Missouri State Bears (15-30, 12-9 MVC) vs. Belmont Bruins (33-12, 16-5 MVC)
Dates	Friday-Sunday | April 25-27
Location & Site	Meador Park | Springfield, Mo.
Game 1	Friday, 5:00 p.m. | Live Stats
Game 2	Saturday, 2:00 p.m. | Live Stats
Game 3	Sunday, 12:00 p.m. | Watch | Live Stats
Promotions	Friday - Wear White Saturday - Senior Day (Pregame Ceremony) | Future Bears Kids Day | Where's Boomer Scavenger Hunt
Missouri State	Game Notes (PDF) | Softball Home Page | Media Guide
Belmont	Softball Home Page
Bears Mobile App	App Store (Apple Devices) | Google Play Store (Android Devices)
Up Next	May 2-4 at Drake | Des Moines, Iowa

The Starting Lineup

• Missouri State softball wraps its 2025 home slate with a three-game Missouri Valley Conference series against Belmont (April 25-27). The Bears' four seniors (Chacon, Derryberry, Merced and Vaughan) will be honored in a ceremony on Saturday. MoState leads the all-time series against the Bruins, 5-4, including a 3-0 record in Springfield.
• Belmont currently sits in second place in the MVC regular-season standings at 16-5 in Valley play, while the Bears currently sit just outside of a first-round bye for the conference tournament in fifth place at 12-9. In MVC games this season, MoState ranks third in team ERA (2.94) and fourth in both batting average (.299) and fielding percentage (.961). 
• Since the beginning of the 2021 season, the Bears own a 55-14 record at home. MoState is 8-1 in Springfield so far this season and is outscoring its opponents 65-17 at Meador Park. At home, the Missouri State offense owns a batting average of .369, led by the two Springfield natives in Taylor Akers with a .533 average and Chloe Merced with 13 RBI. The MoState pitching staff owns a 1.38 ERA and has allowed just one home run at home this season, led by Makenzi Swick with a 0.44 ERA.
• McKenzie Vaughan (Sr., Bella Vista, Ark.) knocked two home runs in the series at Illinois State to bring her career home run total to 30, which ranks second in program history. She needs one homer to tie and two to break the program record of 31 set by her former teammate Olivia Krehbiel last season. Vaughan's team-leading 11 home runs this year are tied for fourth and her 37 RBI are tied for sixth in a single season in program history. Vaughan currently leads the MVC in runs batted in this season.
• Makenzi Swick (Jr., Stillwater, Okla.) has impressed in the circle as of late, owning a 1.97 ERA in conference games. She leads the staff with 49 strikeouts on the year and 26 K's against MVC foes. The right-hander has also recorded two saves this season, which is tied for third in the MVC. 
• The Bears are 10-0 this season when holding opponents to two runs or less and are 11-1 when out-hitting opponents. MoState has had 14 games decided by two runs or less this season, and owns a 4-10 record in those games. 
• Kasey Griffith is in her first season at the helm of the Bears program. She stepped into the lead role following the retirement of longtime head coach Holly Hesse. Griffith was named the seventh head coach in the history of the program on June 5, 2024, and this marks her first stint as a head coach. The Dallas Center, Iowa, native has been on the MoState staff for the last two seasons, including serving as associate head coach in 2024.
• The 2025 MoState roster includes 12 returners, nine newcomers (seven freshmen, two transfers) and features 12 underclassmen. From last year's squad, the Bears had eight departures which included seven seniors.

Series History
    Missouri State leads the all-time series against Belmont, 5-4, which includes a 3-0 record at home in Springfield. The two squads met four times a season ago with Belmont earning the 2-1 series win in Nashville, but the Bears own the most recent victory in the series - a 7-4 win in the MVC Tournament quarterfinals.
    In the most recent meeting, the Bruins took an early 1-0 lead, but MoState battled back to retake the lead in the third and never surrendered it. Olivia Krehbiel drove in five runs in the matchup, while Alexis Perales added an RBI. Kenzie Derryberry also contributed a hit, a walk and scored twice in the victory.