Murray State University Athletics
Baseball To Open 2008 Season At Home Saturday
2/20/2008 6:00:00 AM | Baseball
The Murray State Thoroughbreds open their 73rd baseball season this Saturday at home with a double-header against Bradley, beginning at noon. The teams will play a single game on Sunday at 1 p.m.
This year's schedule features 29 home games, with Reagan Field match-ups against regional rivals Evansville (April 9), Memphis (April 15), Southern Illinois (April 30) and Arkansas State (May 13) as well as Ohio Valley Conference home series against Samford (March 29-30), Eastern Illinois (April 12-13), Morehead State (April 26-27) and UT Martin (May 10-11).
Murray State's road schedule includes contests at Memphis (Feb. 27), Southern Illinois (March 18), Arkansas State (April 16), Mississippi (April 22) and Evansville (April 29) as well as OVC road series at Jacksonville State (March 21-22), Southeast Missouri (April 5-6), Eastern Kentucky (April 19-20), Tennessee Tech (May 3-4) and Austin Peay (May 16-17).
The 'Breds have also set up a game against Kentucky on May 12 to be played at Paducah's Brooks Stadium, the site of the OVC Championship Tournament on May 21-25. Last year's match-up against the Wildcats in Paducah was rained out.
MSU's pitching staff returns eight of the 10 regular throwers from last season. Senior right-hander Mike Perconte (6-7, 7.38 ERA; 5-3 OVC, 5.17 ERA) returns from a season in which he tossed a team-high 55 strikeouts. Perconte will likely be joined in the rotation by junior righty Marc Harmon, who was injured early in the season last year; sophomore left-hander Bryan Baldini (1-0, 7.85 ERA; 0-0 OVC, 3.80 ERA); junior lefty Anthony Stacy (2-2, 6.05 ERA; 1-1 OVC, 5.68 ERA); and sophomore southpaw Matt McGaha (2-5, 6.99 ERA; 2-1 OVC, 6.93 ERA).
McGaha and senior right-hander Drew Leeper (0-2, 8.44 ERA) may be used as starters or middle relievers this season, while sophomore righty Brad Rowland (2-5, four saves, 7.34 ERA; 1-2 OVC, four saves, 5.86 ERA) and sophomore left-hander Jake Donze (3-7, 8.00 ERA) may be looked on as closers.
The 'Breds graduated all three outfielders last year, including All-OVC First Team member Tyler Pittman (.308, 61 hits, 15 2B; .383 OVC), Jamie Leidolf (.276; .263 OVC) and Austin Swain (.228; .241 OVC) as well as All-OVC Second Team second baseman Seth Hudson (.359, 78 hits; .356 OVC), All-OVC Second Team first baseman James Akin (.302; .362 OVC) and catcher Jason Payton (.287, seven HR, 19 RBI; .304 OVC).
Junior third baseman and All-OVC Second Team member Tyler Owen (.353, eight 2B, five HR, .491 slug; .398 OVC, .580 slug) returns to the 'Breds' starting lineup, and senior Andrew Cella (.241, .354 slug), who served as a starting designated hitter last season, also comes back this season.
Coming in to bolster the MSU roster are 14 newcomers, with seven freshmen, three transfers and four junior-college graduates. They include catchers Bo Akers, Steven Bayko, Dustin Huff and Evan Pettit; infielders Will Cartwright, Cory Hodskins and Matt Hon; outfielders Elliot Frey, Zach Noonan and Brooks Thornton; and pitchers Chris Craycraft, Tyler Hall, Alexander Love and Matt Phillips. Pitcher Seth McFarlin, who redshirted last year, also rejoins the staff.
"Our guys are ready to play a regular game," said MSU head coach Rob McDonald. "We've been outside a fair amount recently, although we've probably been on the football field more than we have been on Reagan Field! We're looking forward to getting this season started."
2008 SCHEDULE
Here is a look at this year's Murray State baseball schedule (* - OVC game; (dh) - double-headers; games with "at" preceding the team name are away games; see schedule page for game times):
FEBRUARY
Sat. 23, Bradley (dh); Sun 24, Bradley; Wed. 27, at Memphis; Fri. 29, at Nicholls State.
MARCH
Sat. 1, at Nicholls State; Sun. 2, at Nicholls State; Tue. 4, at Belmont; Sat. 8, Butler (dh); Sun. 9, Butler; Tue. 11, Central Arkansas; Wed. 12, Central Arkansas; Sat. 15, Bowling Green State (dh); Sun. 16, Bowling Green State; Tue. 18, at Southern Illinois; Fri. 21, at Jacksonville State* (dh); Sat. 22, at Jacksonville State*; Tue. 25, at Lipscomb; Wed. 26, Lipscomb; Sat. 29, Samford* (dh); Sun. 30, Samford*.
APRIL
Wed. 2, Belmont; Sat. 5, at Southeast Missouri (dh); Sun. 6, at Southeast Missouri*; Wed. 9, Evansville; Sat. 12, Eastern Illinois* (dh); Sun. 13, Eastern Illinois*; Tue. 15, Memphis; Wed. 16, at Arkansas State; Sat. 19, at Eastern Kentucky* (dh); Sun. 20, at Eastern Kentucky*; Tue. 22, at Mississippi; Sat. 26, Morehead State* (dh); Sun. 27, Morehead State*; Tue. 29, at Evansville; Wed. 30, Southern Illinois.
MAY
Sat. 3, at Tennessee Tech* (dh); Sun. 4, at Tennessee Tech*; Sat. 10, UT Martin* (dh); Sun. 11, UT Martin*; Mon. 12, Kentucky (at Paducah); Tue. 13, Arkansas State; Fri. 16, at Austin Peay* (dh); Sat. 17, at Austin Peay*; 21-25, OVC Championship Tournament, Paducah, Ky.
OVC PRE-SEASON POLL
Murray State was picked to finish seventh in the 10-team Ohio Valley Conference, according to polling done by OVC baseball coaches. Jacksonville State was the pre-season favorite with four first-place votes and 76 total points, followed closely by last season's champion, Austin Peay, which had five first-place votes and 74 points. (Teams got nine points for a first-place vote, eight for a second-place vote, etc.)
Eastern Kentucky was picked third with one first-place vote and 61 points, while Southeast Missouri was fourth at 59 points, followed by Samford with 55 points, Eastern Illinois with 38 points, Murray State with 30 points, Tennessee Tech with 29 points, Morehead State with 15 points and UT Martin with 13 points.
