Drury's annual "Battle for Bell" baseball benefit contest with cross-town rival Missouri State has been set for Saturday, Oct. 3 at Mark Worley Field at Meador Park. The 10th installment of the exhibition game will once again raise funds for the Howard Bell CoxHealth ALS Clinic in Springfield.
The Panthers and Bears will square off at 6:30 p.m. at Meador Park, the current home of Drury baseball, as well as the former home for Missouri State for more than three decades. The nine-inning matchup will follow the day's opening contest featuring Evangel and Mission at noon.
General admission tickets will be available for purchase at the gate for $5.
Since its inception in 2012, "Battle for Bell" has assisted in the fight against amyotrophic lateral sclerosis
(ALS). A portion of ticket revenue will once again be directed to the local ALS Clinic, which provides coordinated care and support to ALS patients in the region.
The event honors the late Howard Bell and the ongoing quest to find a cure for ALS — commonly known as Lou Gehrig's disease. Bell, who passed away from ALS in 2013, shared close connections with the Missouri State and Drury baseball programs. A three-year letterman for the Bears under Hall of Fame head coach Keith Guttin, Bell capped his collegiate career with a standout 1986 campaign in which he was honored as Mid-Continent Conference Player of the Year after hitting .396 and helping MSU to a then-school-record 47 victories and its third straight AMCU Tournament title.
The Springfield native also spent more than a decade working on the baseball staff at Glendale High School and was an assistant under Mark Stratton, who later became the Panthers' head baseball coach in 2005. Bell was on the staff when Nasby played for the Falcons, and was named head coach at Glendale when Stratton departed to revive the Drury baseball program.
"We started Battle for Bell because there were obviously some mutual ties between Coach Bell and Missouri State and Drury," Panthers head coach Scott Nasby said. "Coach Bell played at SMS (at the time). He painted the old fence at Meador Park and played a big role in helping beautify the facility. So, to be able to play this game at Meador, and to be able to get Missouri State and the Bell family back there is going to be a tremendous thing for us and for the community."
This year's Panthers-Bears matchup will mark the 10th time the two programs have staged the 'Battle for Bell' contest since the inaugural matchup in 2012. It will also be the fifth year Mission and Evangel have participated in the exhibition series.
Drury's Kimrey named GLVC Defensive Player of the Week
Following a standout performance at the Ichabod Classic last weekend, Drury volleyball sophomore Gracie Kimrey has been named the Athletic Solutions Great Lakes Valley Conference Defensive Player of the Week, the league office announced Monday, Sept. 15.
Kimrey delivered a dominant all-around performance in the Panthers' three contests in Topeka, helping Drury to a 2-1 weekend that included its first road win over a ranked foe in eight years with its four-set victory over No. 4 Washburn Saturday. She tallied 18 blocks (1.5 per set) — six in each of DU's three matches — equaling a career high in each contest.
Kimrey's efforts helped the Panthers limit the opposition to a .169 cumulative hitting percentage for the tournament, while the Marshfield native also tallied 20 kills and three digs while hitting .294.
Kimrey currently ranks fourth overall in the GLVC this season with her average of 1.03 blocks per set.
Off to its best start to a season in eight years under first-year head coach Kelly Richardson, Drury (9-2) opens GLVC play Friday, Sept. 18 with a 6 p.m., road contest against McKendree, before taking on UMSL Saturday afternoon in St. Louis.
This article originally appeared on Springfield News-Leader: Drury, Missouri State ready to 'Battle for Bell' Oct. 3 at Meador Park
