Murray State University Athletics
Murray State
UT Martin
Players Mentioned
Racers Host Skyhawks in Final Series
5/17/2017 3:52:00 PM | Baseball
GAMES 53-55
Murray State (25-27, 13-14 OVC) vs. UT Martin (24-27, 11-16 OVC)
May 18-20, 2017
First Pitch: Thursday and Friday: 6 p.m., Saturday: 1 p.m.
Series History: MSU leads 68-33
Last Meeting: MSU 6, UTM 19 – March 13, 2016
Stadium: Reagan Field
Dimensions: 330 (LF) | 400 (CF) | 300 (RF)
Watch Live: Game one | Game two | Game three
Live Stats: Game one | Game two | Game three
Twitter In-Game: @RacersBaseball
First Pitch
MSU closes out the regular season with one final three-game series at home against UT Martin. The Racers are jockeying for seeding position in next week's OVC Tournament and will also qualify for their first OVC tourney since 2010 with one win this weekend. MSU is 7-5 at Reagan Field this season in conference matchups.
Inside the Series
The Racers are 37-14 all-time in Murray against the Skyhawks and are playing at Reagan Field for the first time since 2013. Back in 2015, the last time it was supposed to be a home series for MSU, the two had to move the series to Edwardsville, Ill., due to heavy snow in Murray. UT Martin is 8-14 on the road this season.
Going, Going, Gone
Behind the strength of their three home runs at Memphis on Tuesday, the Racers now have 72 home runs as a team this season, setting a new program record for single-season homers. The previous record was 69 in a season set by the 1981 squad. MSU has five players with double-digit homers on the year, including Brandon Gutzler's 16, which is tied for the second most by an individual in a single season in MSU history.
Senior Day
Saturday will be Senior Day at Reagan Field as 11 Racers will be playing in their final home game in the blue and gold. Caleb Arbeiter, Adam Bauer, Aaron Bence, Ryan Dills, Austin Dubsky, Chad Gendron, Jack Hranec, Tyler Lawrence, John Lollar, Reed Thompson and Derrik Watson will all be honored prior to the finale.
Scouting UT Martin
UT Martin is led in batting by Tanner Wessling's .350 average and 70 hits overall. Wessling and Dan Kerwin are tied for the team lead with 37 RBIs each while Kerwin leads the squad with 10 homers and 14 doubles.
Tyler Albright leads the Skyhawks with 43 runs scored this season while Connor Aube and Josh Hauser both have 13 stolen bases in 2017 to lead the team. Hauser and Ryan Helgren are the only two Skyhawks to have started in all 51 games so far this year.
Shane Seckinger leads UTM with a 4.45 ERA while Alex Evans has a team-best eight victories on the year and leads the team with 26 appearances, all in relief. Evans also leads the squad with four saves on the season. Dalton Westfall leads the Skyhawks with 76.2 innings pitched and has a team-high 80 strikeouts. All 13 of his appearances have been starts in 2017. Rick Robinson is in his third season as the head coach at UT Martin.
Probable Pitching Matchups
Thursday: Ryan Dills (RHP) (4-3, 6.48 ERA) vs. Winston Cannon (RHP) (4-4, 7.00 ERA)
Friday: Austin Dubsky (RHP) (2-7, 5.88 ERA) vs. TBA
Saturday: Luke Brown (LHP) (2-3, 5.79 ERA) vs. TBA
