziegenbein (54th - 5.8) and both rank in the top 55 nationally in strikeout-to-walk ratio.

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 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, and leads the MVC with 64 total bases.

8) MSU is 442-311 in its 33rd MVC season with six regular season titles. Since 2015, the Bears have won more combined regular season titles (3-2) and tournament championships (3-1) than the rest of the league's current membership combined.

9) Head coach Keith Guttin ranks third among active coaches and 15th overall with 1,351 career wins. Among active skippers, Guttin trails only Danny Hall of Georgia Tech (1,361) and Minnesota's John Anderson (1,352).

Series History
The Bears are 66-49 all-time against Illinois State with a 27-28 record in Normal. Missouri State had lost seven consecutive road games in the series prior to ending that streak with a 2-1 win in the 2021 series finale at Duffy Bass Field.
The first ever meetings between the Bears and Redbirds took place in the 1969 NCAA Division II World Series hosted by Missouri State in Springfield, with ISU winning 5-1 in the first match-up before a 12-0 victory that earned ISU a national championship.

Last Time Out
Missouri State was shut out at home by Oral Roberts on Tuesday, managing just five hits against six ORU pitchers. Mason Hull, Anthony Socci and Zack Stewart all logged doubles. Garrett Ferguson tossed a career-best 3.1 innings in relief, holding ORU to one hit.