The Starting Lineup
- Missouri State continues an eight-game road stretch as the Bears travel to Kansas City for a Tuesday evening (5 p.m.) midweek matchup with the Roos. Missouri State leads the all-time series against Kansas City, 43-12, with a 12-5 record on the road in the series.
- Missouri State is coming off a series loss at Northern Iowa, who was tabbed the Missouri Valley Conference preseason favorite. The Bears took one game in the series, knocking a season-high 16 hits in an 11-5 victory over the Panthers in game two.Â
- The Bears have faced six NCAA Tournament teams from last season in 2024, highlighted by contests against 2023 Women's College World Series participants Tennessee and Oklahoma State. Missouri State has faced three top 10 teams this season in Clemson, Tennessee and Oklahoma State and one top 15 opponent in Oregon. Â
- Prior to the start of the season, head coach Holly Hesse announced her plan to retire following the 2024 season. Hesse owns a 912-881-2 career record in her 36th season as the leader of the Missouri State softball program. She is the second-winningest coach in MVC history in both overall (912) and conference (405) victories. She collected career victory No. 900 last season with a 4-3 victory over Southern Illinois on April 26. She ranks 19th among active Division I coaches in career victories.Â
- Kayla Ulrich (Fr.,Sullivan, Mo.) continues to lead the way for Missouri State offensively in her freshman campaign. She leads the Bears with a .364 batting average and a .462 on-base percentage, and is second on the team in hits (28), RBI (12) and slugging percentage (.558). Against MVC competition, her average raises to .439 with a .707 slugging percentage and .511 on-base percentage.Â
- Olivia Krehbiel (Sr., Lee's Summit, Mo.) is one of MSU's top returning hitters from a season ago and in the program's history. Last weekend, Krehbiel tied the Missouri State career home run record of 27 set by Jessie Smith from 2006-09, and now sits just one long ball shy of taking over the top spot. She leads the team this season with 21 walks and 22 runs scored, and is third on the team with 11 RBI. Her 21 walks rank fourth in the MVC.
- Gracie Johnston (Sr., Augusta, Kan.) ranks 7th nationally and first in the MVC with five saves on the season. She also ranks 14th nationally with 28 appearances in the circle this season.
- Annie Mueller (Sr., Pacific, Mo.) is one of Missouri State's big power threats. Thirteen of her 25 hits this season have gone for extra bases and she leads the team with 8 home runs, 24 RBI and a .611 slugging percentage. Her eight homers this season rank 3rd in the MVC. Against MVC competition, her slugging percentage rises to .795 as six of her 13 hits in league action have been home runs.Â
- Ellie McCoy (Sr., Hastings, Neb.) leads the MVC in hit by pitches with 11, which ranks 16th nationally. She also ranks 7th nationally in hit by pitch/game (0.38).
- MSU is 7-0 this season when scoring six or more runs.
Series History
   Missouri State leads the all-time series against Kansas City, 43-12, including a 12-5 record on the road. The last time the two teams met in Kansas City was on April 23, 2019 with the Bears earning a 4-1 victory. Missouri State also owns the most recent victory in the series, a 3-2 win last season in Springfield.Â
   In last season's 3-2 over the Roos on April 12, 2023,
Tess Weakly's solo homer in the fifth was the difference-maker as the Bears took a 3-1 lead after five innings. Kansas City made things interesting late by scoring a run on an RBI-double in the sixth, but the Bears were able to lock it down and secure the midweek win.
McKenzie Vaughan earned the victory in the circle, while Vaughan,
Tess Weakly and
Olivia Krehbiel drove in the Bears' three runs on the day. Â
