Murray State
Arkansas State
'Breds threaten to break game open, but come up one hit short vs. ASU
4/6/2004 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
The Murray State Thoroughbreds trailed visiting Arkansas State 6-1 in the middle of the third inning, but came off the deck, outscoring ASU 7-4 with 12 hits over the last 6-1/2 innings, but the 'Breds left the bases loaded in the eighth inning and couldn't get things going in the ninth in their 10-8 loss at Reagan Field this afternoon.
Trailing 10-7 in the top of the eighth inning, Murray State (7-20) halted a potential Indians rally with ASU's Andy Runyan on third base. Adam Roberson flied out to left fielder Austin Swain, and Runyan tagged up to score. Swain's through found third baseman Clint Griggs, who threw home to catcher Bo Baxter. Runyan slid wide of the plate, then dove back to tag the base with his hand, but Baxter's tag ended the inning and the Arkansas State threat.
In the bottom half of the inning, designated hitter James Akin hit a one-out single, then shortstop Alex Stewart singled him to third. First baseman Geoff Kirksey hit a sacrifice fly to score Akin, then right fielder Scotty Scott singled Stewart to second. Center fielder J.D. Merritt slapped an infield single to load the bases, and Tyler Pittman came on to pinch-hit for second baseman Derrick Newton.
Pittman pounded a 1-0 pitch, but it went straight to ASU right fielder Brad Burkhead to kill the MSU rally.
"If that hit had gone up, down, or to either side, we could have won the game," said MSU head coach Rob McDonald, "but you can't steer where you hit the ball. You just hit it, and take it where it goes."
Murray State's offense was led by Griggs, who went 3-for-5 with two doubles a triple and two runs scored; Scott, who went 3-for-5 with a double with a run and a run batted in; and Stewart, who went 3-for-4 with a run and an RBI. Akin went 2-for-4 with four runs scored, while Merritt went 2-for-5 with an RBI. Kirksey had three RBIs on the day with two sacrifice flies.
Arkansas State (16-14) was paced by Isaac Dillon, who went 3-for-4 with a triple, a run and two RBIs; Mike Sirianni, who went 3-for-5 with a double, two runs and an RBI; and Chris Rich, who went 3-for-5 with a double, three runs and three RBIs.
On the mound, West Harris (0-3) took the loss, allowing nine runs on 11 hits, striking out five and walking none in 4-1/3 innings. Chandler Shepherd came on in the fifth and held the Indians down, allowing only one run on three hits, striking out one and walking none in 3-2/3 innings. Pittman pitched the ninth inning and allowed only one hit with one strikeout.
For ASU, Doug Walter (4-4) got the win, despite allowing seven runs (six earned) on 10 hits, striking out three and walking three in 5-1/3 innings. Stephen Tharp came on in the sixth and allowed one run on three hits, striking out one in two innings. Ryan Hamilton entered in the eighth, allowing two hits in two-thirds of an inning. Blake Ring got his fifth save of the season, getting one strikeout and one walk in the ninth.
"That was a really good baseball game," McDonald said. "We got 15 hits, played errorless baseball, and our pitchers didn't walk anybody. Arkansas State hit well but I think their hitting belies the level of our pitching. We pitched really well; Arkansas State did a good job hitting.
"We played good defense. There were several times when we got hits and scored some runs, but we were one hit away from a big inning, like the eighth inning. We had a good effort from everybody who played today."
Murray State gets back to its Ohio Valley Conference schedule this weekend, when the 'Breds visit Eastern Kentucky. The three-game series begins with a double-header on Friday beginning at 11 a.m. CT, then ends with a single game on Saturday at noon CT. All three games can be heard locally on WRKY (1130 AM, Murray).
