Racers Split Final Day In Birmingham

Sunday, February 26

Birmingham, Ala. (Samford)

9 a.m.

Murray State

11-3

Iowa State

7-7

Murray St.

Iowa St.

Photo by: Patti Twaddle

2/26/2017 4:38:00 PM | Softball

Box Score 1 Box Score 2 ISU BOX SCORE (PDF)IU BOX SCORE (PDF)SEASON STATS (PDF)

The Murray State softball team split a pair of games Sunday to close out the 2017 Samford/UAB Classic at the Bulldog Softball Field in Birmingham, Alabama. The Racers began the day with an 11-4 victory over Iowa State, before seeing Indiana score four in the seventh and falling 6-4 to the Hoosiers

Game 1 – Murray St. 11, Iowa St. 4
The first game was a see-saw battle for the majority of the contest with MSU taking a 2-0 lead in the top of the third, only to have Iowa State tie it in the bottom of the third. In the fourth, Taylor Odom smacked a three-run home run to make it 5-2, however the Cyclones kept chipping away and pulled within one, at 5-4, in the bottom of the fifth.

In the sixth and seventh, the Racers finally put Iowa State away with a RBI-double from Odom, who also eventually scored on a wild pitch in the sixth and a pair of two-run home runs from Jessica Twaddle and Lexi Jones in the seventh to cap the scoring at 11-4. The long ball for the pinch hitting Jones was the first oh her collegiate career in just her fourth-ever at bat.

Odom finished the game with career-highs in hits and RBIs at four each and was just a triple shy of the cycle, as she ended the day with a single, two doubles and a home run. Twaddle and Brenna Finck were also key contributors for MSU in the game, as each went 3-for-4 with a walk with Twaddle scoring three runs and Finck scoring once.

Mason Robinson won her eighth game of the season Sunday by allowing just two earned runs on seven hits with five strikeouts and two walks. The game also marked the eighth time this season that Robinson has gone the distance over 10 appearances.

Game 2 – Indiana 6, Murray St. 4

The Racers struck the first blow in the second game by plating two runs on a throwing error by Indiana during Erika Downey's at bat in the second. Madison Culver and Maggie Glass began the inning with a pair singles and it was Glass and Culver's pinch runner, Maddy Fenney, which scored on the error.

In the third, the Hoosiers scored on an error by the Racers to cut the lead in half, before Murray State pushed the lead back out to 3-1 when Glass scored on a wild pitch in the fourth. In the top of the fifth, CaraMia Tsirigos hit an RBI-single up the middle to bring the lead back down to one, only to have Jessica Twaddle extend the lead back to two runs, at 4-2, in the bottom of the frame on a solo home run.

Needing just three outs for the win, things went awry for MSU in the top of the seventh and it began with a leadoff home run from Erin Lehman. Indiana would go on to add three more runs on six more hits in the inning to take their first lead of the game. Despite getting a leadoff single from Kaylee Ranburger in the bottom of the stanza, MSU could not do anything with it and fell to the Hoosiers, 6-4.

Glass led Murray State in the game at 2-for-3 with two runs, while Finck was 2-for-4. Haven Campbell (3-2) took the tough loss for the Racers by giving up five earned runs on 12 hits with three strikeouts and two walks.

Next weekend, the Racers (11-4) will make the short trip to Carbondale, Illinois for the 2017 Coach B Classic. Murray State will open play in the event Saturday with Northern Illinois and Western Illinois, followed by Illinois-Chicago and the host Salukis Sunday.