Starting 9
1)Â Missouri State (10-6) plays its first ever Conference USA series this weekend with a visit to Liberty (12-3) for a three-game set in Lynchburg, Va. The Bears and Flames are scheduled to meet at 3 p.m. on Friday, March 13, 1 p.m. on Saturday and 10 a.m. Sunday, all times Central.
2)Â The Bears have homered in 170 of the last 202 games, including 15 of 16 this season, and rank 7th nationally with 457 long balls since the beginning of the 2022 season, when head coach
Joey Hawkins took over as hitting coach. Mo State leads Conference USA and ranks 6th nationally this year with 35 homers. The current roster has combined for 137 round-trippers in their time at Mo State and four have a 10-plus homer season for the Bears.
3)Â According to TruMedia, Missouri State hitters rank 3rd nationally in hard hit % with 51.8 percent of batted balls at 95 mph or better, and rank 6th with an average exit velocity on batted balls of 91.4 mph. The Bears are the highest-rated non-Power Four school in both categories.
4)Â Junior
Caden Bogenpohl ranks 2nd nationally with 25 walks this season after drawing 53 and 55 (season record) his first two years. His 133 career free passes are 2nd in school history, 21 behind Bill Mueller's mark of 154. Bogenpohl also ranks tied for 14th at Mo State with 36 career home runs. Bogenpohl ranks 5th among active Division I players in career walks and 23rd in home runs.
5)Â Senior
Taeg Gollert is the NCAA active career leader (all divisions) with 64 doubles and has a pair of Missouri State program records in his sights. His doubles total ranks 2nd in program history, just 3 behind Brayden Drake's record of 67, and his 94 career extra-base hits currently place him 11th, which is 22 behind Jason Hart's record of 116. Gollert also ranks 12th among active Division I players with 209 hits and 27th with 144 RBIs.
6)Â The series at Liberty will not only mark Missouri State's first Conference USA series, but also the first meeting with any school in the state of Virginia and the program's first games in Virginia.
7)Â The Bears ranked 32nd nationally last season with 9.51 strikeouts per nine innings, the program's highest figure since 1969.
Tyler Charlton set the school record at 12.87 Ks/9, fanning 82 batters in 57.1 frames.
Max Knight fanned 58 in 47.2 innings, while
Michael Yusypchuk punched out 63 in 71 innings as the Bears' Friday night starter as a freshman.
  Mo State averages 9.5 Ks/9 this season, including a 17-strikeout performance on March 3 at Oklahoma State, just two shy of the school single-game record.
8)Â Max Knight and
Curry Sutherland headline Missouri State's two-way threats this season. Knight has made starts at 1B, LF, DH and P this year, and has 17 homers and 58 RBIs as a Bear while going 5-2 with 5 saves and 71 strikeouts in 57.3 innings. Sutherland owns career totals of 19 homers and 60 RBIs while throwing 24.2 innings with 28 Ks.Â
9)Â Missouri State is in its first season in Conference USA in 2026 after a 35-year run in the Missouri Valley Conference. The Bears went 488-347 (.584) with seven regular season championship and five tournament titles in The Valley from 1991-2025.
