Diamond Bears Travel to Oklahoma State, Open Conference Play at WKU

Tuesday, March 3

Stillwater, Okla.

6:00 p.m.

Missouri State University

#12 Oklahoma State

Diamond Bears Travel to Oklahoma State, Open Conference Play at WKU

March 02, 2026 | Softball

Game Notes (PDF)

Missouri State Bears (11-7, 0-0 CUSA) at Oklahoma State & Western Kentucky
Dates	March 3 at Oklahoma State \| March 6-8 at Western Kentucky
Location & Site	Stillwater, Okla. \| Bowling Green, Ky.
Game 1	Tuesday, March 3 at Oklahoma State \| 6:00 p.m. \| Watch (ESPN+) \| Live Stats
Game 2	Friday, March 6 at Western Kentucky \| 3:00 p.m. \| Live Stats
Game 3	Friday, March 6 at Western Kentucky \| 6:00 p.m. \| Live Stats
Game 4	Sunday, March 8 at Western Kentucky \| 12:00 p.m. \| Live Stats
Missouri State	Game Notes \| Softball Home Page
Opponents	Oklahoma State \| Western Kentucky
Follow Us	Twitter \| Instagram \| Facebook \| #GoBears \| #Team58
Bears Mobile App	App Store (Apple Devices) \| Google Play Store (Android Devices)

The Starting Lineup

Missouri State is coming off a 3-1 weekend at the City of Lights Classic hosted by Northwestern State. The Bears are now set for their first midweek contest of the season on Tuesday at Oklahoma State, before opening CUSA action this weekend at Western Kentucky.
Riley Baber (So, Overland Park, Kan.) is leading the way for Missouri State offensively this season with a .432 batting average, 14 RBI and 10 extra-base hits. In last week's tournament at Northwestern State, Baber hit .500 (4-8) with 3 runs, 3 RBI, 5 walks and two doubles. She also owned a .750 SLG% and .714 OB% across the four games.
Emily Koranda (Fr., Marion, Iowa) is leading the way for Missouri State in the circle. The freshman owns a 1.04 ERA with a 5-2 record and two saves on the year. She has fanned 44 batters in 54.0 innings of work, and opposing batters are hitting just .193 against her. In CUSA, Koranda ranks 1st in ERA, 3rd in saves and 4th in strikeouts.
Missouri State is tied for 2nd in CUSA and is 48th nationally with 8 double plays turned this season. Koranda ranks 15th in the country in saves and 22nd in ERA, and Baber ranks 28th in the country in doubles with eight.
MoState returns two players that received all-conference recognition last season. Alexis Perales (Jr., Grapevine, Texas) was a second-team All-MVC selection at catcher, and Emily Gerardy (Jr., Omaha, Neb.) represented the Bears on the MVC All-Defensive team at second base. Perales was MoState's top hitter in MVC play last season with a .328 batting average and seven doubles, while Gerardy committed just two errors (.981 FLD%) against league competition in the second-most chances on the team.
Kasey Griffith is in her second season at the helm of the Bears after going 20-33 overall and 16-11 in the MVC in her debut season as a head coach. She is in her fourth overall season at MoState and took over as head coach on June 5, 2024, following the retirement of longtime head coach Holly Hesse.
Missouri State officially joined Conference USA on July 1, 2025 as a full-league member. The Bears are the 12th full-time member of the league and were joined by Delaware as the two newest members beginning with the 2025-26 year.
The Bears were picked to finish T-10th in the 2026 CUSA Softball Preseason Poll.
The 2026 MoState roster includes 15 returners, six newcomers (four freshmen and two transfers) and features 12 underclassmen.This year's squad contains just three seniors.