Murray State University Athletics
Murray State
20-25, 7-15
Eastern Kentucky
26-21, 15-7
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | Runs R | Hits H | Errors E |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Murray State | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 9 | 1 |
| Eastern Kentucky | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 2 | X | 7 | 12 | 0 |
Racers Falter Late in Opener at EKU
5/4/2018 7:12:00 PM | Baseball
Murray State surrendered an eighth inning two-run home run Friday afternoon in Richmond, Ky., as Eastern Kentucky rallied to defeat the Racers 7-5 in game one of the series.
The Racers (20-25, 7-15 OVC) led for much of the contest, but a two-run seventh by the Colonels (26-21, 15-7 OVC) tied the score at 5-5. EKU was able to tie things thanks in large part to an error by MSU before Tyler Romanik's two-run shot in the bottom of the eighth broke the tie for EKU.
MSU got a four-run top of the third to take the lead early on in the contest. The Racers got back-to-back two-out, two-run hits by Caleb Hicks and Ryan Perkins. Hicks' single went up the middle of the infield while Perkins doubled to right field.
The Colonels were able to cut the lead in half with a pair of runs in the bottom of the fifth to make it 4-2. Then in the sixth, EKU cut the MSU lead to 4-3. Brandon Gutzler responded in the seventh as he hit his seventh home run of the season to right center field to put the Racers up 5-3.
Gutzler led the Racers in the loss with a three-hit day at the plate and a pair of runs scored. Perkins went 1-for-2 with a pair of walks. Grant Wood was 1-of-3 at the dish for the Racers and Davis Sims extended his on-base streak to 41 in a row with his single in the first.
Tyler Anderson took the loss for MSU as he gave up the two-run shot in the eighth. Trevor McMurray got the start for the Racers and pitched 4.1 innings and gave up two runs on six hits while striking out four batters. Braydon Cook, Hicks and Alec Whaley also made relief appearances in the loss.
Game two is set for Saturday at 1 p.m., central time, weather permitting.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: COLLINS, Casey (1-2)
L: Anderson, Tyler (3-2)
S: OCHSENBEIN, Aaron (9)
Batting:
2B: Wood, Grant 1 ; Perkins, Ryan 1
HR: Gutzler, Brandon 1
RBI: Gutzler, Brandon 1 ; Hicks, Caleb 2 ; Perkins, Ryan 2
SH: Perkins, Ryan 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Wood, Grant 1 ; Farnell, Mike 1 ; Gutzler, Brandon 2 ; Hicks, Caleb 1
SB: Farnell, Mike 1
HBP: Wood, Grant 1 ; Farnell, Mike 1
Batting:
2B: MCFARLAND, Daniel 1 ; HARRIS IV, Daniel 1
HR: ROMANIK, Tyler 1 ; HARRIS IV, Daniel 1
RBI: JOHNSON, Will 1 ; HOLDERBACH, Alex 1 ; ROMANIK, Tyler 2 ; MCFARLAND, Daniel 1 ; HARRIS IV, Daniel 2
Base Running:
RUNS: HOLDERBACH, Alex 1 ; ROMANIK, Tyler 1 ; HOWIE, Nick 1 ; BOTSOE, Chris 1 ; MCFARLAND, Daniel 1 ; HARRIS IV, Daniel 1 ; NIXON, Cornell 1
SB: JOHNSON, Will 1 ; BOTSOE, Chris 1 ; NIXON, Cornell 1
CS: MCFARLAND, Daniel 1
HBP: HOLDERBACH, Alex 1
