First-Place Bears Set for Series at Illinois State

Friday, May 2

Normal, Ill.

5:00 p.m.

Missouri State University

Illinois State

First-Place Bears Set for Series at Illinois State

May 01, 2025 | Baseball

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By: MSU Athletics Communications

Missouri State at Illinois State
Game 1	May 2, 5 p.m. Duffy Bass Field Normal, Ill. Live Stats \| ESPN+ \| Listen Radio: KBFL 96.9 FM/1060 AM
Game 2	May 3, 3 p.m. Duffy Bass Field Normal, Ill. Live Stats \| ESPN+ \| Listen Radio: KBFL 96.9 FM/1060 AM
Game 3	May 4, 1 p.m. Duffy Bass Field Normal, Ill. Live Stats \| ESPN+ \| Listen Radio: KBFL 96.9 FM/1060 AM
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Starting 9
1) Missouri State (23-19, 13-5 Missouri Valley Conference) is back on the road this week with a three-game series at Illinois State (21-21, 10-8). The Bears and Redbirds square off at 5 p.m. Friday, 3 p.m. Saturday and 1 p.m. Sunday at Duffy Bass Field.
    The first-place Bears are hitting .333 with .637 slugging percentage in MVC games, averaging 10.4 runs per contest. Nick Rodriguez (.416, 10 HR, 31 RBIs) and Jake McCutcheon (.395, 7 HR, 22 RBIs) have led the offense in league games.

2) MoState is 68-53 all-time against Illinois State with a 29-29 record in Normal. The Redbirds have won the last four in the series after sweeping the Bears at Hammons Field last season.
    The Bears won two of three in their last trip to Duffy Bass Field in 2023.

3) The Bears have homered in 143 of the last 173 games, and rank 10th nationally with 398 long balls since the beginning of the 2022 season, when first-year head coach Joey Hawkins took over as hitting coach. MoState's 114 homers last season ranked second in school and fourth in MVC history. The current roster has combined for 196 round-trippers in their time at MoState, and six have a 10-plus homer season at MSU.

4) This season, Missouri State ranks 9th nationally with a .559 slugging percentage, 15th in doubles with 103 and 8th with 85 home runs, which also rank 9th on the school's single-season list.

5) Missouri State's pitching staff leads the MVC and ranks 35th nationally with 9.6 strikeouts per nine innings. The Bears' 2.21 K/BB ratio also leads the Valley and ranks 66th nationally.
    Jackson Holmes, Max Knight and Michael Yusypchuk have earned MVC Pitcher of the Week honors this season, while Tyler Charlton (4th - 56), Holmes (6th - 54) and Yusypchuk (8th - 52) and are all in the top eight in strikeouts. Knight, meanwhile, is the only Division I player with at least 10 homers, 40 RBIs and 40 pitching Ks.

6) Several Bears are climbing MSU career charts. Zack Stewart is 8th in career homers (42) and 16th with 78 extra-base hits. Taeg Gollert currently sits 7th in school history with 52 career doubles and 16th with 78 extra-base hits. Nick Rodriguez ranks 10th in walks (102), 13th in homers (35) and 19th in extra-base hits (76).

7) Missouri State is 16-7 in its last 23 games, hitting .331 as a team with a .634 slugging percentage. Since March 21 against Bradley, the Bears have 59 homers and 61 doubles, with Nick Rodriguez (.424, 11 doubles, 14 homers, 40 RBIs) leading the way with a pair of     MVC Player of the Week awards.

8) D1Baseball tabbed the Bears as the favorite to win the MVC this season, with sophomore Caden Bogenpohl as its preseason player of the year and Michael Yusypchuk as its freshman of the year. The MVC coaches poll was released on March 17 and also MSU to win, with Bogenpohl and Nick Rodriguez earning all-MVC honors.

9) The 2025 season is Missouri State's 35th and final year in the MVC. The university accepted an invitation to Conference USA on May 10, 2024, and will officially join that league on July 1, 2025. The baseball Bears own the most league wins (484) and highest MVC winning percentage (.584) of any current league school with six regular season championships and five tournament titles in 34 seasons.