Racers Take Care of UE to Sweep Season Series

Tuesday, April 10

Evansville, Ind.

6 p.m.

Murray State

17-14

Evansville

5-20

Murray State

Evansville

Photo by: Dave Winder-Murray State Athletics

4/10/2018 10:12:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score

Murray State got a four-run top of the sixth inning to break a 3-3 tie, pounded out 13 hits and had four players with multiple hits Tuesday night in Evansville, Ind., as the Racers defeated Evansville 8-3 to sweep the season series with the Purple Aces.

The win is the fourth straight against the Purple Aces and ties the program record for most consecutive wins in the series against Evansville, matching the four consecutive from 1953-58. It was also just UE's (6-20) second loss at home this season as it entered the contest 5-1 at Braun Stadium in 2018.

Gavin Wehby led the MSU (17-14) offense in the win with a three-hit night, as he was 3-of-5 at the plate with an RBI and three runs scored. Davis Sims went 2-for-4 and drove in four runs while also hitting his 17^th double of the season. Mike Farnell and Ramsey Scott both were 2-for-5 in the victory.

Ryan Perkins went 1-of-3 at the dish on the night with a pair of walks and was stellar defensively in the outfield as he made a couple of nice diving catches in left field to rob the Purple Aces of extra-base hits. Perkins also threw a runner out at home plate in the bottom of the sixth to quell a UE threat and preserve the 7-3 lead.

Sims got MSU on the board early on the night as his RBI single to center field in the top of the first scored Wehby from second to give the Racers a 1-0 lead. In the fifth, MSU pushed its lead to 3-0 on a sacrifice fly RBI from Sims and an RBI groundout by Grant Wood two batters later.

In the bottom of the fifth, Evansville was able to rally and tie the score up at 3-3. However, the Racers responded in the top half of the sixth with their big inning to retake the lead. Five consecutive hits in the inning got the Racers going as Wehby got an RBI single through the right side to make it 4-3. In the next at-bat, Brandon Gutzler singled to bring home Jaron Robinson and then Sims delivered his double to left center that plated two and the Racers cruised the rest of the way. Farnell's double to center in the ninth gave the Racers their extra insurance run.

Peyton Hayes picked up his first career victory with MSU as he pitched 1.2 innings of relief and struck-out a pair of batters. Luke Brown got the start on the night and went 4.1 innings, allowing three runs on four hits while striking out five. Tyler Anderson and Braydon Cook also appeared in relief in the win.

The Racers look to extend their three-game winning streak with a quick turnaround as Austin Peay comes to Reagan Field Wednesday for a 6 p.m., game. Wednesday will be a non-conference matchup with the Governors.