Racers Celebrate Senior Day in Style with Sweep of Eagles

Sunday, April 28

Racer Field

1 p.m.

Murray State

23-24, 0

Morehead State

2-36, 0

Morehead State

Murray St.

Photo by: Dave Winder-Murray State Athletics

Racers Celebrate Senior Day in Style with Sweep of Eagles

4/28/2019 7:40:00 PM | Softball

Box Score 1 Box Score 2 Photo Gallery Box Score Game 1 (PDF)Box Score Game 2 (PDF)

Murray State softball welcomed Morehead State to Racer Field for their final two home games of 2019 on Sunday afternoon. Putting on a dazzling offensive display over the pair of contests, the Racers celebrated Senior Day with victories of 9-1 and 15-0 over the visiting Eagles. Extending the Racer winning streak to three games, the two triumphs also clinched a postseason berth as Murray State improved to 14-6 against Ohio Valley Conference opponents.

Game 1 - Murray State 9, Morehead State 1:
Exploding for five runs in the opening frame of game one, the Racers took a commanding lead and never looked back. After Lillie Goetz, Jensen Striegel, and Sierra Gilmore drew three consecutive walks to begin the afternoon, Lindsey Carroll's sacrifice fly to right field would drive in the first of many Racer runs on the day. Brenna Finck would follow with a two-run single, while Logan Braundmeier and Denise Teague would drive in the other two runs to cap the first-frame scoring extravaganza.

Murray State would tack on two more in the second, courtesy of a sacrifice fly from Sierra Gilmore and another run-scoring single from Brenna Finck, as the Racers held a 7-0 advantage through the end of two complete innings.

Hannah James, who got the start in the circle for Murray State, fanned three batters over two scoreless innings of work before senior Amber Van Duyse took over the pitching duties for the Racers in the third.

Denise Teague would then extend the Racer lead to 8-0 in the home half of the third when she got a good piece of a 1-1 delivery to drive in Logan Braundmeier with a one-run double.

Helyna Bissell brought Aubrey Bennett around to score, accounting for the only Eagle run of the ballgame for Morehead State in the fourth, before the Racers would bring game one to an early ending in the bottom half of the fifth.

After Denise Teague opened the frame with a trip to first base by way of a walk, Lexi Jones ended the contest with a run-scoring double to left center, securing a 9-1 victory for the Racers.

Amber Van Duyse (3-2) would earn the win in the circle for Murray State, tossing three innings without surrendering an earned run.

At the plate, the dazzling offensive display was led by Brenna Finck (2-2, 3 RBI, R) while Jensen Striegel, Denise Teague, and Lexi Jones each doubled in the first game of the doubleheader.

Game 2 – Murray State 15, Morehead State 0:
Game two would tell a similar tale after the Racers jumped out to a quick 4-0 lead after the end of the first inning. Brenna Finck opened the scoring with a two-run single to right field, while Logan Braundmeier would record an RBI-double of her own later in the frame.

Lexi Jones kicked off the second inning by sending a Randi Hamilton delivery soaring over the wall in left center to give the Racers a 5-0 lead through two innings of action.

With Taylor Makowsky dealing in the circle for Murray State, she would face the minimum nine batters through her three-inning shift on the day.

If there was ever a doubt that the Racers were in control of game two, they would put those ideas to rest after they broke open the ballgame with a seven-run third inning. An RBI-single from Denise Teague and a two-run double from Brenna Finck would highlight the plethora of Racer runs as they now owned a 12-0 lead after the third inning of the competition.

In what would be their last inning at the plate, the Racers added three final runs in the bottom of the fourth to cap an outing that saw 15 runs on 19 Murray State hits.

In her first career plate appearance, freshman Carly St. George plated a pair of runs with a one-out double down the right field line, before Jensen Striegel scored from third on a wild pitch to conclude Murray State's impressive offensive performance.

Taylor Makowsky improved to 8-4 in the circle while surrendering just one hit in three scoreless innings of action, while Grace Vaughn also dealt a pair of scoreless frames with two strikeouts in the 15-0 victory.

Lillie Goetz (3-4, RBI, 3 R), Jensen Striegel (3-3, R), and Lexi Jones (3-3, RBI, 3 R, HR) all collected three hits apiece to fuel a potent Racer offense in a dominant performance over the Eagles of Morehead State.

The Racers return to action on Wednesday, when they hit the road for a single game against Western Kentucky to close out their 2019 non-conference schedule. They will then travel to Southern Illinois University Edwardsville for an OVC doubleheader to wrap up the regular season on Saturday.