Murray State University Athletics
Saturday, February 18
Mobile, Ala.
9 a.m.
Murray State
6-1
10
vs
4
Jackson State
1-7
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
R
H
E
Murray St.
1
0
3
0
4
2
0
10
14
4
Jackson St.
0
0
0
0
2
2
0
4
8
0
Photo by: Patti Twaddle
Racers Roll Past Tigers, Stopped By Jags In Mobile
2/18/2017 11:58:00 AM | Softball
The Murray State softball team picked up a win in Saturday's opener of the 2017 Mardi Gras Invitational at Jaguar Field in Mobile, Alabama, but fell in the second game of the day. The Racers started day two of the tournament with a 10-4 win over Jackson State, but then fell to host South Alabama, who received votes in the latest NFCA/USA Today Top 25 poll, 8-3, in the finale.
Game 1 – Murray St. 10, Jackson St. 4
Kaylee Ranburger got the MSU offense going in the first inning of game one when she walked, stole second, then eventually got scored on a pair of wild pitches by Jackson State. In the third, Maggie Glass pushed the lead to 4-0 with a three-run home run, her second of the season.
The Racers (6-2) added to their lead with a big fifth inning that saw Taylor Odom lead off the inning with a home run. Later in the inning, Cayla Levins scored Kristen Bialek on a RBI-single, while Levins and Leah Kesel would eventually score on wild pitches to make it an 8-0 MSU advantage.
In the bottom of the fifth, Jackson State(1-7) finally found its way to the scoreboard on an error by Murray State and a RBI-single by Denisha Knight to cut the lead to 8-2. In the sixth, the Racers made up the runs on a RBI-double from Odom and a sacrifice fly from Lexi Jones, to push the lead back out to eight runs at 10-2. However, in the bottom of the frame, the Tigers scored two more on a pair of RBI-singles from Cheyenne Aplon and Victoria Nelson to make it 10-4.
Neither team scored in the seventh, allowing the Racers to pick up the 10-4 win, their third in a row. Ranburger and Cayla Levins were each 3-for-4 on the day, with Ranburger scoring three times and walking once and Levins scoring one run and driving in another. Odom, Kesel and Brenna Finck also had multiple hits in the game to give the Racers a season-high 14 total. Murray State has now outscored its opponents 29-5 over the past three games.
In the circle, Haven Campbell got the win by allowing no runs on just two hits with three strikeouts and no walks over 5.2 innings of work. Campbell, who moved to 2-1 with the win, both started and finished the game after Ellison Barrett threw 1.2 relief innings and allowed two earned runs on six hits and a walk.
Game 2 – South Ala. 8, Murray St. 3
The Jaguars (7-1) struck first in the game in the opening frame of game two on a RBI-double from Abby Krzywiecki, who herself would score later in the inning on a single from Kristian Foster to give the Jaguars an early 2-0 lead. However, in the top of the third, Murray State would take a 3-2 lead of its own thanks to a double from Jessica Twaddle that scored two and a single from Odom that scored Twaddle.
The lead did last long for Murray State though, as South Alabama answered in the bottom of the inning with five runs on a trio of singles from Foster, Savanna Mayo and Haleigh Lowe. USA tacked on an insurance run in the fifth with a sacrifice fly from MC Nichols to extend the lead to 8-3. Nichols's RBI in the fifth capped all scoring in the game as the Jaguars held on for the 8-3 win.
South Alabama's Foster led all hitters in the contest by going 4-for-4 with three RBIs and a run, while MC Nichols was also perfect at 2-for-2 with a run, a RBI and a walk. For Murray State, Twaddle and Kesel led Murray State by going 2-for-4 with a run and two RBIs and 2-for-2 with a run and a walk, respectively.
Mason Robinson took the loss for Murray State by allowing five runs on eight hits through 2.1 innings to fall to 4-1 on the year. Destin Vicknair improved to 4-0 in the circle on the season for USA by giving up just two earned runs on eight hits with five strikeouts and two walks in the complete game effort.
The Racers will close out play in the 2017 Mardi Gras Invitational Sunday with Butler at 9 a.m. and McNeese State immediately following at 11:30 a.m.
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Game 1 – Murray St. 10, Jackson St. 4
Kaylee Ranburger got the MSU offense going in the first inning of game one when she walked, stole second, then eventually got scored on a pair of wild pitches by Jackson State. In the third, Maggie Glass pushed the lead to 4-0 with a three-run home run, her second of the season.
The Racers (6-2) added to their lead with a big fifth inning that saw Taylor Odom lead off the inning with a home run. Later in the inning, Cayla Levins scored Kristen Bialek on a RBI-single, while Levins and Leah Kesel would eventually score on wild pitches to make it an 8-0 MSU advantage.
In the bottom of the fifth, Jackson State(1-7) finally found its way to the scoreboard on an error by Murray State and a RBI-single by Denisha Knight to cut the lead to 8-2. In the sixth, the Racers made up the runs on a RBI-double from Odom and a sacrifice fly from Lexi Jones, to push the lead back out to eight runs at 10-2. However, in the bottom of the frame, the Tigers scored two more on a pair of RBI-singles from Cheyenne Aplon and Victoria Nelson to make it 10-4.
Neither team scored in the seventh, allowing the Racers to pick up the 10-4 win, their third in a row. Ranburger and Cayla Levins were each 3-for-4 on the day, with Ranburger scoring three times and walking once and Levins scoring one run and driving in another. Odom, Kesel and Brenna Finck also had multiple hits in the game to give the Racers a season-high 14 total. Murray State has now outscored its opponents 29-5 over the past three games.
In the circle, Haven Campbell got the win by allowing no runs on just two hits with three strikeouts and no walks over 5.2 innings of work. Campbell, who moved to 2-1 with the win, both started and finished the game after Ellison Barrett threw 1.2 relief innings and allowed two earned runs on six hits and a walk.
Game 2 – South Ala. 8, Murray St. 3
The Jaguars (7-1) struck first in the game in the opening frame of game two on a RBI-double from Abby Krzywiecki, who herself would score later in the inning on a single from Kristian Foster to give the Jaguars an early 2-0 lead. However, in the top of the third, Murray State would take a 3-2 lead of its own thanks to a double from Jessica Twaddle that scored two and a single from Odom that scored Twaddle.
The lead did last long for Murray State though, as South Alabama answered in the bottom of the inning with five runs on a trio of singles from Foster, Savanna Mayo and Haleigh Lowe. USA tacked on an insurance run in the fifth with a sacrifice fly from MC Nichols to extend the lead to 8-3. Nichols's RBI in the fifth capped all scoring in the game as the Jaguars held on for the 8-3 win.
South Alabama's Foster led all hitters in the contest by going 4-for-4 with three RBIs and a run, while MC Nichols was also perfect at 2-for-2 with a run, a RBI and a walk. For Murray State, Twaddle and Kesel led Murray State by going 2-for-4 with a run and two RBIs and 2-for-2 with a run and a walk, respectively.
Mason Robinson took the loss for Murray State by allowing five runs on eight hits through 2.1 innings to fall to 4-1 on the year. Destin Vicknair improved to 4-0 in the circle on the season for USA by giving up just two earned runs on eight hits with five strikeouts and two walks in the complete game effort.
The Racers will close out play in the 2017 Mardi Gras Invitational Sunday with Butler at 9 a.m. and McNeese State immediately following at 11:30 a.m.
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Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Vicknair, Destin (4-0)
L: Robinson, Mason (4-1)
Batting:
2B: Finck, Brenna 1 ; Twaddle, Jessica 1
RBI: Twaddle, Jessica 2
SH: Downey, Erika 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Finck, Brenna 1 ; Twaddle, Jessica 1 ; Kesel, Leah 1
Batting:
2B: Krzywiecki, Abby 1
RBI: Nichols, MC 1 ; Krzywiecki, Abby 1 ; Foster, Kristian 3 ; Mayo, Savanna 1 ; Lowe, Haleigh 2
SF: Nichols, MC 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Todd, Kaleigh 1 ; Nichols, MC 1 ; Minahan, Amanda 1 ; Krzywiecki, Abby 1 ; Foster, Kristian 1 ; Lane, Haleigh 1 ; Mayo, Savanna 1 ; Lowe, Haleigh 1
SB: Todd, Kaleigh 1
Game Leaders
AB
4
R
1
H
2
RBI
2
AB
2
R
1
H
2
RBI
0
AB
3
R
1
H
1
RBI
0
AB
4
R
0
H
1
RBI
0
Players Mentioned
P/OF
/ Softball
OF/U
/ Softball
P
/ SoftballIF
/ Softball
IF
/ Softball
IF
/ SoftballOF
/ Softball
OF
/ Softball
IF
/ SoftballOF
/ Softball
P
/ SoftballIF
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