Starting 9
1) Missouri State (19-15, 8-4 MVC) will play four games in a five-day stretch, starting with a 6 p.m. Tuesday contest at Missouri (22-13). The Bears then return home for a Thursday-Saturday series against MVC newcomer Belmont (19-18, 5-7), facing the Bruins at 11 a.m. each day at Hammons Field on days in which the Springfield Cardinals are also at home.
2) MoState is 31-31 all-time against Missouri and 1-1 versus Belmont.
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 37th in homers and 44th in doubles with 4.03 extra base hits per contest.
4) Missouri State freshman outfielders
Zack Stewart and
Taeg Gollert have made an immediate impact this season and rank 1-4 in the MVC in doubles with 14 and 10, respectively. Stewart is hitting .329 with seven homers and 37 RBI, while Gollert hit two grand slams vs. Bradley on April 9 and has six homers and 26 RBI.
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 26 of 34 games this year and 44 of the last 52, with 91 total in that span. MSU has also tallied three or more extra-base hits in 24 of 34 games, with eight or more on four different occasions. The Bears lead the MVC in doubles, homers and slugging.
6) The Missouri State leads the MVC in total strikeouts (334) and strikeouts per nine innings (9.84), the best rate in school history (9.10 in 2016 is 2nd), ranking 48th nationally in the latter category.
Brandt Thompson leads the league with 63 strikeouts and
Hayden Minton ranks third with 57. Thompson (66th - 4.5) and Minton (74th - 4.38) both rank in the top 75 nationally in strikeout-to-walk ratio.
7) Third-year sophomore outfielder
Spencer Nivens earned preseason all-MVC honors this season after a Freshman All-America season in 2022, and has continued his high level of play to lead the MVC in hits, triples, slugging percentage and total bases this season while sitting second in average and fourth in runs and homers. Nivens hit for MSU's first cycle since 1998 on Feb. 24 against Central Arkansas.
8) MSU is 450-318 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. The Bears' current six-game MVC winning streak is the team's longest in league play since 2018.
9) Head coach
Keith Guttin ranks second among active coaches and 13th overall with 1,359 career wins. Among active skippers, Guttin trails only Danny Hall of Georgia Tech (1,368). Minnesota's John Anderson is just behind at 1,357 wins.
Series Histories
MoState is 31-31 all-time against Mizzou with a 15-17 record in Columbia. MSU's most recent win at Taylor Stadium was a 7-5 victory on April 13, 2021, and represented head coach
Keith Guttin's 1,300th career win. The Tigers won this year's first meeting, 10-1 on April 11 in Springfield.
    The Bears are 1-1 against Belmont with both meetings taking place in Nashville. Missouri State won 7-5 on February 24, 2017, and lost 1-0 in 11 innings on Feb. 21, 2020.
Last Time Out
Missouri State swept UIC to run its MVC winning streak to six games, the program's longest conference win streak since 2018. The Bears won the three games in Chicago by scores of 6-2, 19-3 and 12-6, hitting .382 as a team with 10 home runs and a .736 slugging percentage in the series. Ten different Bears recorded at least hits in the series, and six hit a home run.
