#5 Racers To Open OVC Tournament Against #4 Belmont

Wednesday, May 22

Marion, Ill.

9 A.M.

Murray State

Belmont University

Tickets

Photo by: Dave Winder-Murray State Athletics

5/18/2019 7:22:00 PM | Baseball

Tickets Bracket Notes

Murray State vs. Belmont
OVC Tournament
GAME 52
May 22, 2019
First Pitch: Wednesday: 9 a.m.
Series History: Belmont leads 23-17
Last Meeting: Belmont 4, Murray State 3 - April 20th, 2019
Stadium: Rent One Park (Marion, Illinois)
Dimensions: 320 (LF), 392 (LC), 400 (CF), 375 (RC), 335 (RF)
Live Video
Live Stats
In-Game Twitter: @RacersBaseball

First Pitch
After missing the OVC Tournament each year form 2011-2016, the Racers are making their third straight trip to the postseason. Belmont returns to the OVC Tournament after a one-year hiatus.

Inside the Series
The Bruins swept Murray State in Nashville back on Easter weekend. However, it was a closely contested series as every game was decided by three runs or less.

OVC Tournament Berth Clinched
The Racers officially clinched a spot in the 2019 OVC Tournament. After being picked ninth in the preseason poll, Murray State will be the five seed. It is their highest seed since earning the three seed in 2010.

Oh Brother!
Ryan Perkins of the Racers and his twin brother Justin of SIUE made some history, Thursday evening as they both hit a home run in the same game. Justin started his career with Murray State as well in 2017 before transferring.

Robinson Nearing 200 Hits
After becoming just the ninth player in program history to play in 200 games, May 7 at Evansville, senior shortstop Jaron Robinson is close to another 200 milestone as he is currently sitting at 199 career hits.

Comeback Kids
After coming back from from four runs down in the ninth against SIUE, Friday, the Racers now have 14 comeback victories. Of those 14, 11 have come when down in the seventh inning or later.

Grand Slam City
Jordan Cozart hit the Racers' first grand slam of the season against UT Martin, Sunday leading Murray State to a comeback victory. It was the Racers first grand slam since Mike Farnell hit one on May 17, 2018, also against the Skyhawks.

Back-to-Back
Following Cozart's grand slam, Jaron Robinson hit his fourth home run of the season. It was the first time MSU has hit back-to-back home runs since Ramsey Scott and Mike Farnell did so against Southeast Missouri in 2018.

Senior Day
This past Sunday was Senior Day at Reagan Field where the Racers honored their senior class which includes Jaron Robinson, Blake Clynes, Joe McMahon, Tyler Duke, Peyton Hayes, and Chance Carner. They also honored redshirt-junior Cole Womack.

20 Wins in Year One
With the win at Evansville, Tuesday evening, the Racers now have 20 wins on the season. For head coach Dan Skirka, he is the second head coach in program history to get to 20 wins in his first season joining Mike Thieke who won 24 games in 1994. He is also looking to become the first rookie head coach to win a game in the OVC Tournament.

Johnny Reagan Day
Friday, April 12, was Johnny Reagan Day as the baseball program honored the late former head coach with his number forever gracing the left field wall. The team also was referred to as the Thoroughbreds in game two, the nickname they were known as during Reagan's tenure, and also all wore #36.

Running Wild
Under a new coaching staff, the Racers have been showing their speed on the basepaths as they have stolen 80 bases. They are currently second in the OVC behind EKU, who has 125. The Racers also have the third-best stolen base success rate at 79.2%.

McMurray Goes the Distance
Trevor McMurray pitched his best game as a Racer against Tennessee Tech. The junior threw a complete game, matching a career high with seven strikeouts. It was the first complete game for MSU since Brad Boegel against Eastern Illinois.

Schad's Strong Series
Redshirt-freshman Wes Schad had himself a weekend against Tennessee Tech, hitting three home runs including the go-ahead two-run shot in game three. Schad became the first Racer to hit three home runs in a series since Davis Sims hit four and Brandon Gutzler hit three against Morehead State in 2017.

Two Straight for Ivey
Joe Ivey got the start on the mound for the Racers against Middle Tennessee. He also started MSU's last game six days ago at Austin Peay, meaning he will become the first Racer pitcher to start back-to-back games since John Lollar made two straight starts against Tennessee Tech and Arkansas State in 2016.

Duke Delivers
Not once but twice did Tyler Duke send the Racers home winners over the weekend against JSU. He began the series with a two-out bases-loaded walk-off single to win 8-7 before ending the weekend with a walk-off triple to win 9-8. Sean Darmafall also scored the winning run in both games.

Anderson Stays Hot
Brock Anderson extended his hitting streak to 10 games against Missouri. He was the first player for the Racers this season to reach a double-digit hitting streak and has since been joined by Tyler Duke, Ryan Perkins, and Jordan Cozart.

No Runs for You
Against Austin Peay, the Racers allowed just five runs in the three-game series. It was the lowest amount of runs the Racers have allowed in a three-game OVC series since allowing five runs against UT Martin in 1996.

Battle of the Border
With two wins against Austin Peay, the Racers jumped out to a 28-11 lead in the Heritage Bank Battle of the Border. Murray State has since clinched the title for the third straight year after winning the OVC women's golf championship.

Anderson Plays Hero
Brock Anderson propelled the Racers to a 5-4 victory over Illinois State with a two-run walk-off double. It was the first walk-off for the Racers since Ramsey Scott had walk offs in two straight games against SIU Edwardsville on March 9th and 10th, 2018.

Triple Play
In the eighth inning against Miami (OH) in the final game of the series, the Racers pulled off one of the rarest plays in baseball, the triple play. A grounder right down the third-base line allowed MSU to go around the horn to get out of the jam. It was the third triple play in Racer history, previously done on March 8, 2006 at Ole Miss and March 16, 2016 vs. Kentucky State.

New Faces
In addition to a new coaching staff, the Racers will add 13 new players to the 2019 team.

Fresh Lineup
There will be significant changes to the Racer lineup as they will have to replace seven starters. Senior shortstop Jaron Robinson and junior outfielder/first baseman Ryan Perkins are the only returning starters.

Familiar Rotation
Unlike the lineup, the Racers will return a majority of their pitching staff, including their top nine pitchers in innings pitched in 2018, led by junior Trevor McMurray

Scouting the Field
Jacksonville State won the OVC regular season title and was led by their pitching, which posted a conference-best 4.33 ERA, including a 3.76 ERA in OVC play.

Austin Peay finished second in the OVC with a 19-11 record. IN OVC play, they led the conference with a .303 team batting average.

Morehead State finished third and was the only OVC team to finish in the top three in hitting and pitching in OVC play.

Belmont finished fourth at 18-12. The Bruins were the top defensive team in the OVC with a .981 fielding percentage and threw out more than half of attempted base stealers.

Eastern Kentucky was sixth, relying a lot on their speed as they led the OVC with 125 stolen bases, 7th in the nation.

Eastern Illinois finished seventh at 13-17. The Panthers put the ball in play as they struck out an OVC low 349 times this season.

UT Martin snuck into the OVC Tournament despite hitting just .224. They were sixth in pitching with a 5.46 ERA.

Probable Starters
Shane Burns (LHP) (3-2, 3.79 ERA) vs. Casey Queener (5-3, 4.52 ERA)