Murray State University Athletics
'Breds Take Ninth OVC Title, NCAA Berth In Twinbill Routs Of EKU; Perry Named Tournament MVP
5/24/2003 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
For the first time since 1979, the Murray State Thoroughbreds won the Ohio Valley Conference Championship Tournament, sweeping Eastern Kentucky today in a twinbill rout, 11-5 in the first game and 19-4 in the second. The NCAA berth -- an automatic bid to the conference tournament champion -- is also the first for MSU since 1979.
Murray State (25-29) needed to win two games today to earn the tournament crown, as the 'Breds had lost one game in the double-elimination tournament on Thursday to the same Colonel team. EKU (24-29) had no losses in the tournament prior to today.
Murray State took part in the NCAA Championships in 1975 and 1979 as an at-large entrant. The OVC Championship Tournament title is the ninth for the 'Breds, with previous titles won in 1958, 1961, 1964, 1965, 1970, 1974, 1975 and 1979.
Junior right-handed pitcher Kyle Perry was named the Most Valuable Player of the OVC Championship Tournament due to his performance in the first game today. Senior second baseman Ronnie Seets and freshman outfielder Ike Bridwell also made the All-Tournament Team. Others named to the team included Neil Sellers, Jonathan Woodard and Josh Anderson of Eastern Kentucky; Chris Uhle, Kirk Walters and Matt Tyson of Eastern Illinois; and Gary Gilbert and Tim Alvarez of Southeast Missouri State.
In the first game, Murray State scored early, pushing out to an 11-0 lead after six innings on the strength of pitcher Kyle Perry (8-4), who threw a no-hitter through 5-2/3 innings, allowing no runs on three hits, striking out nine and walking two in seven innings.
In post-tournament interviews, both MSU head coach Mike Thieke and EKU head coach Elvis Dominguez emphasized that it was Perry's performance that influenced the tournament outcome.
"Kyle really set the tone for the day, especially after what Eastern Kentucky did to us on Thursday (won 13-6 with 10 MSU errors)," Thieke said. "We had to get a great performance out of Kyle, and the club really rallies behind Kyle. When he's on the mound, we believe we can win games. He just sets the tone for us."
The 'Breds plated three runs in the top of the first inning when Garner Byars drew a one-out walk and McCutchan singled him to third. Byars scored on a balk, then Matt Rebout singled in McCutchan. Rebout stole second base, then scored on a fielding error to give MSU an early 3-0 lead.
Murray State scored a run in the second inning, four in the fifth and three in the sixth to take an 11-0 lead. EKU scored a run in the eighth inning, then plated four in the ninth for the final score.
Bridwell went 3-for-3 with three runs batted in, while Charlie Ward went 3-for-5 and McCutchan went 2-for-5 with his team-leading 19th double of the season. Seets doubled for Murray State.
Kevin Moulder came on to pitch in the eighth inning, allowing one run on one hit, striking out one and walking three in two-thirds of an inning. Bart Peach, who pitched so well yesterday, ran into some trouble in the ninth inning, allowing four runs on five hits, walking one in one inning of work, while Chandler Shepherd finished the game, pitching the last out.
In the second game, the 'Breds vaulted out to a 12-0 lead through four innings en route to the 19-4 championship final. Murray State scored one run in the first inning, five in the second, three in the third, three in the fourth, five in the fifth, one in the sixth and one in the seventh.
Rebout went 4-for-4 with a run and three RBIs, while Byars went 4-for-5 with a double, three runs and four RBIs and Dan McAleavey went 4-for-5 with a double, three runs scored and an RBI.
Ward went 3-for-5 with a triple, four runs and four RBIs, while Seets went 3-for-6 with two runs and an RBI and Geoff Kirksey went 3-for-6 with two RBIs. McCutchan went 2-for-6 with a double, two runs and two RBIs. Alex Stewart had a double and scored twice, while Bridwell also had two runs for MSU.
Craig Ringwald (5-4) got the win, allowing four runs (three earned) on eight hits, striking out one and walking three in 5-2/3 innings. Billy Fares came on in the sixth, allowing one hit, striking out two and walking one in 2-1/3 inning. Senior lefty Gordon Dugan pitched the ninth inning, striking out two in facing the minimum three batters.
"It's just incredible," Thieke said. "What a group of kids I have on this team! I could never say enough about my seniors. They hung with us through thick and thin, and they believed in what we were teaching them and what they were doing from the start, since the fall. We had some rough times early in the season, and they hung with us then.
"We came out hard in the first game today. We couldn't get things going against Eastern Kentucky in our first game against them on Thursday. I think we wanted to win too much, and when we saw wecouldn't get it, it just slipped through our fingers.
"(Assistant coach) Bart Osborne convinced our kids after that that they needed to put that away and look to Friday, to start new," Thieke said. "In the SEMO game (on Friday), you could tell our guys were beginning to believe in themselves. After that game, Eastern Illinois took us into the 13th inning, but I don't think our guys ever quit grinding and believing. When Alex Stewart hit that ball in the gap in the 13th inning, that ended the game.
"Bart told us that Eastern Kentucky's pitching would not keep us down, and our hitting was so contagious today that it really got the job done."
Murray State records set today included setting a team record for hits in a single game (26, with the 26th hit coming from John David Thieke), Gordon Dugan -- who had already broken the career appearances mark this year -- setting a single-season appearances record (28 games), and Brett McCutchan tying the MSU record for single-season doubles (20).
Murray State outhit Eastern Kentucky 38-18 today, with MSU hitting .422 to EKU's .243. The 'Breds were 9-for-10 today with runners on third base and less than two outs, and 30-for-61 (.492) with runners on base.
Statistical leaders for Murray State in the tournament included:
*Batting: Bridwell .421, Seets .407, Rebout .375, McAleavey .364, Ward .346.
*Hits: Seets 11, Rebout 9, Ward 9, Bridwell 8, McAleavey 8.
*Runs: McAleavey 8, Ward 8, Seets 7, Byars 6, Stewart 6, McCutchan 5.
*Runs Batted In: Byars 9, Bridwell 8, McCutchan 7, Rebout 6, Kirksey 5, Ward 5.
*Earned-Run Average: Perry (2-0) 0.69, Kraus (1-0) 1.42.
*Strikeouts: Perry 14, Peach 8, Dugan 7, Ringwald 6.
*Opponents' Batting Average: Shepherd .125, Perry .130, Moore .143, Moulder .200, Kraus .217, Dugan .238.
The 16 sites for the NCAA Regional Tournaments will be announced tomorrow (Sunday) at 2:10 p.m. CT live on ESPN (Murray Charter Communications Cable Channel 24). The 64-team bracket announcement will be on Monday at 11:30 a.m. on ESPN-2 (Murray Charter Communications Cable Channel 25).
