Murray State University Athletics
Players Mentioned
Racers Host Rival SIU Wednesday at Reagan Field
3/6/2017 3:12:00 PM | Baseball
GAME 12
Murray State (7-4) vs. Southern Illinois (7-4)
March 8, 2017
First Pitch: 6Â p.m.
Series History: SIU leads the all-time series 46-18
Last Meeting: MSU 7, SIU 3 – April 6, 2016
Stadium: Reagan Field
Dimensions: 330 (LF) | 400 (CF) | 330 (RF)
Live Stats
Watch Live: OVC Digital Network
Twitter In-Game: @RacersBaseball
First Pitch
The Racers begin their four-game week against the state of Illinois Wednesday as Southern Illinois comes to Reagan Field for the first of two meetings this season with the Salukis. MSU is coming off a 1-2 weekend at home against Siena while SIU swept Western Illinois. The Racers opened last week with a 22-0 win over Kentucky State.
Inside the Matchup
MSU will travel to Southern Illinois March 22 as this is the eighth season in a row that the two will be each other in a home-and-home series in the same year. The Racers have won four straight at JRF against the Salukis and have won 3-of-4 overall in the series.
Schedule Change
The game against SIU was originally scheduled for Tuesday, but due to the rain received on Monday night and Tuesday morning, the game was moved to Wednesday.
Scouting Southern Illinois
The Salukis enter Tuesday's contest riding a three-game winning streak after sweeping Western Illinois. Will Farmer leads SIU with a .364 batting average and is one of five Salukis to have started all 11 in games in 2017. Nick Hutchins leads the team with 11 RBIs. Connor Kopach and Greg Lambert lead SIU with 10 runs scored each while Lambert's 10 ribbies are second on the squad and Kopach leads the team with eight extra-base hits. The Salukis are hitting .285 as a team this season.
Michael Baird is one of the best pitchers in the Missouri Valley as he hasn't allowed an earned run in three starts this season. Baird is 3-0 on the year with 15 strikeouts in 20.2 innings of work. Jacob Williams is the top man out of the bullpen for the Salukis as he has appeared in seven games and has a 1.59 ERA and one victory. Chad Whitmer is 1-0 with a 1.96 ERA in three starts on the year. Ken Henderson is in his seventh season as the head coach at SIU.
Probable Pitching Matchup
Jack Hranec (LHP) (1-0, 0.82 ERA) vs. Austin McPheron (RHP) (0-1, 9.45 ERA)
Grand Salami
The Racers hit a pair of grand slams the first week of March as Adam Bauer cleared the bases with his second long ball of the season against Kentucky State. Three games later against Siena, Tyler Lawrence hit his fourth homer of the year and the third grand slam of his career.
