Racers Kick Off Road Trip At Evansville

Murray State softball kicks off a five game road trip this week, heading to Evansville for a two-game set Wednesday afternoon starting at 3 p.m.

The Racers (6-17) and Purple Aces (6-21) split their two prior meetings last season with each team picking up a 6-2 victory early in the season.

MSU hits the road again this weekend, traveling to Morehead State for a three game series kicking off Saturday at noon.

GAME NOTES

Scouting the Purple Aces
Murray State hits the road, traveling to Missouri Valley Conference member Evansville for a mid-week doubleheader.

The Purple Aces have dropped four in a row after a three game sweep against conference opponent Northern Iowa. They are 2-2 on the season against OVC competition, splitting series against both Southeast Missouri and UT Martin.

Amy Gaertner is the strongest bat in the Evansville lineup. She leads the team in home runs (3), RBI (16) and doubles (8) while sporting a .278 batting average.

Tennessee Tech Recap
The Racers pulled out a series split against Tennessee Tech, rebounding after an 18-11 loss to shutout the Golden Eagles for an 8-0 win in five innings.

Seniors Jenna Bradley and Lauren Buch each homered twice on the weekend, including back-to-back homers in the first inning of game two. Shelby Kosmecki earned her first shutout of the season, limiting Tennessee Tech to a hit and walk in five innings.

And Buch Goes The Dynamite
Second baseman Lauren Buch remains one of the top hitters in the OVC, leading the Racers with a .446 batting average. She leads the team with eight home runs, already surpassing her 2010 total of four, and also leads the Racers with 21 RBI, 21 runs and 14walks
Big (Ten) 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 walked three and struck out three in picking up her second win of the season.

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. Freshman Madysen Wilton picked up her first career win in a 2-0 victory at UAB. She entered in relief, tossing 2.1 innings in the road win.

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.
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 23-29 in steal attempts this season, and Glosser leads the team with nine steals in 10 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.

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