Baseball Heads to Hattiesburg for Weekend Series at Southern Miss

Friday, February 23

Hattiesburg, Miss.

6 p.m.

Missouri State University

Southern Miss

Baseball Heads to Hattiesburg for Weekend Series at Southern Miss

February 21, 2024 | Baseball

Listen Live Stats ESPN+ (Game 1)ESPN+ (Game 2)ESPN+ (Game 3)Game Notes

By: MSU Athletics Communications

Missouri State at Southern Miss
Location	Hattiesburg, Miss.
Site	Pete Taylor Park
Game 1	Friday, Feb. 23, 6 p.m. ESPN+ \| Live Stats \| Listen
Game 2	Saturday, Feb. 24, 1 p.m. ESPN+ \| Live Stats \| Listen
Game 3	Sunday, Feb. 25, 1 p.m. ESPN+ \| Live Stats \| Listen
Missouri State	Game Notes Baseball Home Page
Southern Miss	Baseball Home Page

Starting 9
1) The Missouri State Bears (3-1) continue their season-opening eight-game road trip this weekend with a three-game series at perennial NCAA Tournament team Southern Miss (4-1). The Bears and Golden Eagles square off at 6 p.m. Friday and 1 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday.

2) MoState is 6-16 all-time against Southern Miss with all 22 meetings taking place in Hattiesburg. The Golden Eagles have won 13 of the last 14 contests, with the Bears' last victory coming in 2013, while USM owns recent series sweeps in 2010, 2011 and 2021.

3) The Bears have homered in 65 of the last 78 games, including streaks of 29 and 21 games, and rank 18th nationally with 205 long balls since the beginning of the 2022 season. Early 2024 returns have the Bears ranked 38th nationally with six homers through Feb. 20.

4) Missouri State went 33-23 last season and finished second in the Missouri Valley Conference with an 18-9 league mark. The Bears' 18 MVC victories tied 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.

5) Missouri State is picked to finish second in the Missouri Valley Conference this season by the league's coaches, with Garrett Ferguson, Taeg Gollert, Zack Stewart and Brandt Thompson earning preseason all-Valley honors. Indiana State is picked to repeat as league champs, with Evansville, the Bears and Murray State rounding out the top four.
D1Baseball tabbed Stewart as its preseason MVC Player of the Year, Thompson as the Pitcher of the Year and Caden Bogenpohl as the Freshman of the Year.

6) The Bears have 36 road games on the schedule in 2024, which would be a school record. Missouri State's highest total of true road games came in 2003 with 33, which included six in postseason play on the way to the College World Series.

7) The Missouri State pitching staff led the MVC in strikeouts per nine innings last year at 9.28, the program's best rate since 1970, while the team's 517 total Ks ranked sixth in school history for a single season. Thompson (3.46 ERA, 84 K in 83.1 IP) and Ferguson (1.88 ERA, 6 saves, .158 opponent average) anchor the returning arms, while Eric Loomis (45 K, 9 BB in 34.2 IP in 2022) returns to the bullpen after missing last year with an injury.

8) Three Division I All-Americans dot the 2024 Missouri State roster. Stewart and Ferguson each made multiple Freshman All-America teams in 2023, while junior captain Nick Rodriguez was a Collegiate Baseball Freshman All-American following his rookie season at Charleston Southern in 2022.

9) Head coach Keith Guttin announced in November his plans to retire after the 2024 season, his 42nd in charge of the Bears. He ranks second among active coaches and 12th overall with 1,376 career wins. Among active skippers, Guttin trails only Danny Hall of Georgia Tech (1,382). Guttin also played for the Bears in 1976 and 1977 and served as an assistant coach from 1979-81, making this his 47th season with the program.