Racers Open OVC Season at UT Martin

Game Notes

Murrayy State softball returns to action on the road this weekend, traveling to UT Martin to open the OVC schedule for both teams.

Saturday's games have been moved back two hours due to wet field conditions. The doubleheader will now begin at 3 p.m. followed by game two 20 minutes after the conclusion of game one.

The Racers his the road to begin next week, traveling to UAB for a Tuesday doubleheader before hosting its first home games of the season with a three game conference set against Eastern Illinois.

Scouting the Skyhawks
Murray State kicks off the 2011 Ohio Valley Conference schedule with defending regular season champion UT Martin. The Racers are 0-3 all-time against the Skyhawks, dropping a doubleheader on the road and losing a single game at home.

UT Martin comes into the weekend having won 3-of-5 at the Florida Gulf Coast Tournament, collecting wins against Colgate, Florida Gulf Coast and St. Francis. They have a non-conference record of 10-8 this season.

The Skyhawks have four players hitting over .300 this season and are led at the plate by Jenny Bain. She leads the team in hits (19), RBI (12) and home runs (4). Chelsea Jones is the team's best pitcher, allowing just seven runs in 42.1 innings and 10 appearances for a 1.49 ERA on the season.

Big (10) Win
The Racers 7-2 win against Big Ten opponent Iowa in the final game of the DeMarini Invitational was MSU's first win in the program's history against a major conference school.
DeMarini Invitational
Murray State finished the weekend 1-4 at the DeMarini Invitational in Fullerton, Calif. The Racers faced a strong group of teams, dropping first day matches against Cal State Northridge 6-4 and Oregon State 7-3. MSU faced a pair of ranked Pac-10 schools on day two, falling 8-0 against #10 Cal and 14-2 to #14 Stanford. Murray State won its last game of the Invitational, needing extra innings to defeat Iowa 7-2. The Racers scored five runs in the top of the eight.

One For the Record Books
Chelsey Sullivan tossed the first no-hitter in program history, shutting out Belmont for a five inning, 8-0 victory. She leads the Racers with a 2-2 record and ERA of 2.02 in 24 IP.
Freshmen Coming Up Big
The Racers got a pair of big hits from freshmen in extra innings against Iowa. Leslie Bridges drove in the game-winning run with a bases-loaded single. Meghan Sims doubled two batters later to put the game out of hand, scoring three to give the Racers a 6-2 lead.
Way to Start a Career
Freshman Meghan Sims homered in her first collegiate at bat. Sims, batting second in the MSU lineup, drove a 1-2 pitch deep to left center to give the Racers a 1-0 lead in game one against Middle Tennessee State.

Wrapping Up the War Eagle Classic
The Racers came out of the weekend with a 1-3 record, losing games against Middle Tennessee State, Auburn and Georgia Southern with a win against Belmont. MSU had early leads against the Blue Raiders and Eagles and played the host Tigers close through the first few innings, but struggled to keep teams off of the bases in the middle of games, giving up 21 runs in innings 4-6 in three games.

Playing Tough Competition
Murray State will meet with four different teams in non-conference play that advanced to the 2010 NCAA Championships. UAB, Auburn and Stanford each won one game and dropped a pair in the regional round. 11th seeded California was a perfect 3-0 in the regional round before dropping a pair in the super regionals against Georgia.

Long Time, No See
The Racers open the 2011 season with 16 consecutive games before returning to Murray for their home opener against Eastern Illinois on Mar. 19. The schedule turns in MSU's favor toward the end of April as the Racers will play 11 straight home games just before the end of the regular season.

2011 Racers
MSU brings back 13 players from last season's inaugural squad with three freshmen and a sophomore transfer joining the team. Seven returners started at least 38 games in the field last season and the Racers projected starting lineup heading into 2011 had 348 games of experience last year.

Catch Us If You Can
Murray State blew past the rest of the OVC on the base paths in 2010, leading the conference with 96 stolen bases. Junior Megan Glosser ranked second in the OVC with 28 steals in 32 attempts, and teammate Jenna Bradley tied for third overall with 17 stolen bases. The Racers are 13-16 in steal attempts this season, and Glosser remains perfect this season, successful on all six of her attempts.

All-OVC Selections
The Racers had three players earn All-OVC recognition in their first season of competition. Freshman Ellyn Troup was named to the 12-member All-OVC Second Team and the All-Newcomer Team as an infielder. Junior Jenna Bradley joined Troup on both the all-second and all-newcomer teams as an outfielder. The final member of the MSU squad to earn league honors was sophomore Megan Glosser, as a utility player on the All-Newcomer Team.

Making the Most of the First Season
The Racers didn't waste any time making a name for themselves in their inaugural season. MSU is one of a few teams around the NCAA that have advanced to their respective conference tournaments (when not all the teams advance) in their first season of competition. Boise State earned the last seed in the Western Athletic Conference tournament at season ago and Brigham Young won the Mountain West title to advance to the NCAA Regional in 2001.

2011 OVC Coaches Poll
Murray State was predicted to finish seventh in the OVC as voted on by the league's coaches. Jacksonville State, the 2010 OVC Championships winner, was named pre-season favorite. Tennessee Tech followed in second with 2010 OVC regular season champion UT Martin in third.

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