Murray State University Athletics
Murray State
Kentucky
Players Mentioned
Racers and Wildcats Face-Off at Brooks
5/14/2018 4:14:00 PM | Baseball
GAME 51
Murray State (24-26) vs. No. 19 Kentucky (33-18)
May 15, 2018
First Pitch: 6 p.m.
Stadium: Brooks Stadium
Dimensions: 330 (LF) | 400 (CF) |330 (RF)
Series History: UK leads the all-time series 18-6
Last Meeting: MSU 7, UK 9 – March 14, 2017
Live Stats
Twitter In-Game: @RacersBaseball
First Pitch
MSU plays its final non-conference contest of 2018 Tuesday as the Racers and nationally-ranked Wildcats meet at Brooks Stadium in Paducah for the second time in the last three years. The Racers are coming off their third straight series win over the weekend, winning 2-of-3 against Morehead State. UK won 2-of-3 vs. Mississippi State.
Inside the Matchup
UK is 18-6 all-time against the Racers and has won five in a row in the series. The last time MSU won in the series came in Paducah back in 2014. The Wildcats won 4-1 the last time the two teams met at Brooks Stadium in 2016. The two teams were supposed to play in March in Lexington as well, but the contest was cancelled due to weather.
Series Victory
MSU has now won three consecutive series with its series victory over Morehead State. The Racers also took 2-of-3 from Belmont and Eastern Kentucky.
On-Base Machine
Grant Wood continues to reach base at an all-time clip as his .521 on-base percentage currently leads the league and is sixth in the nation.
Back-to-Back Tourney Trips
Behind the strength of their recent 6-3 conference record over the last few weeks, the Racers have clinched a spot in the OVC Tournament next week for the second consecutive year. MSU is locked into the No. 7 and No. 8 seed "play-in" game and will face either Belmont or Eastern Illinois a week from Tuesday.
Scouting Kentucky
Luke Heyer leads Kentucky's potent offensive attack with a .351 batting average, 17 home runs, 16 doubles, nine stolen bases and 55 RBIs while Kole Cottam leads the Wildcats with 49 runs scored and 69 hits while ranking second on the team with a .347 average, 16 homers and 45 ribbies. As a team, the Wildcats are hitting .299, are averaging over seven runs per contest and have 50 stolen bases. Five UK student-athletes are hitting over .300 on the season.
Pitching wise, Chris Machamer leads the staff with a 3.06 ERA and has 10 saves in 23 appearances out of the bullpen. Sean Hjelle and Justin Lewis lead the Wildcats with seven victories each on the mound. Hjelle leads the squad with 86 innings pitched while Lewis' 92 strikeouts are a team-high. Jimmy Ramsey leads UK with 25 appearances on the season. UK has a team ERA of 5.32 in 2018 and is allowing an opponent batting average of .258 and giving up 5.62 runs per contest.
Probable Pitching Matchup
Peyton Hayes (RHP) (1-5, 8.83 ERA) vs. Brad Schaenzer (LHP) (1-2, 6.68 ERA)
