Springfield, MO (Missouri State Sports Information)  -- SPRINGFIELD, Mo. – Tickets for the “Battle For Bell,” the historic first meeting between the baseball programs of Missouri State University and Drury University, are now available at select Springfield-area Price Cutter locations, as well as the ticket window in the O'Reilly Family Event Center box office on the Drury campus.

The Bears and Panthers will square off at Hammons Field in the nine-inning exhibition contest Saturday, September 29, at 6:30 p.m., to assist former MSU shortstop and Glendale High School head coach Howard Bell in his fight against Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis.  

All seats will be sold on a first-come, first-served general admission basis, with advance tickets selling for $5. Tickets will also be available on the day of the game for $10 at the Hammons Field box office. All proceeds will go to the Help Coach Bell Strike Out ALS Fund.

Bell, who was diagnosed with ALS – commonly known as Lou Gehrig’s disease – in December, shares 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 Parkview product also spent more than a decade working on DU head coach Mark Stratton’s Glendale staff before taking over as head coach of the Falcons in 2005.

Tickets are also available by contacting Guttin (KeithGuttin@MissouriState.edu) in the Missouri State baseball office and through several Springfield-area high schools and their respective baseball programs.

-MSU-