Murray State
Jacksonville State
'Breds Fall In Final Regular-Season Game
5/19/2007 5:00:00 AM | Baseball
Going into Saturday's game, Murray State could finish anywhere from fourth to sixth in the Ohio Valley Conference standings, but visiting Jacksonville State had its sights set on the top two seeds and a bye in the first round of the O'Reilly OVC Championship Tournament, to be played at Brooks Stadium in Paducah, Ky. The Gamecocks got their wish, winning 12-0 at Murray State, earning the No. 2 seed into the tournament.
Murray State (18-33, 12-13 OVC) will have the No. 6 seed and will face No. 3 Southeast Missouri (31-22, 16-10 OVC) on Wednesday at 6:30 p.m. The tournament will open with No. 4 Samford (29-26, 14-13 OVC) taking on No. 5 Eastern Kentucky (23-27, 12-12 OVC) on Wednesday at 2:30 p.m. Austin Peay (36-20, 19-8 OVC) earned the regular-season title and will have a bye, beginning its tournament play on Thursday at 6:30 p.m. against the lowest-seeded winner from Wednesday, while JSU (31-25, 18-9 OVC) will begin play on Thursday at 2:30 p.m. against the highest-seeded winner from Wednesday's games. Eastern Illinois (23-27, 12-14 OVC), Tennessee Tech (26-28, 12-15 OVC), Morehead State (16-36, 9-18 OVC) and Tennessee-Martin (19-36, 7-19 OVC) did not qualify for the six-team tournament.
Against Jacksonville State, the 'Breds just couldn't get things going, held to five hits in the game. Senior second baseman Seth Hudson and freshman pinch-hitter Wes Cunningham each slapped doubles in the game. Other MSU hits came from senior left fielder Austin Swain, sophomore shortstop Justin Yount and junior left fielder Matt Scheer. Defensively, senior first baseman James Akin had a game-high 11 putouts, while Hudson had a game-high five assists.
For JSU, Jake Ball went 4-for-6 with a double and three runs batted in. Bert Smith went 3-for-6 with three runs and two RBIs, while Clay Whittemore went 3-for-6 with a run and three RBIs, and Kyle McCreary went 3-for-4 with two runs and an RBI. Allen Rose and Josh Sanders each hit a double for the Gamecocks. Defensively, catcher Richard Turner had nine putouts, while three JSU players had two assists each.
On the mound, junior right-hander Lucas Allen (2-5, 2-3 OVC) took the loss, allowing six runs (two earned) on seven hits in 1-2/3 innings. Freshman lefty Matt McGaha came on in the second inning, allowing four runs on eight hits, striking out two and walking two in 3-1/3 innings. Freshman righty Brad Rowland entered in the fifth, allowing two runs on four hits, striking out one in two innings, while freshman left-hander Jake Donze came on in the eighth, allowing no hits and striking out two of the minimum three batters he faced. Freshman lefty Bryan Baldini pitched the ninth inning, allowing one hit and striking out one.
For JSU, defending OVC Pitcher of the Week Ben Tootle (6-3, 4-1 OVC) got the win, allowing no runs on four hits, striking out four and walking one in seven innings. Alex Jones closed the game for Jacksonville State, allowing one hit, striking out five and walking one in two innings.
A STEP UP: After finishing in 10th place in the OVC last season, Murray State was picked to finish eighth in this year's pre-season poll and placed sixth, gaining an improvement of 5.5 games over last year's OVC mark.
"It's been a combination of better hitting and better pitching," said MSU head coach Rob McDonald. "Last year, we just couldn't put anything together -- we couldn't have good hitting and good pitching on the same days -- or get the opportune hits. This year, we have been able to put together good hitting and good pitching, and get some opportune hits or pitching performances."
