Perkins, Darmafall Homer in First Win for Skirka

Wednesday, February 20

Memphis, Tenn.

4 p.m.

Murray State

1-3

Memphis

1-3

Murray St.

Memphis

Ryan Perkins

Photo by: Curt Hart

2/20/2019 9:01:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score Box Score (PDF)

The Murray State baseball team used the long ball early before putting away Memphis with small ball to earn their first win of the season, 10-6, Wednesday afternoon at FedExPark in Memphis.

Ryan Perkins led off the game with a home run and the Racers never looked back as Dan Skirka earned his first win as Murray State head coach.

The Racers also stole seven bases in the victory, which matches the most in the last fifteen seasons, as they also had 7 against Belmont and Alcorn State in 2017.

Five players had multiple hits as MSU pounded out 14 hits total, their most so far in this young season.

After Perkins' home run to lead off the game, the next two Racers got out, but three straight singles by Brock Anderson, Jaron Robinson, and Wes Schad added another run. Sean Darmafall then delivered the big blow in the inning, smacking a three-run home run to right-center field to put the Racers up 5-0 early.

Jake Jones got into some trouble himself in the first as he loaded the bases with no outs, but a big 4-6-3 double play, as well as a diving play at first by Perkins, helped limit the damage to just one run.

The Racers added a run in the third as Darmafall led off the inning with a walk and advanced to third on a passed ball and wild pitch before coming in to score on a single by Perkins.

Joe Ivey came in to relieve Jones in the fourth and after allowing a run in his first inning, rebounded to retire seven straight batters to keep the Tigers at bay.

Murray State added three big insurance runs in the seventh Darmafall reached on an error to lead off the inning before coming around to score his third run of the game on a single by Jordan Holly. Perkins followed by being hit by a pitch before pulling off a double steal with Holly to put two runners in scoring position for Duke, who promptly laced a double to left field to drive in both runs.

Those insurance runs proved important as the Tigers responded with three runs of their own in the bottom of the seventh.

After a scoreless eighth by both teams, the Racers added another insurance run in the ninth as Duke singled, stole second, and beat a throw home from left as he came around to score on a single by Schad.

The four-run cushion was more than enough for Peyton Hayes as he finished off the game for a two-inning save, striking out two in the process.

The Racers will make their home debut this weekend when they host Miami (OH). First pitch on Friday is set for 2 p.m. Make sure to follow @RacersBaseball on twitter for updates about the weather.