Murray State University Athletics
Tuesday, March 16
Lexington, Ky.
4 p.m.
Murray State
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Kentucky
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Murray State
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Kentucky
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Photo by: Elliott Hess - UK Athletics
Big Bats Continue For Racers in 13-8 Win Over Kentucky
3/16/2021 9:13:00 PM | Baseball
Murray State beat the Kentucky Wildcats, 13-8, in Lexington at Kentucky Proud Park on Tuesday.
The Murray State Racers (8-8) defeated the Kentucky Wildcats (11-3), 13-8 for the first time since 2014.
The Racers' bats stayed hot, scoring thirteen runs on a Cats pitching staff who was fourth-ranked nationally with a 1.99 ERA and third in WHIP. The Racers also walked six times on the staff who only had allowed five free passes all year.
The top four in Murray State's lineup were on fire in Lexington, accounting for seven of the Racers ten hits, seven of their 13 runs and 10 of their 11 RBIs.
Brock Anderson had his second straight multi-home run game, going 3-for-5 with two home runs and five RBIs. Alex Crump blasted his first homer as a Racer over the Kentucky bullpen in left and Brennan McCullough was 2-for-3 with a double and two runs scored.
The game was scoreless until the Racers struck first in the top of the third, using an error by the shortstop to keep the inning alive . The error proved costly as McCullough scored from second on the play and Anderson hit his first of two long balls, a three-run shot allowing Murray State jumped ahead 4-0.
Kentucky, scoring all eight of their runs courtesy of the long ball, matched the Racers' three-run home run in the bottom half of the inning to close the gap to one run and took a 5-4 lead in the fifth using back-to-back solo shots.
The one-run deficit didn't last long as Murray State blew the game open, putting up a seven-spot in the top of the sixth, all coming with two-outs. 11 of the Racers 13 runs came with two outs.
A walk, an infield single, and another walk loaded the bases for Jake Slunder, who delivered with a two-RBI double to center field. Ryan Perkins knocked in two runs of his own, singling to center, scoring Slunder and Jordan Holly. Jordan Cozart kept things rolling for the Racers, driving in Perkins on a double to left. Anderson then hit a no-doubter to right for his second dinger of the night to put Murray State up 11-5.
Kentucky pulled within three in the seventh, hitting back-to-back homers for the second time in the game.
Murray State wasn't done and in the ninth inning Alex Crump tagged the first home run of his Racer career, a two-run shot over the Cats bullpen.
The Racer pitching staff used five arms in the game. Jacob Pennington got his second start of the year, going 3.0 innings, allowing three runs on four hits while striking out three. Jake Jones earned the win, improving to 2-0 on the season.
Alec Whaley threw 1.2 innings and Jordyn Naranjo came in for one batter and struck him out. Connor Holden pitched the final 1.1 innings, striking out two to close out the game for Racers.
Murray State returns to OVC action on Friday (Mar. 19), where Ryan Perkins will compete in his 200th career game as a Racer and Saturday (Mar. 20). Murray State will honor the 2020 seniors in between games of the doubleheader. First pitch is scheduled for 3 p.m. on Friday at Johnny Reagan Field.
The Racers' bats stayed hot, scoring thirteen runs on a Cats pitching staff who was fourth-ranked nationally with a 1.99 ERA and third in WHIP. The Racers also walked six times on the staff who only had allowed five free passes all year.
The top four in Murray State's lineup were on fire in Lexington, accounting for seven of the Racers ten hits, seven of their 13 runs and 10 of their 11 RBIs.
Brock Anderson had his second straight multi-home run game, going 3-for-5 with two home runs and five RBIs. Alex Crump blasted his first homer as a Racer over the Kentucky bullpen in left and Brennan McCullough was 2-for-3 with a double and two runs scored.
The game was scoreless until the Racers struck first in the top of the third, using an error by the shortstop to keep the inning alive . The error proved costly as McCullough scored from second on the play and Anderson hit his first of two long balls, a three-run shot allowing Murray State jumped ahead 4-0.
Kentucky, scoring all eight of their runs courtesy of the long ball, matched the Racers' three-run home run in the bottom half of the inning to close the gap to one run and took a 5-4 lead in the fifth using back-to-back solo shots.
The one-run deficit didn't last long as Murray State blew the game open, putting up a seven-spot in the top of the sixth, all coming with two-outs. 11 of the Racers 13 runs came with two outs.
A walk, an infield single, and another walk loaded the bases for Jake Slunder, who delivered with a two-RBI double to center field. Ryan Perkins knocked in two runs of his own, singling to center, scoring Slunder and Jordan Holly. Jordan Cozart kept things rolling for the Racers, driving in Perkins on a double to left. Anderson then hit a no-doubter to right for his second dinger of the night to put Murray State up 11-5.
Kentucky pulled within three in the seventh, hitting back-to-back homers for the second time in the game.
Murray State wasn't done and in the ninth inning Alex Crump tagged the first home run of his Racer career, a two-run shot over the Cats bullpen.
The Racer pitching staff used five arms in the game. Jacob Pennington got his second start of the year, going 3.0 innings, allowing three runs on four hits while striking out three. Jake Jones earned the win, improving to 2-0 on the season.
Alec Whaley threw 1.2 innings and Jordyn Naranjo came in for one batter and struck him out. Connor Holden pitched the final 1.1 innings, striking out two to close out the game for Racers.
Murray State returns to OVC action on Friday (Mar. 19), where Ryan Perkins will compete in his 200th career game as a Racer and Saturday (Mar. 20). Murray State will honor the 2020 seniors in between games of the doubleheader. First pitch is scheduled for 3 p.m. on Friday at Johnny Reagan Field.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Jones, Jake (2-0)
L: Cole Daniels (0-2)
S: Holden, Connor (3)
Batting:
2B: Slunder, Jake 1 ; Cozart, Jordan 2 ; McCullough, Brennan 1
HR: Anderson, Brock 2 ; Crump, Alex 1
RBI: Slunder, Jake 2 ; Perkins, Ryan 2 ; Cozart, Jordan 1 ; Anderson, Brock 5 ; Crump, Alex 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Slunder, Jake 2 ; Perkins, Ryan 1 ; Cozart, Jordan 2 ; Anderson, Brock 2 ; Woosley, Trey 1 ; Crump, Alex 2 ; McCullough, Brennan 2 ; Holly, Jordan 1
HBP: McCullough, Brennan 1
Batting:
HR: Oraj Anu 1 ; John Rhodes 1 ; T.J. Collett 2 ; Trae Harmon 1
RBI: Oraj Anu 3 ; John Rhodes 2 ; T.J. Collett 2 ; Trae Harmon 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Austin Schultz 1 ; Oraj Anu 2 ; John Rhodes 1 ; T.J. Collett 2 ; Trae Harmon 1 ; Ryan Ritter 1
Game Leaders
Hitting
AB
5
R
2
H
3
RBI
5
AB
5
R
2
H
2
RBI
1
AB
3
R
2
H
2
RBI
0
AB
5
R
2
H
1
RBI
2
Players Mentioned
OF
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RHP
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INF
/ Baseball
RHP
/ BaseballOF
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LHP
/ Baseball
IF/RHP
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OF
/ BaseballOF
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RHP
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