Murray State University Athletics
Murray State
Kentucky
Players Mentioned
Racers Travel to Face Familiar SEC Foe
3/13/2017 2:43:00 PM | Baseball
GAME 16
Murray State (9-6) at Kentucky (11-6)
March 14, 2017
First Pitch: 3 p.m., central time
Series History: UK leads the all-time series 17-6
Last Meeting: MSU 1, UK 4 – May 17, 2016
Stadium: Hagan Stadium
Dimensions: 330 (LF) | 390 (CF) | 310 (RF)
Watch Live: SEC Network
Live Stats
Twitter In-Game: @RacersBaseball
First Pitch
MSU is coming off a 1-2 weekend to open OVC play at SIU Edwardsville. The Racers collected a season-high 23 hits in Sunday's victory as 11 players collected hits on the day and six racked up multiple RBIs. Brandon Gutzler led MSU with a .500 average in the three-game series.
Inside the Matchup
The Racers are looking to snap a four-game losing streak to the Wildcats and their second-ever victory in Lexington. This will be the first time since 2014 that MSU and UK will only meet once during the season. The Wildcats won 4-1 last season at Brooks Stadium in Paducah in the last meeting between the teams.
Schedule Change
Tuesday's contest will now begin at 3 p.m., central time to beat the cold temperature and winds forecasted for Lexington later in the evening. First pitch was originally slated for 6 p.m., Murray time.
Scouting Kentucky
The Wildcats have three players hitting .400 or better this season. Luke Becker leads the team with a .438 average while Evan White and Zach Reks are hitting .433 and .400, respectively. Riley Mahan leads UK with 20 RBIs this season and is one of three Wildcats with a teamleading three home runs. Mahan also leads the team with 10 extra-base hits. Tristan Pompey is a runs machine as he's scored a team-best 21 times this season. Reks leads the team with a perfect 8-of-8 on stolen bases. Zach Logue leads Kentucky with a 3-1 record on the season and has a 1.93 ERA. Logue has pitched a season-high 23.1 innings in 2017. Colton Cleary leads Kentucky with two saves this season and has a 0.79 ERA. Tuesday's starter Zack Thompson is 1-1 with a 2.70 ERA this year and leads the team with 23 strikeouts in 16.2 innings pitched. UK is led by first-year Head Coach Nick Mingione.
Projected Pitching Matchup
Trevor McMurray (RHP) (1-1, 7.15 ERA) vs. Zack Thompson (LHP) (1-1, 2.70 ERA)
SEC-SEC-SEC
Tuesday's game will be the first of two contests this season that the Racers will play on the SEC Network. MSU's May 2 trip to Missouri will also be televised on the network.
