Murray State University Athletics
Murray State
SIU Edwardsville
Players Mentioned
Racers Open OVC Play With Friday Doubleheader
3/8/2018 2:24:00 PM | Baseball
GAMES 14-16
Murray State (7-6) vs. SIU Edwardsville (4-6)
March 9-10, 2018
First Pitch: Friday: 1 and 4:30 p.m., Saturday: 1 p.m.
Stadium: Reagan Field
Dimensions: 330 (LF) | 400 (CF) | 330 (RF)
Series History: SIUE leads the all-time series 17-10
Last Meeting: MSU 18, SIUE 9 – March 12, 2017
Listen Live
Live Stats: Game one | Game two | Game three
Twitter In-Game: @RacersBaseball
Schedule Change
Due to forecasted rain in Murray Saturday night and Sunday morning, this weekend's schedule has been altered. Games one and two will be played in a doubleheader beginning at 1 p.m., Friday afternoon while the series finale has been moved up to 1 p.m., Saturday, weather permitting.
First Pitch
The Racers open conference play this weekend, looking to clinch their second straight trip to the OVC Tournament at the end of the season. MSU has gone an even 15-15 each of the past two seasons during league play. Both marks are the most league wins in program history.
Inside the Series
This will be the second season in a row that the Racers and Cougars will meet in the conference-opening series. SIUE won 2-of-3 in last season's series in Edwardsville. MSU is 6-9 all-time at Reagan Field against the Cougars and took 2-of-3 back in 2016, the last time the two teams played in Murray.
Scouring SIU Edwardsville
SIUE has three players that are hitting .300 or better this season in Peyton Cordova-Smith, Aaron Goecks and Jackson Layton. Goecks leads the Cougars in batting average at .320 this season while Cordova-Smith is tied with two others with a team-high five RBIs and has a team-best five extra-base hits. Jared McCunn leads SIUE with six runs scored.
The Cougars are batting .224 in 2018 as a team, are scoring just over three runs per game, and have five stolen bases in 10 games this season.
Mason McReaken is 2-0 this season for the Cougars and has the only two saves this season for the team. McReaken has made four appearances and seven innings pitched in 2018. Kenny Serwa has pitched a team-high 15.1 innings and is 1-0 with a 1.76 ERA. Nelson Martz leads SIUE with 14 strikeouts this year. SIUE has a team ERA of 5.68 and an opponent batting average of .294. Sean Lyons is in his second season as the head coach with the Cougars.
Probable Pitching Matchups
Game one: Peyton Hayes (RHP) (0-0, 4.11 ERA) vs. Nelson Martz (RHP) (1-2, 10.50 ERA)
Game two: Blake Clynes (LHP) (1-0, 1.88 ERA) vs. Ryan Byrd (LHP) (0-2, 6.10 ERA)
Game three: Trevor McMurray (RHP) (2-1, 5.17 ERA) vs. Kenny Serwa (RHP) (1-0, 1.76 ERA)
