Starting 9
1) Missouri State (13-14, 2-4 Missouri Valley Conference) is back home for a three-game series in Springfield, hosting Bradley (10-14, 3-3) at 11 a.m. Friday, 10:45 a.m. Saturday and 1 p.m. Sunday at Hammons Field.
2) MoState is 72-44 all-time against Bradley with a 39-17 record at home and 22-9 mark at Hammons.
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 41st in homers and 29th in doubles with 4.15 extra base hits per contest.
4) Missouri State freshman outfielders
Zack Stewart and
Taeg Gollert have made an immediate impact this season and rank 1-3 in the MVC in doubles with 12 and 10, respectively. Stewart is hitting .318 with six homers and 25 RBI, while Gollert sits at .263 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 21 of 27 games this year and 39 of the last 45, with 88 total in that span. MSU has also tallied three or more extra-base hits in 20 of 27 games, with eight or more on four different occasions. The Bears lead the Valley in doubles and rank second in homers and slugging.
6) The Missouri State leads the MVC in total strikeouts (264) and strikeouts per nine innings (9.72), the best rate in school history (9.10 in 2016 is 2nd), ranking 60th nationally in the latter category.
Brandt Thompson leads the league with 18 strikeouts looking and ranks second with 46 total. Thompson (45th - 5.75) and
Trey Ziegenbein (85th - 4.62) and both rank in the top 100 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 Hull has reached safely in 18 consecutive games.
8) MSU is 444-318 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.
9) Head coach
Keith Guttin ranks third among active coaches and 14th overall with 1,353 career wins. Among active skippers, Guttin trails only Danny Hall of Georgia Tech (1,366) and Minnesota's John Anderson (1,354).
Series History
The Bears are 72-44 all-time against Bradley with a 39-17 record at home and 22-9 mark at Hammons.
    The Braves are 5-3 in their last eight games at MSU, though the most recent meeting was a 19-3 Bears win in the 2022 MVC Tournament.
Last Time Out
Missouri State lost 9-8 at Kansas on April 4 in a bizarre 10th-inning finish. The Bears led 8-2 after six and a half innings when the Jayhawks stormed back to force extras. With the winning run on third and two out in the bottom of the 10th,
Gage Bradley struck out the KU batter on a ball in the dirt for the final out, but it was not secured by the catcher and bounced over the backstop screen and into the stands to allow the winning to score.
Spencer Nivens and
Nick Rodriguez hit two-run home runs for the Bears.
