Baseball Bears Ready for Series at No. 10 ECU

Starting 9
1) Missouri State (11-5) continues its five-game road trip this weekend with a series at No. 10 East Carolina (12-3). The series is Missouri State’s first weekend series against a top-10 opponent since opening the 2010 campaign at ninth-ranked Georgia Tech.

2) Missouri State is 1-0 against ECU with a 7-4 win against the 24th-ranked Pirates in Greenville on March 3, 2018. Dylan Coleman struck out eight in seven innings in the start, and Drew Millas went 4-for-4 with two RBI.

3) The Bears have continued their slugging ways this year after ranking in the top 17 nationally in 2022 in home runs and slugging percentage with 4.03 extra base hits per game. This season, the Bears rank 23rd in homers and 11th in doubles with 4.81 extra base hits per contest.

4) Missouri State homered in the first 11 games this season to extend its streak to 29 consecutive games with a long ball. The Bears went without a homer on March 10 versus SIUE, and have now blasted a round-tripper in 14 of 16 games this year and 32 of the last 34, with 75 total in that span. MSU has also tallied three or more extra-base hits in 14 of 16 games, with eight or more on three different occasions. The Bears lead the Valley in batting average and slugging.

5) Individually, freshman Taeg Gollert ranks sixth in the nation with nine doubles and Zack Stewart ranks 20th with eight. Nick Rodriguez, Spencer Nivens and Stewart all rank fourth in the Missouri Valley Conference with 24 hits, while Nivens paces the league with seven homers and an .831 slugging percentage.

6) The Missouri State pitching staff has allowed a .215 opponent average with a 2.62 ERA over the last eight games and tied a school record with 19 strikeouts on March 10 versus SIUE. Trey Ziegenbein has thrown in five of the last eight games with 10.2 shutout innings, three hits and 16 Ks. The Bears lead the MVC in ERA and total strikeouts.

7) Senior second baseman Mason Hull and sophomore outfielder Spencer Nivens earned preseason all-MVC honors this season. Hull is also a preseason third-team All-American according to Collegiate Baseball, while Nivens was a named a Freshman All-American by the publication last season. Nivens hit for MSU’s first cycle since 1998 on Feb. 24 against Central Arkansas.

8) Missouri State has 23 new players on its roster this season with three ranked among D1Baseball’s top 50 impact transfers. Pitchers Jake Eddington (8th) and Hayden Minton (38th) and catcher Cody Kelly (49th) appear on the list.

9) Head coach Keith Guttin ranks second among active coaches and 14th overall with 1,351 career wins. Among active skippers, Guttin trails only Danny Hall of Georgia Tech (1,361) and is just ahead of Minnesota’s John Anderson (1,350).

Series History
Missouri State is 1-0 against ECU with a 7-4 win against the 24th-ranked Pirates in Greenville on March 3, 2018. Dylan Coleman struck out eight in seven innings in the start, and Drew Millas went 4-for-4 with two RBI. The game was in the middle of a three-game tournament in Greenville, with the Bears losing to St. Joseph’s in the opener and defeating Pepperdine in the finale.

Last Time Out
Missouri State swept a midweek home-and-home from Southeast Missouri with an 11-1 win in Springfield Tuesday and 7-3 victory in Cape Girardeau on Thursday.
    MSU used a six-run eighth to blow Tuesday’s game open as Cody Kelly and Taeg Gollert each drove in three runs while seven pitchers combined to strike out 14 Redhawks against two walks.
    Wednesday, Zack Stewart and Jake McCutcheon each doubled twice in drove in two runs, Kelly had a two-run homer and Spencer Nivens hit a solo shot for the MSU offense.