Murray State University Athletics
Wednesday, May 8
Charleston, Ill.
5:30 p.m.
Murray State
vs
UT Martin
Photo by: Tab Brockman
Softball Begins OVC Title Quest With UT Martin
5/6/2013 3:33:00 PM | Softball
Game Notes | OVC Tournament Central | OVC Tournament Bracket (PDF)
MSU 2013 Record: 23-26 (14-10 OVC, 4th Seed)
Wednesday's Opponent:
UT Martin: 33-18 (14-10 OVC, 5th Seed) | Live Stats | Live Audio
All-Time vs. UTM: 5-10
The Murray State softball team travels to Charleston, Ill., on Wednesday in search of the first NCAA berth in school history for the 2013 OVC Softball Championship. The Racers will open their first-ever post-season under Kara Amundson with arch-rival UT Martin.
The Racers clinched the fourth-seed in this week's OVC tournament on Sunday with a doubleheader sweep of Austin Peay on Sunday. Murray State tied with UT Martin for fourth place in the regular season, but was awarded the higher seed by winning the regular-season series.
Murray State used big second and third innings to come up with a 6-4 win in game one. Sarah Anderson got the scoring started in the second when she homered for the fourth time this season to make it 1-0 early. The Racers would later add runs on a pair of RBI-singles from Shelbey Miller, a RBI-double by Christian Cox and a bases loaded walk by Alexa Becker.
The Lady Govs attempted to mount a comeback, hitting home runs three times over the contest to eventually cut the lead to 6-4. However, CheyAnne Gaskey helped shut the game down in the seventh when she earned her fifth save of the season and clinched the victory for MSU. Miller finished the game at 2-for-4, Cox went 2-for-3 and Becker went 2-for-2 in the game.
In game two, the Racers surged to an early lead, only to give up six runs in the third and fall behind 6-4. After several lead changes, Austin Peay's Mel Pavel hit a home run in the top of the seventh that eventually sent the game to extra innings.
In the added frames, Shelby Kosmecki gave her team a chance at the win by retiring the side in order in the eighth and ninth. After Cox led off the ninth with a double and Audrey Woodby laid down a bunt single to give the Racers their record 17th hit of the game, Miller came to the plate with a chance at the win and her own piece of history.
With a single up the middle, not only did Miller drive in Cox and give Murray State the 10-9 walk-off victory, but she became the first-ever Racer to tally five hits in a single game. Miller finished the game at 5-for-6, while Mo Ramsey also went a very impressive 4-for-5.
In 15 previous meetings with UT Martin, the Skyhawks have come away victorious on 10 of those occasions. Prior to this season, UT Martin was 6-0 against the Racers at Giles Field, but that changed when MSU took two of three from the Skyhawks back in April.
The two teams have now met on three previous occasions in the OVC tournament, with UTM holding the slight 2-1 advantage. The Racers won the first ever meeting as part of the OVC Tournament in 2011, but the Skyhawks took the second meeting in 2011, as well as the lone game between the two in last season's event.
The Skyhawks posted 25 runs on the weekend to sweep a doubleheader with Southeast Missouri and finish the regular-season at 33-18 overall and 14-10 in the league. Kenzi Tate went 6-for-9 on the weekend to lead the team with two doubles, a home run and six RBIs.
Tate currently leads the Skyhawks in most major offensive categories including batting average at .359, hits with 55, doubles with 12, home runs with 11 and RBIs with 48. Tate is also 17-5 on the season in the circle for the Skyhawks and boasts a .288 ERA and 85 strikeouts. Casey Vincent currently leads the UTM pitching staff with 2.40 ERA, a 14-8 record and a team-high 117 strikeouts.
This season marks the Racers fourth year as a program and fourth consecutive OVC Tournament appearance. The Racers are 3-6 all-time in tourney play and went 1-2 in 2011, the last time the tournament was in Charleston. The Racers will enter this year's tournament as the fourth-seed for the second season as row. After tying Jacksonville State for third in the 2012 regular season, MSU went 2-2 at last year's event to finish a program-best third, just one game shy of its first-ever championship game appearance.
Murray State and UT Martin will close out day one of the tournament when they face-off at 5:30 p.m., at Williams Field in Charleston. Live stats and free live audio, provided by Eastern Illinois, will be available for the contest and links can be found at GoRacers.com.
MSU 2013 Record: 23-26 (14-10 OVC, 4th Seed)
Wednesday's Opponent:
UT Martin: 33-18 (14-10 OVC, 5th Seed) | Live Stats | Live Audio
All-Time vs. UTM: 5-10
The Murray State softball team travels to Charleston, Ill., on Wednesday in search of the first NCAA berth in school history for the 2013 OVC Softball Championship. The Racers will open their first-ever post-season under Kara Amundson with arch-rival UT Martin.
The Racers clinched the fourth-seed in this week's OVC tournament on Sunday with a doubleheader sweep of Austin Peay on Sunday. Murray State tied with UT Martin for fourth place in the regular season, but was awarded the higher seed by winning the regular-season series.
Murray State used big second and third innings to come up with a 6-4 win in game one. Sarah Anderson got the scoring started in the second when she homered for the fourth time this season to make it 1-0 early. The Racers would later add runs on a pair of RBI-singles from Shelbey Miller, a RBI-double by Christian Cox and a bases loaded walk by Alexa Becker.
The Lady Govs attempted to mount a comeback, hitting home runs three times over the contest to eventually cut the lead to 6-4. However, CheyAnne Gaskey helped shut the game down in the seventh when she earned her fifth save of the season and clinched the victory for MSU. Miller finished the game at 2-for-4, Cox went 2-for-3 and Becker went 2-for-2 in the game.
In game two, the Racers surged to an early lead, only to give up six runs in the third and fall behind 6-4. After several lead changes, Austin Peay's Mel Pavel hit a home run in the top of the seventh that eventually sent the game to extra innings.
In the added frames, Shelby Kosmecki gave her team a chance at the win by retiring the side in order in the eighth and ninth. After Cox led off the ninth with a double and Audrey Woodby laid down a bunt single to give the Racers their record 17th hit of the game, Miller came to the plate with a chance at the win and her own piece of history.
With a single up the middle, not only did Miller drive in Cox and give Murray State the 10-9 walk-off victory, but she became the first-ever Racer to tally five hits in a single game. Miller finished the game at 5-for-6, while Mo Ramsey also went a very impressive 4-for-5.
In 15 previous meetings with UT Martin, the Skyhawks have come away victorious on 10 of those occasions. Prior to this season, UT Martin was 6-0 against the Racers at Giles Field, but that changed when MSU took two of three from the Skyhawks back in April.
The two teams have now met on three previous occasions in the OVC tournament, with UTM holding the slight 2-1 advantage. The Racers won the first ever meeting as part of the OVC Tournament in 2011, but the Skyhawks took the second meeting in 2011, as well as the lone game between the two in last season's event.
The Skyhawks posted 25 runs on the weekend to sweep a doubleheader with Southeast Missouri and finish the regular-season at 33-18 overall and 14-10 in the league. Kenzi Tate went 6-for-9 on the weekend to lead the team with two doubles, a home run and six RBIs.
Tate currently leads the Skyhawks in most major offensive categories including batting average at .359, hits with 55, doubles with 12, home runs with 11 and RBIs with 48. Tate is also 17-5 on the season in the circle for the Skyhawks and boasts a .288 ERA and 85 strikeouts. Casey Vincent currently leads the UTM pitching staff with 2.40 ERA, a 14-8 record and a team-high 117 strikeouts.
This season marks the Racers fourth year as a program and fourth consecutive OVC Tournament appearance. The Racers are 3-6 all-time in tourney play and went 1-2 in 2011, the last time the tournament was in Charleston. The Racers will enter this year's tournament as the fourth-seed for the second season as row. After tying Jacksonville State for third in the 2012 regular season, MSU went 2-2 at last year's event to finish a program-best third, just one game shy of its first-ever championship game appearance.
Murray State and UT Martin will close out day one of the tournament when they face-off at 5:30 p.m., at Williams Field in Charleston. Live stats and free live audio, provided by Eastern Illinois, will be available for the contest and links can be found at GoRacers.com.
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