Murray State University Athletics
Murray State
Middle Tennessee State
Softball Hosts Middle Tennessee State In Non-Conference Action
4/9/2012 10:19:00 AM | Softball
Murray State jumps into non-conference action against a familiar foe as the Racers welcome Middle Tennessee State to Racer Field Tuesday afternoon.
The Racers and Blue Raiders previously met on the diamond just over a month ago at the Tennessee Classic, with Murray State winning 6-4 as Leslie Bridges, Meghan Sims and Christian Cox each drove in a pair of runs in the final game of the weekend in Knoxville, Tenn. Shelby Kosmecki earned the win in relief for MSU, tossing 4.1 shutout innings and allowing just three hits while striking out four.
The teams have played a total of four times, including splitting two games at Middle Tennessee State to open the 2011 season and a MTSU win at last season's War Eagle Classic.
The Blue Raiders are led on offense by Kayla Toney. MTSU's third hitter in the line-up is batting .402 in 29 starts this season. The second baseman also leads the team with 20 runs, 35 total hits, 10 doubles, a .480 on-base percentage and a .644 slugging percentage. Kaycee Popham leads the team with 18 runs batted in while hitting .347 and scoring 19 times this season.
Shelby Stinnett leads the Middle Tennessee State pitching staff with a 2.82 earned run average and a 5-3 record over eight starts this season. Caty Jutson has earned the most starts out of the rotation, holding a 5-9 record this season with 11 starts and 19 appearances.
Middle Tennessee State has played a pair of OVC teams this season, splitting doubleheaders with each Eastern Illinois and Jacksonville State.
The Racers are coming off of three wins in five games this past week in OVC action, splitting a mid-week series against SIU Edwardsville while taking two of three games on the road at Tennessee Tech. Chelsey Sullivan and Shelby Kosmecki combined to throw three straight shutouts in the circle for the Racers, with Sullivan blanking SIUE 11-0 in five innings Wednesday afternoon, and joining with Kosmecki to each toss a 1-0 win Friday afternoon against the Golden Eagles.
Murray State continues conference action the remainder of the week, traveling to SIU Edwardsville for a single game Thursday afternoon at 4 p.m. before returning home to host Morehead State for two games Saturday afternoon and one game Sunday. First pitch both days is scheduled for 1 p.m.
