Starting 9
1) Missouri State (30-17, 18-9 Conference USA) finishes regular season play this week with a three-game series at Kennesaw State (24-24, 12-15). The Bears and Owls will play at 5 p.m. Central on Thursday and Friday before a noon Central finale on Saturday.
Mo State will get familiar with Kennesaw as the CUSA Tournament commences there on May 20.
2) The Bears enter the final weekend alone in third place in the CUSA standings and can finish anywhere from second to fifth in the league.
3) Missouri State is ranked 24th in the NCAA RPI through May 10. The Bears have played the 32nd-toughest schedule in Division I, with opponents combining for a .568 winning percentage, and are projected to finish 37th in that metric.
4) The Bears have homered in 196 of the last 233 games, including 41 of 47 this season, and rank 10th nationally with 511 long balls since the beginning of the 2022 season, when head coach
Joey Hawkins took over as hitting coach. Mo State ranks 2nd in Conference USA and 15th nationally this year with 89 homers, while leading the league in average (.300), slugging (.533) and OBP (.407) and sitting in the top 50 in the NCAA in all three slash categories. The current roster has combined for 191 round-trippers in their time at Mo State.
5) According to TruMedia, Missouri State leads the nation in barrel percentage at 25.4%, defined as batted balls at an exit velocity of 95+ mph and launch angle between 10 and 35 degrees. The Bears also rank 11th with 47.3% of batted balls at 95+ mph, and 10th with an average exit velocity on batted balls of 90.3 mph.
6) Junior
Caden Bogenpohl ranks 15th nationally with 48 walks this season after drawing 53 and 55 (season record) his first two years. He broke Bill Mueller's career record, held since 1993, on May 8 in 59 fewer games played than Mueller. Bogenpohl ranks 4th among active Division I players in career walks (156) and 15th with 177 runs scored.
7) Senior
Taeg Gollert ranks 2nd among active NCAA players (all divisions) with a Missouri State-record 71 career doubles. His 114 career extra-base hits place him 2nd at Mo State behind Jason Hart (116). Gollert also ranks 4th at Mo State in RBIs with 183 and 7th among active Division I players with 438 total bases. The Toronto native ranks in the top 11 of nine career offensive categories for the Bears (more on page 20).
8) Max Knight and
Curry Sutherland headline Missouri State's two-way threats this season, with both making the 15-player John Olerud Two-Way Player of the Year semifinalist list. Knight has made starts at 1B, LF, RF, DH and P this year, and has 22 homers and 81 RBIs as a Bear while going 10-5 with 6 saves and 101 strikeouts in 79.1 innings. Sutherland owns career totals of 26 homers and 87 RBIs while throwing 33 innings with 40 Ks.
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 7 regular season championship and 5 tournament titles in the MVC from 1991-2025.
