Friday, May 3
Springfield, Mo.
2:00 p.m.
Missouri State University
vs
Indiana State
Softball Wraps Regular Season Versus Sycamores
May 02, 2024 | Softball
| Missouri State Bears (16-29, 12-12 MVC) vs. Indiana State Sycamores (18-28, 6-15 MVC) | |
| Dates | Friday-Saturday, May 3-4, 2024 |
| Location & Site | Killian Stadium | Springfield, Mo. |
| Games 1 & 2 | Friday, 2:00 & 5:00 p.m. | Live Stats (Game 1) | Live Stats (Game 2) |
| Game 3 | Saturday, 2:00 p.m. | Watch | Live Stats |
| Promotions | Friday: Game 1 - Pregame Senior Recognition         Game 2 - Beth Perine Pregame Recognition | Pick-A-Prize Saturday: Holly Hesse Pregame Recognition All Weekend: Bobblehead & Pennant Giveaway |
| Missouri State | Game Notes (PDF) | Softball Home Page |
| Indiana State | Softball Home Page |
| Bears Mobile App | App Store (Apple Devices) | Google Play Store (Android Devices) |
| Up Next | May 8-11 at MVC Tournament | Normal, Ill. |
The Starting Lineup
- Missouri State softball closes out the regular season at home with a visit from Indiana State. The weekend marks the final home games in the careers of head coach Holly Hesse and the team's seven seniors. A lot is still up for grabs in the MVC race as the league enters its final weekend before the MVC Tournament takes place next week in Normal, Ill.Â
- The Bears are coming off a 3-1 week that included a midweek win last Wednesday over first-place Southern Illinois and a series win at Evansville to get back to the .500 mark in conference play (12-12).Â
- Head coach Holly Hesse, who announced her plan to retire following the 2024 season, gets set to coach her final games at Killian Stadium. Hesse owns a 919-886-2 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 (919) and conference (412) victories. She ranks 19th among active Division I coaches in career victories.Â
- In MVC games, the Bears lead the league with 29 home runs, while ranking third in slugging percentage (.482), RBI (111), runs (120) and batting average (.296). MSU has six players batting over .340 in conference action, including five starters.Â
- Annie Mueller (Sr., Pacific, Mo.) was named the MVC Player of the Week on Tuesday. MSU's top power hitter this season batted .467 (7-for-15) with four home runs, five runs scored and eight RBI last week. She also owned a 1.267 slugging percentage and .467 on-base percentage, and she broke the Missouri State single-season home run (14) and RBI (46) records in the process. She has homered in her last six games, and in that six-game span, she is batting .524 (11-for-21) with seven home runs and 19 RBI. She leads the MVC and ranks 15th nationally with 17 long balls this season.Â
- Olivia Krehbiel (Sr., Lee's Summit, Mo.) enters the weekend with a chance to break a couple of more Missouri State softball career records. The newly-crowned home run queen (29 career homers) is tied for first in career doubles (45) and ranks second in total bases (323), walks (103) and RBI (124). She sits just one double and two RBI shy of setting new career marks in those categories.Â
- Gracie Johnston (Sr., Augusta, Kan.) ranks 4th nationally and first in the MVC with seven saves on the season. She also ranks 6th nationally with 37 appearances in the circle this season.Â
- Chloe Merced (Jr., Springfield, Mo.) has come on strong as of late, hitting .500 (13-26) with 12 runs scored, two doubles and a triple in the last 10 games.
- Kayla Ulrich (Fr., Sullivan, Mo.) leads the MVC with a .393 battting average in her freshman campaign, and her average rises to .426 against MVC foes.Â
- MSU is 11-1 this season when scoring six or more runs and 11-0 when out-hitting opponents.
   Missouri State leads the all-time series against Indiana State, 72-31, including a 35-10 record at home in Springfield. The last time the teams met in Springfield, MSU got a series sweep over the Sycamores, but last season in Terre Haute, ISU took two of three from the Bears.Â
   In that series last season, ISU got a game one win with three runs in the first two innings that held up until the end. McKenzie Vaughan knocked a solo home run in the fourth, but that was the only run the Bears could push across in a 3-1 loss. The Bears bounced back in game two in a much higher scoring affair. The squads combined for six runs in the first inning with ISU taking an early 4-2 lead. But the Bears wouldn't go down quietly even as they trailed 7-5 heading into the seventh. Abby Ford collected an RBI single followed by a Vaughan two-RBI single to post three runs and hold on to win 8-7. The Sycamores won another close game to secure the series after leading 6-3 with five innings in the books. MSU made things interesting, pulling within one, but the Bears couldn't pull off the comeback effort in a 6-5 loss.Â
   When the two teams last met in Springfield in 2022, the Bears swept the series and collected two shutout victories over the Sycamores. In game one, Missouri State plated four runs in the first and that marked all the scoring for the game as Steffany Dickerson tossed a complete-game shutout. Offensively, Dickerson, Vaughan and Alex Boze picked up MSU's four RBI in the first. Game two saw ISU cut a six-run deficit to two runs in the sixth inning, but MSU responded to ultimately secure a 9-5 win as four Bears collected multiple hits that day. The finale saw MSU capitalize on a Kelsie Lewis RBI single and a Daphne Plummer sac fly to collect its second shutout of the series.  Â
Players Mentioned
C
/ Softball
OF
/ Softball
P
/ Softball
3B
/ Softball
IF
/ Softball
1B/OF
/ Softball
OF
/ Softball
IF
/ Softball
P/1B
/ SoftballMonday, June 08
Saturday, May 30
Saturday, May 30
Thursday, May 28
