Murray State
Eastern Kentucky
'Breds close out 2005 season with 7-2 loss to Eastern Kentucky
5/27/2005 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
The Murray State Thoroughbreds closed out an exciting and much-improved season with a 7-2 loss to Eastern Kentucky in the O'Reilly's Ohio Valley Conference Baseball Tournament this afternoon. The tournament is being held at Brooks Stadium in Paducah, Ky.
The 'Breds (28-31) had 11 more wins than they had in 2004, setting a school record with 15 OVC wins and disproving a seventh-place pre-season ranking by finishing in fourth place in the league, just one game behind second place.
Against Eastern Kentucky (26-30), Murray State digressed from its usual offensive strategy and lofted several fly balls, with 16 of the 'Breds' 27 outs coming on fly balls.
"I guess we were really pumped up for this game," said MSU head coach Rob McDonald. "We lost our individual focus at the plate. We had a lot of fly balls, and had we been focused and taken better swings, they are more like line-drive doubles in the gap instead of fly-ball outs."
Murray State got on the scoreboard first in the top of the first inning, when Chaz Ebert led off by reaching on a fielder's error when a fly ball was lost in the sun and fell into the field, allowing Ebert to reach second. Ebert went to third on a sacrifice bunt by Seth Hudson, and scored on a sacrifice fly by Clint Griggs to give MSU a 1-0 lead.
In the third inning, Eastern Kentucky tied the score when Lucas Waters led off with a double, then scored on a single by Derrick Bussell to knot the game at 1-1.
The Colonels added a run in the fifth inning when Adam Visnic led off with a single, went to second on a single by Keith Bolger, moved to third on a sacrifice bunt and scored on a single by Bussell to give EKU a 2-1 lead.
In the sixth, Eastern Kentucky added to its tally when Tony Wells drew a one-out walk, then Visnic singled him to third. Wells scored on a groundout to give the Colonels a 3-1 lead.
EKU broke the game open in the seventh when Bussell led off with a single, then Brett Bolger singled him to second. The runners advanced on a sacrifice bunt, then Will Whisenant was intentionally walked to load the bases. Aaron Landis laced a single through the right side, scoring Bussell and Brett Bolger, then Wells singled in Whisenant to give the Colonels a 6-1 lead.
Murray State gained some ground in the eighth inning when Tyler Pittman drew a one-out walk, followed by a walk to Austin Swain. Michal Perconte slapped a two-out double down the left-field line to score Pittman and cut the deficit to 6-2.
In the bottom half of the inning, Bussell hit a one-out single, then stole second. He scored on a single by Bryan Stevenson, closing the scoring at 7-2.
"I don't really want it to end," McDonald said, "but it ends for everybody, and it always ends before you want it to.
"Our seniors have done a great job for this program, some of them before I got here (prior to the 2004 season). They have handled themselves with class, and I hate to see them leave.
"I definitely think we're going in the right direction," McDonald said. "The kids that we've got in the program now, and they way they competed this year -- I really feel good about this bunch of kids and the way they're doing good things on and off the field."
Hudson and Perconte each had a team-high two hits, while Stewart, Pittman, Perconte and Brett Wilson each had doubles. On defense, Griggs had a game-high eight putouts at first base, while Hudson had a co-game-high three assists at second base.
On the mound, Jon Ross Shelton (2-7) took the loss, allowing three runs on five hits, striking out two and walking five in 5-1/3 innings. Matt Scalfani came on in the sixth, allowing three runs on five hits, walking one in one inning. Charlie Wade closed out the game, allowing one run on two hits, striking out one in 1-2/3 innings.
For Eastern Kentucky, Bussell went 4-for-4 with two runs and two RBIs. Bussell and Whisenant each had six putouts, while Visnic had three assists at third base.
On the mound, Casey Howard (2-0) got the win, allowing one unearned run on seven hits, striking out one in seven innings. Andy Polzin came on in the eighth, allowing one run on one hit, striking out one and walking three in two-thirds of an inning. Richard Boothe closed out the game, allowing no runs on one hit in 1-1/3 innings.
Through the win, Eastern Kentucky advances to the final round of competition, opening tomorrow (Saturday) at 11 a.m. against Jacksonville State, which lost 4-1 to Austin Peay tonight. Austin Peay will take on the winner of that game at 2:30 p.m. in the first championship game. Should EKU or JSU win that game, a deciding championship game would be played on Sunday at noon.
