Starting 9
1) Missouri State (29-17, 16-5 Missouri Valley Conference) plays its final MVC road series of the season at Southern Illinois (28-21, 13-8) in a battle of teams picked 1-2 in the league's preseason poll. The Bears can secure a top-two finish in the regular season standings with two wins in Carbondale.
2) MoState is 77-48 all-time against Southern Illinois, including a 36-19 record in Carbondale.
3) The Bears have homered in 38 of 46 games this year and 56 of the last 64, with 116 total in that span which included streaks of 29 and 17 games (active). MSU has also tallied three or more extra-base hits in 34 of 46 games, with eight or more on five different occasions. The Bears lead the MVC in doubles, homers and slugging, ranking in the top 46 nationally in all three categories, and average 4.13 extra-base hits per contest.
4) The Missouri State pitching staff leads the MVC in total strikeouts (430) and strikeouts per nine innings (9.45), the best rate in school history (9.10 in 2016 is 2nd), ranking 61st nationally in the latter category.
Hayden Minton (76) and
Brandt Thompson (75) rank 2-4 in the MVC in strikeouts. Thompson leads in the MVC in ERA at 2.74, and the Bears' 4.70 staff ERA sits 51st nationally.
5) 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 rank among the MVC's top five in average, slugging, runs, hits, triples, homers and total bases. Nivens hit for MSU's first cycle since 1998 on Feb. 24 against Central Arkansas.
6) Missouri State freshman outfielders
Zack Stewart and
Taeg Gollert have made an immediate impact this season. Stewart is hitting .337 with 11 home runs and owns the MVC lead in doubles (17) and RBI (57). Only Ryan Howard (66 in 1999) sits ahead of Stewart on MSU's freshman RBI list, and he ranks sixth nationally among freshmen in RBI and third in doubles. Gollert hit two grand slams vs. Bradley on April 9 and has 24 extra-base hits and 36 RBI.
7) MSU is 458-319 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.
8) The Bears have won 13 consecutive games from April 7-May 5, and nine games overall from April 20-May 5, both the progam's longest streaks since 2017. In MoState's 15 games since April 14, the team is hitting .322 with a .601 slugging percentage while holding opponents to a .219 batting average.
9) Head coach
Keith Guttin ranks second among active coaches and 13th overall with 1,369 career wins. Among active skippers, Guttin trails only Danny Hall of Georgia Tech (1,376).
Series History
MoState is 77-48 all-time against Southern Illinois, including a 36-19 record in Carbondale.
    The Salukis won nine in a row in the series from 2019-22 before the Bears won two of three in last season's MVC Tournament in Springfield, including a 13-3 victory in the winner-take-all-championship game. The Salukis have won the last five meetings in Carbondale, with MSU's last victory a 13-4 triumph on April 6, 2019, in which
Mason Hull went 2-for-3 with a home run and three RBI.
Last Time Out
Missouri State won its sixth MVC consecutive series by taking two of three at Murray State. In Friday's opener, the Bears scored eight runs in the fourth inning of a 13-6 victory.
Mason Hull hit a three-run homer, and
Cam Cratic equaled his career high with four RBI.
    In game one of Saturday's doubleheader, the Racers ended MoState's win streaks of 13 conference games and nine games overall by a 7-4 final, holding the Bears to one hit in the final seven innings after falling behind 4-0. The Bears rebounded in the second game, winning 8-5 as
Nick Rodriguez drove in three runs and Hull homered again.
