Wednesday, February 27
Bowling Green, Ky.
3 p.m.
Murray State
2-6
5
at
9
Western Kentucky
6-2
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
R
H
E
Murray St.
0
0
0
0
1
0
0
1
3
5
8
4
WKU
0
3
0
2
1
0
1
2
X
9
12
1
Jake Slunder
Photo by: Dave Winder-Murray State Athletics
Slunder Records Four Hits in Loss to WKU
2/27/2019 5:15:00 PM | Baseball
The Murray State baseball team traveled to Western Kentucky, Wednesday afternoon to take on the Hilltoppers in midweek action. The Racers could not get much going offensively until it was too late as they were flustered by the WKU pitchers for most of the game, falling 9-5.
"I'm proud of our guys for fighting until the last out," said head coach Dan Skirka. "We didn't give at-bats away and that momentum will carry into the weekend. Now we have to find a way to scratch some runs across early and stop giving up big innings on defense."
Out of the Racers' eight hits in the game, Jake Slunder had four of them, going 4-4 with an RBI and a run scored.
Joe Ivey made his first career start on the mound for the Racers, pitching 3.1 innings, allowing three earned runs and striking out two. Justin Thomas was s bright spot in the bullpen for Murray State as he retired five of the six batters he faced in 1.2 scoreless innings.
After a scoreless first inning by both teams, the Hilltoppers broke through with crooked numbers in the second, scoring three runs and the fourth inning with two more.
The Racers got a run back in the fifth when Sean Darmafall doubled and Slunder singled to set up first and third with no outs. Slunder then took off for second like he was going to steal, but stopped, forcing a throw from the catcher, allowing Darmafall to come in and score from third.
After WKU added a couple of more runs, the Racers tacked on a run in the eighth when Slunder came into score on a sacrifice fly by Cole Womack.
The Hilltoppers added a couple of insurance runs in the eighth before a late comeback attempt by the Racers in the ninth, which saw RBIs from Brock Anderson, Darmafall, and Slunder, produced three runs to make the final score.
The Racers are back in action this weekend when they return home to take on the Redbirds of Illinois State. First pitch on Friday is scheduled for 3 p.m.
"I'm proud of our guys for fighting until the last out," said head coach Dan Skirka. "We didn't give at-bats away and that momentum will carry into the weekend. Now we have to find a way to scratch some runs across early and stop giving up big innings on defense."
Out of the Racers' eight hits in the game, Jake Slunder had four of them, going 4-4 with an RBI and a run scored.
Joe Ivey made his first career start on the mound for the Racers, pitching 3.1 innings, allowing three earned runs and striking out two. Justin Thomas was s bright spot in the bullpen for Murray State as he retired five of the six batters he faced in 1.2 scoreless innings.
After a scoreless first inning by both teams, the Hilltoppers broke through with crooked numbers in the second, scoring three runs and the fourth inning with two more.
The Racers got a run back in the fifth when Sean Darmafall doubled and Slunder singled to set up first and third with no outs. Slunder then took off for second like he was going to steal, but stopped, forcing a throw from the catcher, allowing Darmafall to come in and score from third.
After WKU added a couple of more runs, the Racers tacked on a run in the eighth when Slunder came into score on a sacrifice fly by Cole Womack.
The Hilltoppers added a couple of insurance runs in the eighth before a late comeback attempt by the Racers in the ninth, which saw RBIs from Brock Anderson, Darmafall, and Slunder, produced three runs to make the final score.
The Racers are back in action this weekend when they return home to take on the Redbirds of Illinois State. First pitch on Friday is scheduled for 3 p.m.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Crosby, H. (1-1)
L: Ivey, Joe (1-1)
Batting:
2B: Darmafall, Sean 1
RBI: Anderson, Brock 1 ; Darmafall, Sean 1 ; Slunder, Jake 1 ; Womack, Cole 1
SF: Womack, Cole 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Robinson, Jaron 1 ; Duke, Tyler 1 ; Anderson, Brock 1 ; Darmafall, Sean 1 ; Slunder, Jake 1
SB: Darmafall, Sean 1
Batting:
2B: Sanford, J. 1 ; McElreath 1 ; Swiney, J. 1
3B: Zuberer, R. 1
RBI: Phipps, M. 2 ; Sims, D. 2 ; Wilson, Jk. 1 ; McElreath 2 ; Swiney, J. 1
SF: Phipps, M. 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Nelson, D. 1 ; Phipps, M. 1 ; Sanford, J. 1 ; Zuberer, R. 2 ; Wilson, Jk. 1 ; McElreath 2 ; Swiney, J. 1
SB: McElreath 1
HBP: Swiney, J. 1
Game Leaders
Hitting
AB
4
R
1
H
4
RBI
1
AB
4
R
1
H
1
RBI
0
AB
4
R
1
H
1
RBI
0
AB
4
R
1
H
1
RBI
1
Players Mentioned
OF
/ Baseball
OF
/ Baseball
OF
/ Baseball
RHP
/ Baseball
INF
/ BaseballCoach Jody Wright | Racer Football Postgame Comments 9/06/2025
Sunday, September 07
Cam Bulluck | Racer Football Postgame Comments 9/06/2025
Sunday, September 07
Conlee Crossno | Racer Football Postgame Comments 9/06/2025
Sunday, September 07
Coach Jody Wright | Racer Football Press Conference 9/02/2025
Tuesday, September 02
