Photos: Keith Guttin's final home game with Missouri State
Missouri State will take the No. 8 seed into the Missouri Valley Conference Baseball Championship and begin play at 2:30 p.m. Tuesday, May 21. It will be Keith Guttin's last Valley tournament before he retires from coaching at Missouri State.
Missouri State University baseball coach Keith Guttin leaves Hammons Field for the last time as Bears head coach. (Photo by Mary Ellen Chiles)
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Missouri State University baseball coach Keith Guttin led the Bears in a home game for the final time in his 42-year career.
Southern Illinois spoiled the festivities with an 18-11 win at Hammons Field on May 18. Missouri State will take the No. 8 seed into the Missouri Valley Conference Baseball Championship and begin play at 2:30 p.m. Tuesday, May 21, against fifth-seeded UIC. The 2024 Valley tournament is held in Evansville, Indiana.
With 1,396 victories, Guttin ranks 18th all time in wins among NCAA and NAIA baseball coaches. Danny Hall of Georgia Tech is the active leader with 1,409 wins.
Nathan Strait, manager of field operations at Hammons Field, paints a “G” behind home plate, an ode to Missouri State baseball coach Keith Guttin’s nickname. (Photo by Mary Ellen Chiles)Keith Guttin tosses the first pitch to Missouri State Bears assistant coach Joey Hawkins. Former Bears baseball coach and athletic director Bill Rowe looks on, while head umpire Bill McGuire keeps the strike zone. (Photo by Mary Ellen Chiles)
Quest Hull chats with brother Mason, who played for the Missouri State Bears in 2018-2023. Grant Wood (2020-2022) and Forrest Barnes (2018-2023) also took in the game, along with Trey Ziegenbein (2020-2023) and fiancée Cyria Castaneda. (Photo by Mary Ellen Chiles)
Jim Luntzer (1979-1982), Steve Byers (1981-1984), Bill Bunton (1980-1983), and Bruce Bax (1983-1984) played during Keith Guttin’s early days at Missouri State. They say he’s less intense now. (Photo by Mary Ellen Chiles)
Missouri State Bears redshirt freshman pitcher Tyler Charlton grins at head coach Keith Guttin before the game with Southern Illinois May 18, 2024. Charlton’s mom, Annette, said her son is “bummed that he’s retiring.” (Photo by Mary Ellen Chiles)Fans took home a commemorative Keith Guttin bobblehead as the longtime Missouri State head coach managed his final baseball game at Hammons Field in Springfield May 18, 2024. (Photo by Mary Ellen Chiles)
Amari Jefferson, 4, enjoys swirled ice cream and baseball with his dad Alex, who played outfield for Missouri State in 2014-2017. The father and son took in coach Keith Guttin's last game at the helm of the Missouri State Bears May 18, 2024. (Photo by Mary Ellen Chiles)
Missouri State Bears alumni (from left) Jake Fromson (2015-2018), Ben Whetstone (2016-2021), and Jake Lochner (2016-2019) returned to Hammons Field to honor longtime baseball coach Keith Guttin on May 18, 2024. (Photo by Mary Ellen Chiles)
Missouri State University slugger Caden Bogenpohl takes the field. The freshman outfielder from Jackson, Missouri, has hit 19 home runs in 2024. (Photo by Mary Ellen Chiles)
Missouri State University sophomore infielder/outfielder Taeg Gollert waits while coach Keith Guttin argues during a game against Southern Illinois at Hammons Field May 18, 2024. (Photo by Mary Ellen Chiles)
Missouri State University baseball coach Keith Guttin takes off his glasses to get a closer look at his lineup card during a game against Southern Illinois May 18, 2024. The game was Guttin's last at Hammons Field as the head coach of the Bears. (Photo by Mary Ellen Chiles)Former Missouri State University baseball players gathered on the field to commemorate head coach Keith Guttin's career and influence prior to a game against Southern Illinois May 18, 2024. (Photo by Mary Ellen Chiles)
Springfield Mayor Ken McClure and Missouri State University baseball coach Keith Guttin share a laugh before Guttin's final home game at Hammons Field in Springfield. (Photo by Mary Ellen Chiles)
Springfield Mayor Ken McClure proclaims May 18 as Keith Guttin Day as the coach and his family look on. Guttin’s grandsons Bradley and Brody paid tribute by wearing their grandfather’s No. 2 jersey. (Photo by Mary Ellen Chiles)
Coach Keith Guttin checks the stats in the Hammons Field home dugout as Missouri State players pack up after the game May 18, 2024, an 18-11 loss to Southern Illinois. (Photo by Mary Ellen Chiles)
Mary Ellen Chiles is a freelance photographer and writer based in the Ozarks. She graduated from Missouri State University with a bachelor's in creative writing and a master's in English, Creative Nonfiction Writing. More by Mary Ellen Chiles
