SPRINGFIELD, Mo. – The 2020 Missouri State baseball schedule will feature a total of 56 games and contests against five different 2019 NCAA Tournament teams, head coach Keith Guttin announced Friday. In all, the Bears will play 19 games against opponents that rated among the top 100 RPI-finishers a year ago, including 11 match-ups against NCAA Regional qualifiers.
Missouri State’s 57th season of varsity baseball will feature a 26-game home slate, highlighted by non-conference tilts against regional rivals Kansas (March 31), Southeast Missouri State (April 13) and Missouri (April 28), as well as the Bears’ first meeting with SEC foe Alabama (March 18). The Bears will also host non-league series with Maine (March 6-8), San Jose State (March 20-22), Arkansas State (March 24-25) and Southern (April 9-11) as part of a six-week stretch that will see them play 22 of 30 overall games within the friendly confines of Hammons Field.
Additionally, the Bears will host three Missouri Valley Conference weekend series, beginning with a three-game set against defending league champion Illinois State (April 3-5), followed by series with Evansville (April 17-19) and Southern Illinois (May 1-3).
The Bears finished the 2019 season with a 20-36 overall record and will welcome back 19 letterwinners, including All-MVC performers Ty Buckner, Jack Duffy, Dakota Kotowski, John Privitera, Ben Whetstone and Logan Wiley. Under the direction of Guttin — a 13-time conference coach of the year entering his 38th year at the helm — the Bears have claimed three MVC regular-season titles, two Valley Tournament championships and a pair of NCAA Regional crowns in the last five seasons, while eight different Bears have been selected in the top six rounds of the Major League Baseball Draft over the same stretch.
Missouri State opens the 2020 season with a 12-game road swing, beginning with a three-game series against Central Arkansas (Feb. 14-16) in Conway on opening weekend. The Bears will look to defend their 2018 Mule Mix Classic title the following week when they trek to the Nashville area for a total of four games against the likes of Austin Peay (Feb. 20), Belmont (Feb. 21), Lipscomb (Feb. 22) and Middle Tennessee (Feb. 23). Following their first midweek non-conference game of the season against Oral Roberts in Tulsa, the Bears conclude their early-season road stretch with a three-game set in Houston against perennial national power Rice (Feb. 28-March 1) and a trip to Stillwater for their annual meeting with Oklahoma State (March 3).
The Bears will return to Hammons Field for the first time in 2020 the following week, kicking off the home slate with a five-game homestand. The initial home series of the season will feature a battle of the Bears, with the seven-time College World Series-qualifying Maine Black Bears (March 6-8) visiting Springfield for their first-ever meeting with MSU on the baseball diamond. Next, Oral Roberts (March 10) completes the season home-and-home series with its midweek visit to Hammons, before the Bears square off against SIU Edwardsville (March 11) to complete their first home stand.
The month of March will also include a three-game road series against UC Irvine (March 13-15), marking the Bears’ third trip to Southern California in two seasons. MSU then returns to Springfield for its longest home stand of the campaign, kicking off the six-game stretch with a midweek tilt against Alabama. The Bears will conclude the pre-conference portion of their schedule with three games against San Jose State (March 20-22), followed by a two-game midweek series versus Arkansas State (March 24-25) at Hammons.
After opening Valley play in Peoria against Bradley (March 27-29), the Bears will begin another busy stretch at Hammons that will see them play 11 of their next 13 games overall at home. MSU will host Kansas (March 31) to conclude its March slate, before squaring off against Illinois State in its first Valley home series of the season. After returning the trip to KU (April 7), the Bears will settle in for seven home games over an 11-day span, highlighted by a three-game non-conference series with Southern University (April 9-11), a midweek contest against SEMO and an MVC set with Evansville.
The final month of the regular season will include a road test of sorts for Missouri State, with 10 of the Bears’ final 14 regular-season games taking place away from Hammons Field. MSU visits in-state rival Mizzou (April 21) to open the stretch, then travels to Dallas for a key conference series against DBU (April 24-26). The Bears wrap up their non-conference slate with Mizzou’s return visit on April 28 and host Southern Illinois to close out the home portion of the schedule.
The Maroon and White concludes the regular season with back-to-back Valley series in the state of Indiana, taking on Valparaiso (May 8-10) and Indiana State (May 14-16).
The 2020 MVC Baseball Championship will take place at Itchy Jones Stadium in Carbondale, Ill., May 19-23, with the champion earning the league’s automatic NCAA Tournament bid. The 2020 NCAA Division I Baseball Championship Selection Show will air May 25, with Regional play beginning the weekend of May 29. The 2020 Men’s College World Series kicks off June 13 and culminates with the Finals, June 22-24.
