EIU’s Big Fifth Leads To Racer OVC Tournament Exit

Friday, May 13

Oxford, Ala.

3:45 p.m.

Murray State

24-31

Eastern Illinois

27-27

Eastern Ill.

Murray St.

Photo by: Patti Twaddle

5/13/2016 9:31:00 PM | Softball

Box Score SEASON STATS (PDF)BOX SCORE (PDF)

Murray State softball's season came to a close Friday with a 10-5 loss to Eastern Illinois at the 2016 OVC Softball Championship at Choccolocco Park in Oxford, Alabama.

Eastern Illinois wasted little time in scoring, as Kylie Bennett doubled with a runner on to give her team the early advantage. Jennette Isaac then made it 2-0 in the second on a single to left field that scored Andrea Roberts, who singled earlier in the inning.

Murray State had a bases loaded opportunity in the bottom of the fourth with just one out, but an unassisted double play by EIU's Haylee Beck ended the inning with no Racers crossing the plate. In the top of the fifth, things got away from Murray State as the Panthers pounded out five hits and took advantage of two MSU errors to score six runs and take an 8-0 lead.

However, in the bottom of the stanza, Leah Kesel led off the inning with walk and was followed by a single from Shelbey Miller. The duo would score in the next at bat on a throwing error by EIU that allowed Brenna Finck to go all the way to third. Finck then scored on the next play thanks to a sacrifice bunt from Jessica Twaddle and a catcher's interference call on the Panthers.

The Panthers added two more runs in the top of the seventh on a home run by Amber Toenyes to push the lead to 10-3. Murray State, however, did not lay down in the bottom of the seventh, as Finck led off the inning by reaching third on error. She then came home in the next at bat on Twaddle's fourth home run of the season that cut the lead to 10-5. Despite the rally attempt, the Racers came up short and ended their season with the 10-5 loss.

Murray State once again had trouble scoring runners and stranded a total of nine in the game. Timely hits were also once again an issue for the Racers as they were just 4-for-17 with runners on, compared to 7-for-19 by the Panthers.

Twaddle led the team in the game by going 1-for-3 with a walk and three RBIs, while Finck with 0-for-2 with a walk and two runs. Kesel finished the game at 1-for-1 with a run, a double and two walks, while Taylor Odom walking twice

Mason Robinson finished the season at 19-16 by allowing seven runs on eight hits with one strikeout. Her season ERA of 1.99 will go down as the best single-season performance by a Racer pitcher and is the first sub-2.00 season ERA in program history.

With the loss, Murray State ends the season with an overall record of 24-31.

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Team Stats

Pitching:

W: WIREMAN, JESSICA (19-18)

L: Robinson, Mason (19-16)

Eastern Ill.

Batting:

2B: BENNETT, KYLIE 1 ; MARKOWSKI, APRIL 1

HR: TOENYES, AMBER 1

RBI: BECK, HAYLEE 1 ; WATSON, KATIE 1 ; BENNETT, KYLIE 2 ; MARKOWSKI, APRIL 1 ; TOENYES, AMBER 2 ; ISAAC, JENNETTE 1

SH: ISAAC, JENNETTE 1

Base Running:

RUNS: BEAR, KAYLA 1 ; BECK, HAYLEE 1 ; WATSON, KATIE 2 ; MARKOWSKI, APRIL 2 ; TOENYES, AMBER 1 ; ROBERTS, ANDREA 1 ; POULTER, MADY 1 ; ISAAC, JENNETTE 1