Racers Look For First OVC Crown in Alabama

Dates: May 11-14, 2016
Times: 5:30 p.m., Wed
Site (Venue): Oxford, Ala. (Choccolocco Par)
Audio: None
TV/Web Stream: OVCDigitalNetwork.com
Live Stats: GoRacersLive.com
MUR Record (Streak): 23-29 (Won 1)
JSU Record (Streak): 37-14 (Won 17)
All-Time Series vs. JSU (Streak): MUR leads 11-10 (Lost 2)
MUR All-Time at OVC Tournament: 9-11
MUR vs. Tournament Field in 2016: 6-10
MUR Tournament Best Finish: 2^nd, 2014

This Weekend's Games
Murray State travels to Oxford, Alabama and Choccolocco Park this week for the 2016 OVC Softball Tournament. This year marks the first year of a two-year between OVC and the city of Oxford to host the tournament at the park's brand-new signature softball stadium. It will be the first time the tournament has ever been hosted a neutral site. The eighth-seeded Racers will open play in the tournament Wednesday at 5:30 p.m. against the No. 1 seed Jacksonville State.

Previously On Racer Softball
The Racers clinched the final spot in the OVC tournament with a series win at Austin Peay last weekend. MSU opened the series with a 6-0 shutout of the Lady Govs that saw Mason Robinson and Amber Van Duyse combine to allow just one hit over seven innings. In game two, Austin Peay scored eight unanswered runs to rally past the Racers 8-2. On Sunday, with a tournament berth on the line Taylor Odom and Jocelynn Rodgers helped break up a 1-1 tie in the fifth inning with back-to-back home runs, as MSU picked up the 6-1 victory.

Leah Kesel led MSU in the three game series with a .667 average by notching two hits in each of the three games. In the circle, Mason Robinson was 2-0 with a 1.34 ERA and a 1.51 opponent's batting average. She finished the week with eight strikeouts and just three walks.

All-Time vs. Jacksonville State
After losing both regular-season games to Jax State at home this season, MSU enters Tuesday with a razor thin margin in the all-time series at 11-10. However, in the OVC Tournament, the Racers have beaten JSU once in each of the last two seasons and are now 3-2 against them at the event.

Scouting The Gamecocks
The Gamecocks finished the OVC season at a perfect 26-0 and will enter Tuesday at 37-14 overall and on a 17-game win streak. Jax State currently leads the OVC in six different categories including batting average at .313, which is also the 42nd best in the nation. Ella Denes is currently batting .a team-high .393 to go along with other team-highs of 41 runs, 17 doubles, 21 walks and 38 RBIs.

In the circle, the Gamecocks have a 2.88 team ERA and their extremely deep bullpen, which features five pitchers with at least 10 appearances each and three with at least 20, is led by Whitney Gillespie and her OVC-leading 0.95 ERA, the sixth lowest in the country. She has also struck out 98 batters this season and is limiting opponents to a .153 average.

Weather Forecast
The weather for most of the week in Oxford will be sunny with temps in the lo-to-mid 80's. The only blemish will be thunderstorms Thursday evening and showers Friday morning.

Fun While It Lasted
In Saturday's second game against Austin Peay, Mason Robinson streak of 38.2 consecutive scoreless innings came to an end. The streak ran for two whole weeks and began in the second inning of game one against Jacksonville State.

Solidly Second
Despite turning one double play last weekend, the Racers remain second nationally in the category at 0.65, behind UCLA's 0.75. MSU, however, does have a solid lead over the third place team, Utah, at 0.58.

Closing In On The Crown
Shelbey Miller currently has 224 career hits and sits just three behind the all-time leader Mo Ramsey, who has 227. Miller is currently averaging 1.1 hits per game and has at least two games left in her MSU career.

Getting Over The Hump
Under head coach Kara Amundson, the Racers have won their first two games of the OVC Tournament in each of her three seasons. However, despite the early momentum, MSU would go on to lose their next two games each year, or in the case of the rain-shortened 2014 event just one, and were eliminated.

A History Lesson
The Racers are 9-11 all-time in the OVC tournament and have now qualified for the even in each of their seven seasons of existence. Under Kara Amundson, MSU is 6-5 in the postseason and 1-0 in extra-inning games. Below is MSU's record against all opponents in the OVC Tournament:

      Opponent      Record
      Eastern Ky.         2-0
      Eastern Ill.          2-1
      Jacksonville St.   3-2
      SIUE                  0-2
      Tennessee Tech 0-3
      UT Martin           2-3

Taking A Shot At The Top
Tuesday will mark the fifth time MSU has taken on the top-seed in the OVC tournament and the will enter the game at 2-2 in those contests. The Racers beat top-seeded EIU and JSU in the second round in 2014 and 2015, respectively. However, MSU lost to top-seeded UT Martin in the second round in 2013 and to No. 1 SIUE in the semi-finals last year.

Free For All
Currently, every game of this weekend's OVC Tournament is scheduled to be broadcast on OVCDigitalNetwork.com. As always, all games broadcast on the OVCDN are free of charge. Please note that coverage is subject to change without notice due to weather conditions.

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Leah Kesel

Shelbey Miller

Taylor Odom

Mo Ramsey

Mason Robinson

Jocelynn Rodgers

Amber Van Duyse

Murray State University Athletics