Murray State University Athletics
Baseball Signs Four For 2008-09
11/28/2007 6:00:00 AM | Baseball
Murray State baseball head coach Rob McDonald announced the signing of four players during the fall signing period. Adam Bailey of Springboro, Ohio; Jonathan Craycraft of Lexington, Ky.; Derek Hayden of Shelbyville, Ill.; and Dan Huff of Castle Rock, Colo., will join the Thoroughbreds roster in the 2008-09 school year.
Bailey is an infielder/pitcher from Springboro High School. He is a righty with a 3.50 earned-run average last season. He hit .325 with four home runs, eight doubles and four triples, and scored 17 runs and drove in 29.
Craycraft, a shortstop at Henry Clay High School, is a four-year starter and will finish as a five-year letterman. Last season, he hit .345 and earned All-City honors, helping Henry Clay to a third straight district championship. He scored 34 runs and drove in 25, with only 10 strikeouts in 140 plate appearances. He had an on-base percentage of .414 and a slugging percentage of .560, with eight doubles, four triples and three home runs.
Hayden is a left-handed pitcher from Kaskaskia (Ill.) Community College. He earned first-team all-conference and first-team all-area honors at Shelbyville High School as a senior (2006), and his earned-run average of 0.38 in his that season tied for 20th all-time among Illinois high school pitchers. His grandfather, John Ruscin, played baseball and football at Murray State in the 1950s.
Huff, a right-handed pitcher at Fort Scott (Kan.) Community College, went 5-2 last season with an ERA of 3.96. He had 48 strikeouts in 67-1/3 innings to only 30 walks, a 1.60 strikeout-to-walk ratio. He had 12 starts and threw three complete games.
