Starting 9
1) Missouri State (31-21, 18-9 Missouri Valley Conference) takes the No. 2 seed to Terre Haute this week as the Bears try to defend their MVC Tournament title. The Bears' 18 MVC victories tie their recent high-water mark for league wins. MoState also won 18 Valley games in 2018 (18-3), 2017 (18-1), 2015 (18-3) and 2008 (18-6), and has not exceeded that total since going 19-12 in 2004.
2) MSU is 61-51 all-time in the MVC Tournament with titles in 1996, 1997, 2015, 2018 and 2022.
3) The Bears have homered in 43 of 52 games this year and 61 of the last 70, with 123 total in that span which included streaks of 29 and 21 games. MSU has also tallied three or more extra-base hits in 38 of 52 games, with eight or more on five different occasions. The Bears lead the MVC in homers and slugging and sit second in doubles, rank in the top 62 nationally in all three categories, and average 4.02 extra-base hits per contest.
4) The Missouri State pitching staff leads the MVC in total strikeouts (477) and strikeouts per nine innings (9.22), the best rate in school history (9.10 in 2016 is 2nd).
Hayden Minton (89) and
Brandt Thompson (82) rank 1-4 in the MVC in strikeouts, and the Bears' 4.83 staff ERA sits 51st nationally.
5) Outfielder
Spencer Nivens is Missouri State's sixth MVC Player of the Year and ranks in the top three in the MVC in slugging, runs, hits, triples, total bases and average. He is one of six all-MVC Bears this year, including
Cam Cratic (First Team DH),
Garrett Ferguson (First Team relief pitcher),
Hayden Minton (Honorable Mention starting pitcher),
Zack Stewart (Freshman of the Year, Second Team outfielder), and
Brandt Thompson (First Team starting pitcher).
6) Missouri State freshman outfielders
Zack Stewart and
Taeg Gollert have made immediate impacts this season. Stewart is hitting .311 with 11 home runs and owns the MVC lead in doubles (18) and RBI (58) as the league's Freshman of the Year. Only Ryan Howard (66 in 1999) sits ahead of Stewart on MSU's freshman RBI list, and he ranks 10th nationally among freshmen in RBI and sixth in doubles. Gollert hit two grand slams vs. Bradley on April 9 and has 29 extra-base hits and 40 RBI. He shares the MVC doubles lead and only three true freshmen in school history (Jason Hart, Howard, Stewart) have recorded more extra-base hits.
7) Another freshman has been a difference-make on the mound.
Garrett Ferguson ranks fourth nationally among freshmen with six saves and posted a 0.56 ERA and .145 opponent average in MVC games.
8) The Bears won 13 consecutive MVC games from April 7-May 5, and nine games overall from April 20-May 5, both the program's longest streaks since 2017. In MoState's 21 games since April 14, the team is hitting .296 with a .539 slugging percentage while holding opponents to a .243 batting average.
9) Head coach
Keith Guttin ranks second among active coaches and 13th overall with 1,371 career wins. Among active skippers, Guttin trails only Danny Hall of Georgia Tech (1,378).
MVC Tournament History
Missouri State is 61-51 all-time at the MVC Tournament with titles coming in 1996, 1997, 2015, 2018 and 2022. The Bears have won at least one tournament game in 25 of their last 26 appearances, the exception an opening round loss to Valparaiso in 2021. MSU has not gone 0-2 at the event since 1994.
    The Bears are 7-4 in two previous tournaments in Terre Haute, making it one win shy of the title game in 2014 losing the championship game in 12 innings in 2016. Both times MSU was eliminated by Dallas Baptist.
