Murray State University Athletics
Murray State
8-10, 4-2
Eastern Illinois
7-11, 2-4
Racers Register 19 Hits in Win Over Eastern Illinois
3/17/2019 7:30:00 PM | Baseball
The Murray State baseball team got its second straight OVC series win, Sunday afternoon, by defeating Eastern Illinois, 14-6, at Reagan Field.
MSU improves to 8-10 on the year and 4-2 in the Ohio Valley Conference while the Panthers fall to 7-11 and 2-4 in conference play.
"I told the guys today was another great team win, six pitchers step up and every starter had a hit for us," said head coach Dan Skirka. "They did a great job, battled, showed up ready to go an won a series."
The Racers pounded out a season-high 19 hits led by Brock Anderson, Jake Slunder, and Sean Darmafall with three apiece. Anderson continued his power surge by hitting two home runs to give him seven this season and five in the last six games. Slunder scored a game-high four runs an Jordan Holly also chipped in with two hits and two RBI.
With the Racers as the road team, the scoring started early as Anderson hit a two-run home run off the batter's eye in center field to take a 2-0 lead.
Eastern Illinois answered with a run in the home half, but the Racers responded in the second with two runs on an error and a passed ball.
In the fourth, Anderson hit his second two-run home run of the day, this time hitting a ball to right field that easily cleared the fence with a little help from the wind.
The Racers tacked on a run in in the fifth when Holly came around to score on a triple by Tyler Duke. Duke tried for an inside-the-park home run on the play, but was thrown out at the plate.
Murray State blew the game open in the sixth, scoring four runs on just three hits. Darmafall knocked in the first run with a single before a hit-by-pitch, passed ball, and groundout forced in the other three runs in the inning to give the Racers an 11-2 lead.
The Panthers got a run back in the seventh, but the Racers responded with two more runs in the eighth when Dylan Letellier opened the inning with a triple which was followed by back-to-back doubles by Bryan Chilton and Holly.
EIU scored two runs in the bottom of the eighth and threatened for more but a strikeout by Hunter Orr to end the inning stunted the Panthers rally.
Just for good measure, the Racers added another run in the ninth as Jaron Robinson laced an RBI single to drive in CJ Bush, who had tripled to lead off the inning.
The Racers will return to action for a two-game series at Missouri, Tuesday and Wednesday. First pitch on Tuesday is set for 6:30 p.m. while Wednesday is scheduled for 4 p.m. Both games will be available to stream for free on SEC Network+.
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Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Ivey, Joe (2-1)
L: JONES, Tyler (0-2)
Batting:
2B: Slunder, Jake 1 ; Chilton, Bryan 1 ; Holly, Jordan 2
3B: Duke, Tyler 1 ; Bush, CJ 1 ; Letellier, Dylan 1
HR: Anderson, Brock 2
RBI: Duke, Tyler 1 ; Anderson, Brock 4 ; Darmafall, Sean 1 ; Robinson, Jaron 1 ; Letellier, Dylan 1 ; Chilton, Bryan 1 ; Holly, Jordan 2
Base Running:
RUNS: Slunder, Jake 4 ; Anderson, Brock 3 ; Bush, CJ 1 ; Darmafall, Sean 1 ; Robinson, Jaron 1 ; Letellier, Dylan 1 ; Chilton, Bryan 2 ; Holly, Jordan 1
SB: Anderson, Brock 1 ; Darmafall, Sean 2
CS: Perkins, Ryan 1
HBP: Letellier, Dylan 2
Batting:
2B: GOVERN, Jimmy 1 ; KNERNSCHIELD, Ryan 1
RBI: GOVERN, Jimmy 1 ; KNERNSCHIELD, Ryan 2 ; PENA, Christian 2
SH: SWEENEY, Trey 1
Base Running:
RUNS: GOVERN, Jimmy 1 ; MORRIS, Hunter 1 ; KNERNSCHIELD, Ryan 2 ; HUBER, Jimmy 1 ; SWEENEY, Trey 1
HBP: KNERNSCHIELD, Ryan 1
