First-Place Bears Host Indiana State This Weekend

Friday, May 9

Springfield

6:30 p.m.

Missouri State University

Indiana State

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First-Place Bears Host Indiana State This Weekend

May 08, 2025 | Baseball

Live Stats Listen ESPN+ (Sunday)Tickets Game Notes Roster Card

By: MSU Athletics Communications

Missouri State vs. Indiana State
Game 1	May 9, 6:30 p.m. Hammons Field Springfield, Mo. Live Stats \| Listen \| Tickets Radio: KBFL 96.9 FM/1060 AM Promotion: 2 free tickets for #BearGrads all weekend
Game 2	May 10, 6:30 p.m. Hammons Field Springfield, Mo. Live Stats \| Listen \| Tickets Radio: KBFL 96.9 FM/1060 AM Promotion: Lebanon Day
Game 3	May 11, 1 p.m. Hammons Field Springfield, Mo. Live Stats \| ESPN+ \| Listen \| Tickets Radio: KBFL 96.9 FM/1060 AM Promotion: Senior Day \| Springfield Alumni Day
Tickets	Purchase Tickets Online Box Office Hours MSU Students Free Hammons Field box office opens one hour before first pitch
Program	Roster Card
Promotions	2025 Promotional Calendar
Bears Mobile App	App Store (Apple Devices) Google Play Store (Android Devices)
Missouri State	Game Notes Baseball Home Page
Indiana State	Baseball Home Page

Starting 9
1) Missouri State (25-21, 15-6 Missouri Valley Conference) closes out the home schedule this weekend with a three-game series against Indiana State (22-26, 10-11). Game times are 6:30 p.m. on Friday and Saturday and 1 p.m. on Sunday.
    MoState can clinch a share of the MVC as early as Sunday with a variety of scenarios in place around the league.
    The Bears are 17-6 at home, and one more victory at Hammons Field would be the most since winning 21 home games in 2017. MoState is averaging 10.2 runs per game at home and batting .332 with a .622 slugging percentage. Jake McCutcheon leads the way in home games, hitting .433 with nine homers and 25 RBIs at Hammons Field.

2) MoState is 79-55 against Indiana State with a 40-25 record in Springfield, though the Sycamores have won five in a row over the Bears at Hammons Field. In fact, the road team has won three of the last four series between the schools.

3) The Bears have homered in 146 of the last 177 games, and rank 10th nationally with 403 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 201 round-trippers in their time at MoState, and six have a 10-plus homer season at MSU.

4) This season, Missouri State ranks 11th nationally with a .547 slugging percentage, 10th in doubles with 112 and 7th with 90 home runs, which also rank 7th on the school's single-season list.

5) Missouri State's pitching staff leads the MVC and ranks 36th nationally with 9.6 strikeouts per nine innings. The Bears' 2.15 K/BB ratio also leads the Valley and ranks 74th nationally.
    Jackson Holmes, Max Knight and Michael Yusypchuk have earned MVC Pitcher of the Week honors this season, while Tyler Charlton (1st - 67), Holmes (8th - 55) and Yusypchuk (8th - 55) and are all in the top 8 in strikeouts. Knight, meanwhile, is the only Division I player with at least 10 homers, 45 RBIs and 45 pitching Ks.

6) Several Bears are climbing MSU career charts. Zack Stewart is 7th in career homers (44) and 17th with 80 extra-base hits. Taeg Gollert currently sits 5th in school history with 55 career doubles and 16th with 81 extra-base hits. Nick Rodriguez ranks 10th in walks (103), 11th in homers (37) and 18th in extra-base hits (79).

7) Missouri State is 18-9 in its last 27 games, hitting .320 as a team with a .603 slugging percentage. Since March 21 against Bradley, the Bears have 64 homers and 70 doubles, with Nick Rodriguez (.410, 13 doubles, 16 homers, 43 RBIs) leading the way with a pair of     MVC Player of the Week awards in addition to an active 33-game hit streak that ranks as the third-longest in the MVC this millennium.

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 (486) and highest MVC winning percentage (.584) of any current league school with six regular season championships and five tournament titles in 34 seasons.