The baseball programs of Missouri State University and Drury University will once again join forces to help fight Amyotropic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) with the second installment of ‘Battle for Bell’ on Sept. 23. The contest will be hosted by the Panthers at U.S. Baseball Park in Ozark, Mo., and benefit the CoxHealth ALS Clinic, which provides coordinated care and support to ALS patients in the region.
In continuing their efforts to raise awareness for ALS, the Bears and Panthers will once again honor the late Howard Bell and the ongoing quest to find a cure for ALS – commonly known as Lou Gehrig’s disease – with a nine-inning exhibition game, slated for a 7 p.m. first pitch.
This year’s contest will mark the third time the Bears have sponsored an ALS awareness game, as Missouri State and Drury drew nearly 3,800 fans to Hammons Field for the original ‘Battle for Bell’ contest in September 2012. MSU also sponsored its first #StrikeoutALS game benefiting the ALS Association of St. Louis this past May at Hammons.
Bell, who lost his battle with ALS in 2013, shared close connections with both the MSU and DU baseball programs. A three-year letterwinner for the Bears under current 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 school-record 47 victories and its third straight AMCU Tournament title. The Springfield product also spent more than a decade working on the staff of former DU head coach Mark Stratton at Glendale High School, before taking over as head coach of the Falcons in 2005.
Tickets, which go on sale Wednesday, Aug. 9 for $5, will be available at select Springfield-area Price Cutter locations, as well as the box offices at U.S. Baseball Park (online at theusbaseball.com) and the O’Reilly Family Event Center on the Drury campus. For additional ticket information, contact the U.S. Baseball Park box office at (417) 581-1151.
