Softball Travels to Arkansas for Five Games

Friday, February 22

Fayetteville, Ark.

12:30 p.m.

Murray State

Saint Louis

Photo by: Bill Simmonds/ Miss. St. Athletics

2/21/2013 5:25:00 PM | Softball

Game Notes | Live Stats (Games vs. UA Only)

MSU 2013 Record: 1-3 (0-0 OVC)

This Weekend's Opponents:
Saint Louis: 2-2 (0-0 A10)
      All-Time vs. SLU: 0-0
Arkansas: 8-4 (0-0 SEC)
      All-Time vs. UA: 0-0
La.-Monroe: 5-4 (0-0 SBC)
      All-Time vs. ULM: 0-2

The Murray State softball team will travel to Fayetteville, Ark., this weekend for five games at the Arkansas Invitational.

The tournament will feature four teams in a pool play/bracket format. The Racers will open play on Friday with Saint Louis, then take on Arkansas and La.-Monroe on Saturday. On Sunday, MSU will play in one of two semi-finals, then wrap-up play with either the consolation or championship game.

The Racers are looking to bounce back after a 1-3 showing at last weekend's Bulldog Battle in Starkville, Miss. Murray State dropped games to Western Kentucky, Northwestern State and Mississippi State, but picked up a thrilling 5-4 come-from-behind win against Northwestern State in their first meeting.

Down two runs with two outs in the bottom of the seventh, sophomore Casey Castile came to the plate with runners at first and second. With the pressure on, Castile came up with a clutch double that allowed Ellyn Troup, who reached base on an error to score from second and make the score 4-3.

However the play was not over, as Northwestern State threw the ball into right field in an attempt to get Castile out at second base, allowing Sanders and Castile to score for the walk-off win. The two errors in the seventh inning by the Lady Demons were their only two of the game.

The game was also a milestone for senior pitcher Shelby Kosmecki who set a new school record for strikeouts in the game with 12. The 12 strikeouts versus the Lady Demons breaks her own previous program record of 11 set against Tennessee Tech on April 6 of last season.

For their play in the tournament, Castile and Freshman Shelbey Miller were named to the all-tournament team. Castile hit .400 for the week with four hits, three runs, three RBIs, two stolen bases and a double, while Miller spread her four hits out over each of the four games while also tallying a double and a run.

This weekend, the Racers will face two new opponents in Fayetteville in Saint Louis and host Arkansas. While neither Arkansas, nor Murray State has a win over each other, technically this will not be the first time the two teams have played.

The Racers traveled to Fayetteville last season for a spring break doubleheader that was canceled due to rain. MSU was up, 1-0, on the Razorbacks before the first game was called in the bottom of the third.

Murray State's other opponent this weekend will be Louisiana-Monroe. The Warhawks own a 2-0 series lead over the Racers, with both wins coming at ULM in 2010.
First pitch against Saint Louis on Friday is scheduled for 12:30 p.m., with start times of 12:30 p.m., and 3 p.m., slated for Saturday's games against Arkansas and La-Monroe, respectively.

The two semi-finals are scheduled for 9 a.m., and 11 a.m., on Sunday, with the game featuring Arkansas scheduled for the latter time. The Racers are currently scheduled to close out play in Arkansas at 2 p.m., regardless of whether that is the championship or consolation game, due to travel concerns.