Murray State University Athletics
Baseball Closes Fall With Navy-Gold World Series
11/1/2007 5:00:00 AM | Baseball
The Murray State baseball team is closing out its fall practice with the traditional Navy-Gold World Series, playing one game a day this week at MSU's Reagan Field. The seven-inning games begin at 3:30 p.m., and will go through Friday. The team is divided into two squads and compete against each other.
"This is a great way for us to finish our fall practice," said MSU head coach Rob McDonald. "It's a very competitive and exciting series. It's enjoyable for our players and gives our coaches the opportunity to evaluate our guys in a game setting going into the spring."
Making up the Navy squad are infielders Bo Akers, Wes Cunningham, Matt Hon, Evan Pettit, Taylor Thieke, Will Cartwright and Justin Yount; outfielders Cory Hodskins, Matt Scheer and Brooks Thornton; and pitchers Lucas Allen, Bryan Baldini, Chris Craycraft, Tyler Hall, Drew Leeper, Matt McGaha and Mike Perconte.
Making up the Gold squad are infielders Chad Allen, Steven Bayko, Andrew Cella, Daniel Miller, Tyler Owen, Kyle Tiernan and Adam Uhrhan; outfielders Elliot Frey, Blake Helm and Zach Noonan; and pitchers Daniel Calhoun, Jake Donze, Marc Harmon, Seth McFarlin, Matt Phillips, Brad Rowland and Anthony Stacy.
In the series opener on Monday, the Gold team broke a scoreless tie with three runs in the third inning, taking the first game of the series with a 5-2 win. Donze pitched well for Gold, allowing two hits over the first five innings, striking out six and walking four. Rowland pitched the sixth, allowing two runs on two hits, striking out one, and Calhoun closed the game and got the save, striking out two and allowing no hits. Tiernan popped two hits and had a run and a run batted in. Owen drove in two runs, while Allen had two hits. Perconte took the loss for Navy, allowing four runs on four hits, striking out seven and walking five in five innings. Leeper closed out the game, allowing one run on three hits and striking out two. Navy was led by Yount, who went 2-for-3 and reached base five times in the game.
On Tuesday, the Navy team bounced back, holding off a comeback attempt by Gold, winning Game 2 of the series 5-4. Navy led 5-0 in the middle of the third inning when Gold scored twice in the bottom of the third and two runs in the sixth inning, but were unable to push any further. Craycraft got the win, allowing two runs on four hits, striking out six and walking four in five innings of work. Hall pitched the last two innings, allowing two runs on three hits, striking out two and walking one. At the plate, Hodskins and Thornton each had two hits for Navy. Hodskins scored twice, while Thornton had two RBIs. Harmon took the loss for Gold, allowing five runs on seven hits and one walk in three innings. McFarlin and Stacy closed out the game, combining for no runs on one hit over four innings. At the plate, Tiernan had two hits and an RBI for Gold, while Owen had a double, a run and an RBI.
In Game 3 on Wednesday, Navy opened the game with three runs in the bottom of the first inning, but Gold came up off the deck and plated four runs int he top of the third. Navy tied it with a run in the bottom half of the inning, but Goldl scored two runs in the fourth, one in the fifth and two in the seventh for the 9-5 win, taking a 2-1 lead in the five-game series. Calhoun got the win for Gold, allowing four runs on three hits, striking out one and walking one in four innings. Rowland closed out the game, allowing one run on three hits over three innings, striking out one and walking one. At the plate, Helm went 3-for-4 with two runs and an RBI for Gold, while Tiernan and Miller each had two hits. Tiernan also had two RBIs and a run, while Miller scored twice. For Navy, McGaha took the loss, allowing six runs on seven hits, striking out two and walking two in 3-1/3 innings. Baldini pitched the rest of the game, allowing two runs on three hits, striking out two and walking four in 3-2/3 innings. At the plate, Thieke went 3-for-3 with a run and an RBI, while Cunningham went 2-for-3 with an RBI.
