Softball at Evansville Moved To Sunday/Monday

Game Notes | Live Stats

Dates: Mar. 9-10, 2014
Tournament Name (Host): Aces Invitational (Evansville)
Site (Venue): Evansville, Ind. (Cooper Stadium)
Live Stats: GoRacers.com
Twitter In Game: @MSURacers @PGriffithMSU
MSU Record (Streak): 8-7 (W1)
MSU vs. The Field: 0-0
All-Time Series vs. IPFW: First Meeting
All-Time Series vs. South Dakota St.: First Meeting
MSU Next Series: Mar. 15-16 vs. UT Martin
MSU Next Home: Mar. 15-16 vs. UT Martin

Inclement weather has further changed the Murray State softball team's schedule as they will now play their final regular-season tournament, the Aces Invitational in Evansville, Ind., on Sunday and Monday. In addition, the Racers will no longer play the host Purple Aces, but will now play two games each against IPFW and South Dakota State.

Last week, he Racers went 1-2 at Southern Illinois' Coach B Classic which was relocated to Frost Stadium in Chattanooga due to inclement weather. MSU's final game in the classic against Southern Illinois was rescheduled for Apr. 1 in Carbondale.

Murray State began the weekend by falling to Miami (OH), 7-0, and Kansas, 3-2, but bounced back to beat Kansas in a rematch, 5-4, in eight innings. The win gives the Racers a 2-1 record on the year against teams from the Big XII.

Jessica Twaddle led MSU on the weekend by going 4-for-9 for a .444 average with a home run, a RBI, a run, and two walks. Twaddle was not the only Racer to go yard on the weekend, as Alexa Becker belted her fourth long ball of the season.

This weekend, Murray State will take on two new opponents in IPFW and South Dakota State, both representing The Summit League. The Racers have never faced any of the seven teams currently in the Summit. MSU was scheduled to get its first taste of the conference at last weekend's Coach B Classic, but weather forced Western Illinois to withdraw.

IPFW went 5-0 at last week's Mercer Bear Classic and will enter the weekend at 13-5 on the year. So far this season the Mastodons already have a win over then 15th-ranked Texas and dropped a 2-1 heartbreaker to then seventh-ranked Kentucky.

Dani Pugh had a huge weekend for IPFW in Macon in which she hit .467, slugged 1.200 and posted a .529 on-base percentage. She ended the week at 7-for-15 with four runs, 14 RBIs, two doubles, two walks and three home runs. Miranda Kramer also had a big weekend in the circle where she went 2-0 with a save with a 0.87 ERA, 31 strikeouts, including a school record 18 in the classic opener, and limited opponents to a paltry .137 average at the plate.

Larissa Franklin currently leads the Mastodons with a .456 average, while Pugh has a .345 average and a team-high 27 RBIs. Pitching wise, Kramer is currently 7-3 on the year with a team-low ERA of 1.31, three shutouts, 104 strikeouts and an opponent's batting average of .186.

South Dakota State finally found its momentum two weekends ago when it swept four games at the Central Arkansas Invitational with wins over host UCA, Alabama State and Arkansas-Pine Bluff.

Elyse Eitel helped lead the Jackrabbits on the weekend with a .545 average, seven runs, four RBIs, four walks, two doubles and a stolen base. Jennifer Sutton got it done in the circle for SDSU while in Conway going 2-0 with a 1.07 ERA, a .204 opponent's batting average and eight strikeouts.

Eitel currently leads the Jackrabbit hitters with a .474 average on the year to go along with a team-high 14 runs, five doubles, seven RBIs and seven walks. Ashlyn Bender currently boasts the best ERA of any pitcher on the SDSU staff at 3.60 and is 3-3 on the year with a team-high 22 strikeouts.

Live stats will be available for all four games of the tournament, with a link posted at the top of this page and at GoRacers.com.

Murray State University Athletics

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