Big Bats Power Racers over Panthers in Conference Opener

Friday, March 12

Charleston, Ill.

2 p.m.

Murray State

5-7, 0

Eastern Illinois

8-6, 0

Murray State

Eastern Illinois

Photo by: Sandi King-EIU Athletics

Big Bats Power Racers over Panthers in Conference Opener

3/12/2021 6:21:00 PM | Baseball

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Murray State (6-7) opened OVC play with a decisive 9-2 win over Eastern Illinois (8-6) in Charleston, Illinois on Friday.

The Murray State Racers (6-7) started conference play with a big win over Eastern Illinois (8-6) using solo home runs from Brock Anderson, Bryson Bloomer and Tanner Booth to power past the Panthers.

"Really good team win today. The guys were ready to go from the first pitch until the end. Everyone contributed today and it's great to have Shane Burns set the tempo for the weekend," said Head Coach Dan Skirka.

Shane Burns took the ball in the game and took care of business. The southpaw went 7.0 innings, delivering five scoreless frames, allowing just four hits and two runs to earn his first victory of the season.

Jake Slunder tied a career-high in stolen bases, swiping three bags in the game. He was 2-for-5 with a walk, three runs scored and one RBI and Jordan Cozart was back to his usual form, driving in three runs on one hit and a pair of walks.

Murray State opened the scoring in the first. Cozart drove in Slunder on a sacrifice fly to center field. Brock Anderson then tagged his team-high fourth home run of the season to put the Racers up 2-0.

The Panthers got a solo homer in the second to make it 2-1 and the game held there until the fifth.

Murray State started the fifth with Seth Gardner walking and moving to second on a sac bunt by David Hudleson. Gardner came home on a RBI double to left center from Slunder. Slunder then stole third and back-to-back walks from Ryan Perkins and Cozart loaded the bases. Anderson made it three in a row to score Slunder easily. Trey Woosley plated Perkins on a fielder's choice to extend the lead to 5-1.

Slunder lined a two-out single to center and stole his third base of the day. Perkins walked and both runners advanced on a wild pitch. Cozart doubled off the wall in left center field to bring Slunder and Perkins home.

Bloomer opened the seventh inning with a solo home run off the scoreboard in left field and after a Panther pitching change, Booth hit a solo homer of his own, making it a 9-1 game.

The Panthers got one run back in the bottom half of the inning but it was too little too late.

The Racers bullpen of Cade Vernon and Jacob Pennington combined for two innings, allowing no runs and got out of a bases loaded one-out jam in the eighth to seal the first conference win for the Racers.

Five different players contributed to the scoring and six collected hits in the game.

Murray State will return to action on Saturday when they complete the three-game series with Eastern Illinois in a doubleheader beginning at 10:30 a.m.