Baseball Heads to Traditional MVC Power Missouri State This Weekend

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. – The Belmont University baseball team continues a tough gauntlet of Missouri Valley Conference play with a road series at traditional power Missouri State this weekend.
 
The three-game set begins Thursday and continues through Saturday.
 
To avoid weather, Thursday's game originally scheduled for 11 a.m. has been moved up one hour to 10 a.m.
 
Both Friday and Saturday's contests are still set for 11 a.m.
 
All three games will be played at Hammons Field, the home of both Missouri State and the Springfield Cardinals, the Double-A affiliate of the St. Louis Cardinals.
 
While there will be no video streams of any of the three games, live audio play-by-play will be broadcast on Belmont Bruins Radio on iHeartRadio, with live stats available on BelmontBruins.com.
 
What's Bruin

• This weekend's series with Missouri State marks the fourth weekend in a row that Belmont will face a team in the top-3 of the MVC standings. Each of the three previous weekends, the Bruins faced a team tied for first place (at Evansville, at Southern Illinois, vs. Indiana State)
• Belmont is coming off a 6-5 road win in extra innings over North Alabama on Tuesday in Florence, Alabama
• A five-run eighth inning proved to be the difference, with Ethan Harden scoring the game-winning run in the tenth inning and Jett Thielke tossing 2.2 innings in relief to secure his fifth victory of the season
• After starting conference play 5-1 with series wins over Illinois State and Evansville, Belmont has lost six MVC games in a row over their last two weekend series against Southern Illinois and Indiana State
• Belmont owns the best pitching staff in the MVC, ranking first in the conference and 34^th nationally in team ERA (4.34), first in opponent batting average (.255) and second in strikeouts (313)
• Thursday's projected starter is junior left-hander Andy Bean (3-5, 3.19 ERA)
• Bean, the 2022 OVC Pitcher of the Year, owns two Missouri Valley Conference Pitcher of the Week awards and ranks first in the conference in innings (59.1), third in strikeouts (57), third in opponent batting average (.203), third in WHIP (1.04), and sixth in ERA (3.19)
• In four conference starts, Bean is 2-2 with a 2.12 ERA and 24 strikeouts to just nine walks in 29.2 innings
• Friday's projected starter is sophomore right-hander Jordan Zuger (2-4, 6.02 ERA)
• Zuger, a native of Hendersonville, Tenn., owns the second-lowest walk rate in the MVC (5.6%)
• Saturday's projected starter is junior left-hander Dominic Baratta (3-3, 5.11 ERA)
• Redshirt freshman two-way player Ethan Harden ranks second in the MVC with five saves and owns a 2.00 ERA with 22 strikeouts and just five walks in 27 innings, while also seeing time in center field and right field
• Junior third baseman Mason Landers and sophomore catcher Blake Barton have both reached base safely in 13 consecutive games
• Barton ranks second in the MVC in doubles (12) and leads MVC catchers in most offensive categories
• Junior first baseman Brodey Heaton is 5-for-15 with two home runs and five RBIs over his last four games
• Belmont is 19-9 this season when scoring at least three runs
• Over their last nine games, Belmont has gone to extra-innings in four contests, splitting those games, 2-2
• Belmont leads the MVC in stolen bases (46)
• In 12 conference games, junior second baseman Jack Rando is batting .311 with four doubles and three stolen bases 

About the Bears

• Missouri State is the reigning MVC Tournament champion, and since 2015, have won more combined regular season titles (3-2) and regular season championships (3-1) than all other league members combined
• After starting conference play with three losses to Evansville, Missouri State took two out of three from Illinois State and have swept Bradley and UIC over the last two weekends
• The Bears narrowly lost to Missouri on Tuesday night, surrendering a ninth inning lead and losing on a walk-off to the Tigers
• Missouri State is 9-7 at home this season
• Missouri State leads the MVC in home runs, doubles, and slugging percentage. On the mound, the Bears lead the MVC in strikeouts and strikeouts per nine innings
• Missouri State has appeared in five NCAA Regionals since 2012, making the Super Regional round in both 2015 and 2017

Series History

• Thursday marks the 3^rd meeting all-time between Belmont and Missouri State (series tied, 1-1)
• In 2017, Missouri State beat Belmont, 7-5, at E.S. Rose Park
• In 2020, Belmont took down Missouri State, 1-0, on an 11^th inning walk-off home run from Hagan Severance. Joshua South tossed eight shutout innings.  

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