Starting 9
1) Missouri State (7-4) plays its fourth of 10 scheduled games against Power Four competition on Tuesday at 4 p.m. when it visits Oklahoma State (8-3).
2) The Bears have homered in 166 of the last 197 games, including all 11 this season, and rank 8th nationally with 442 long balls since the beginning of the 2022 season, when head coach
Joey Hawkins took over as hitting coach. MoState's 109 homers last season ranked 4th in school history, and the Bears rank 2nd in CUSA and 21st nationally with 20 homers this season. The current roster has combined for 122 round-trippers in their time at MoState, four have a 10-plus homer season at MSU, and 10 different players already have a home run this season.
3) According to TruMedia, Missouri State hitters rank 3rd nationally in hard hit % with 53.2 percent of batted balls at 95 mph or better, and rank 10th with an average exit velocity on batted balls of 91.2 mph. The Bears are the highest-rated non-Power Four school in both categories.
4) Junior
Caden Bogenpohl ranks 2nd nationally with 18 walks this season after drawing 53 and 55 (season record) his first two years. His 126 career free passes are 4th in school history, 28 behind Bill Mueller's mark of 154. Bogenpohl also ranks tied for 15th at MoState with 35 career home runs.
5) Senior
Taeg Gollert also has a pair of Missouri State program records in his sights. He already ranks 2nd in program history with 62 doubles, just 5 behind Brayden Drake's record of 67, and his 90 career extra-base hits currently place him 12th, which is 26 behind Jason Hart's record of 116.
6) Missouri State welcomes 18 newcomers into the program this season from a variety of backgrounds. Of the new players, 11 transferred from four-year schools, two were in junior college in 2025, and five are freshmen.
7) 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.
MoState averages 9.1 Ks/9 this season, and Charlton ranks 4th in CUSA in hits per nine innings (4.09) and 2nd in WHIP (0.73), while Knight has 13 punchouts in 9.0 innings.
8) Max Knight and
Curry Sutherland headline Missouri State's two-way threats this season. Knight, an NCBWA All-American in 2025, was the only player nationally with at least 45 innings, 45 RBIs and 55 pitching Ks.
Curry Sutherland was a regular at third base last season and fired 17 innings on the mound with 21 strikeouts and a 2.65 ERA.
9) 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.
