Baseball Finishes Non-Conference Play Tuesday Versus ORU

Tuesday, May 14

Springfield, Mo.

6:30 p.m.

Missouri State University

Oral Roberts

Baseball Finishes Non-Conference Play Tuesday Versus ORU

May 13, 2024 | Baseball

ESPN+Live Stats Listen Roster Card Game Notes

By: MSU Athletics Communications

Missouri State vs. Oral Roberts
Location	Springfield, Mo.
Site	Hammons Field
Game Info	Tuesday, May 14, 6:30 p.m. TV: Mediacom 22 Watch (ESPN+) \| Live Stats \| Listen Raffle for MSU gear
Program	Roster Card
Missouri State	Game Notes Baseball Home Page
ORU	Baseball Home Page

Starting 9
1) The Missouri State Bears (20-31, 9-15 Missouri Valley Conference) plays their final scheduled non-conference game Tuesday at 6:30 p.m. when Oral Roberts (23-27-1) pays a visit to Hammons Field. The Bears have beaten the Golden Eagles twice this season in Tulsa, 10-6 on Feb. 20 and 12-4 on April 9.

2) The Bears have homered in 42 of 51 games this season and 104 of the last 125, including streaks of 29 and 21 games, and rank 11th nationally with 299 long balls since the beginning of the 2022 season. The Bears lead the MVC and rank 12th nationally with 100 homers this year, which is the No. 4 season total in school history. Zack Stewart (20 - 1st), Caden Bogenpohl (17 - 7th) and Dylan Leach (15 - 10th) all rank in the top 10 in the MVC. Cody Kelly (11), Nick Rodriguez (11) and Taeg Gollert (9) give MSU a chance at six in double figures for the second time in school history, joining the 1999 club that led the nation with 144 dingers.

3) Sophomore outfielder Zack Stewart is a two-time MVC Player of the Week award winner this season and is hitting .312 while leading the MVC in home runs (20) and ranking 4th in total bases (136) and 7th in slugging (.663). Stewart ranks 17th at MSU in career homers (32), and his 2024 total is tied for 12th on the season list.

4) Jason Schaaf (3.59) and Brandt Thompson (3.72) rank 2-6 in the MVC in ERA. Thompson leads the league in WHIP (1.17) and is 2nd in K/BB ratio (4.12). He sits 6th in MSU history (100 inning minimum) with a career 3.50 K/BB ratio, while this year's figure is on pace to finish 10th on the single-season chart. Schaaf threw a complete-game shutout on May 12 at Belmont without allowing a runner beyond first base.

5) Senior catcher Dylan Leach is hitting .339 and slugging .690 with 14 home runs and 40 RBI since March 1. For the year, Leach ranks 10th in the MVC with 15 homers and 11th with a .626 slugging percentage.

6) Caden Bogenpohl ranks 4th nationally among freshmen with 17 home runs and 3rd with 45 walks. Georgia Tech's Drew Burress leads in both categories with 21 and 47, respectively. Among MSU rookies all time, his 45 walks are the most while his home run total trails only Ryan Howard (19 in 1999).

7) Nick Rodriguez (.514) and Cody Kelly (.477) rank 2-4 in the MVC in OBP in conference games. Rodriguez has reached safely in 32 consecutive games and 49 of 51 overall this year, and also boasts a .425 average in 24 MVC contests. Meanwhile, Kelly has a .350/.867/.541 slash line with nine homers and 24 RBI since April 11.

8) The Bears are hitting .298 and slugging .567 with 59 home runs in 24 MVC games. MoState has out-scored the opposition in six consecutive league series, scoring 25+ runs in each with at least one double-digit win.

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 1,393 career wins. Among active skippers, Guttin trails only Danny Hall of Georgia Tech (1,408). 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.

Series History
The Bears are 31-35 all-time against ORU with a 14-12 record in Springfield. While MoState has won eight of the last nine games in Tulsa, the Golden Eagles have been victorious at Hammons Field each of the last two seasons.
Missouri State is 2-0 against the Golden Eagles in 2024. On Feb. 20 in Tulsa, Caden Bogenpohl homered twice and reached safely five times, and the Bears led 10-0 after five innings in a 10-6 victory. All six ORU runs were unearned and came in the seventh inning. Freshman Kaleb Thomas threw four shutout innings and struck out four in the winning decision.
In a 12-4 win in Tulsa on April 9, the Bears hit four solo homers in the first three innings and drew a season-high 11 walks on the way to scoring eight more runs. Brendan Beaver threw three shutout innings in relief to earn the victory.