Perkins Hits 200-Game Milestone, Racers Honor 2020 Seniors Against JSU

Murray State (8-8) at Jacksonville State (7-8)

GAME 17-19
Dates: March 19-20, 2021
First Pitch: Friday-3 p.m.; Saturday-12 p.m.; ~4 p.m.
Location: Murray, Ky.
Stadium: Johnny Reagan Field (550)
Dimensions: 330 (LL) 400 (CF), 330 (RL)
Series History: Jacksonville State leads 25-14
Last Meeting: Mar. 24, 2019 (Murray State Won 9-8)

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Game 1 | Game 2 | Game 3
Live Stats: Game 1 | Game 2 | Game 3
Twitter In-Game: @RacersBaseball
Murray State Baseball Notes (PDF)

Probable Starters
Friday – Shane Burns (LHP) (1-1, 5.30 ERA) vs Christian Edwards (RHP) (2-1, 3.60 ERA)
Saturday Game 1 – Sam Gardner (RHP) (0-3, 15.58 ERA) vs Dylan Hathcock (LHP) (2-1, 3.26 ERA)
Saturday Game 2 – Jack Wenninger (RHP) (1-1, 3.65 ERA) vs Isaiah Magwood (RHP) (0-1, 2.19 ERA)

First Pitch
MSU is coming off winning their midweek matchup with Kentucky, 13-8 for the first time since 2014. The Racers set a new program record with seven home runs in series finale. JSU did not play any midweek games this week and is coming off a 2-1 weekend series win versus South Alabama.

Inside the Matchup
The Racers and Gamecocks have met 51 times on the diamond, with Jacksonville State holding a 34-17 advantage. At Reagan Field, JSU has won 14 of 21 contests. In 2019, the Racers took two of three from the Gamecocks in Murray, Ky.

Weekend Recap
The Racers took two of three from Eastern Illinois to earn their first conference series victory of the 2021 season. On Friday, Shane Burns went 7.0 innings and the Racers won 9-2. During the Saturday doubleheader, MSU lost game one, 14-10, but bounced back in rubber match to set a new program record with seven homeruns in the 15-5 win.

The Racers won their midweek matchup against in-state rival Kentucky, 13-8. This was the first time Murray State has won since 2014.

A Look at the Racers:
The Racers bats were popping off in Charleston, Ill. over the weekend. Murray State hit 13 home runs over the three games, including new program record seven in game two on Saturday. Six different Racers hit long balls of the EIU staff. Brock Anderson and Jordan Cozart are tied for the team lead with six homers apiece. Jake Slunder had the biggest blast, a grand slam. It was his first career grand slam and his first home run of the season.

The seven home runs Murray State hit in game two on Saturday broke the home runs in a single game program record. The previous record was six, first set in 1981 and matched four times, most recently in 2016 on Feb. 28 against Northern Illinois.

Murray State then knocked three long balls in the 13-8 win on Tuesday against Kentucky. Brock Anderson took sole control of the team lead with eight homers, with his second multi-home run game of the season on Tuesday. Alex Crump tagged his first home run as a Racer with a no-doubter over the Kentucky bullpen in left.

The Racers have hit long balls in every game but two and the team's 28 home runs tops the OVC and is tied for fourth in the nation.

On Friday, Ryan Perkins will be the tenth Racer to reach the 200 career games in a Murray State uniform. The St. Charles, Mo. native is a career .265 hitter, collecting 188 hits, 36 doubles, three triples, and smashed 35 home runs. He drove in 138 RBIs and scored 154 runs in 715 at-bats. Perkins owns a .572 slugging percentage and a .367 on-base percentage.

On the mound, the Racers will hand the ball to redshirt sophomore Shane Burns, graduate Sam Gardner, and freshman Jack Wenninger.

Burns is tied for fourth in the nation with four starts this season. He is picked up his first win last Friday, going 7.0 innings, delivering five scoreless frames, allowing just four hits and two runs.

Wenninger has had a great start to his collegiate career. He is 1-1 with a 3.65 ERA with ten strikeouts over 12.1 innings. In his collegiate debut, Wenninger threw 5.0 innings, allowed no earned runs, walked nobody and struck out seven to earn his first win.

Closer Conner Holden has three saves on the year, tying him for 19^th nationally. Holden has struck out nine hitters in 7.2 innings of work, allowing just five hits and no walks.

Scouting Jacksonville State
The Jacksonville State Gamecocks won their weekend series over South Alabama and have won four consecutive games overall during their 7-8 start.

Alex Webb is the reigning OVC Player of the Week after hitting .529 (9-of-17) with five runs scored, two doubles, a home run, eight RBI, a .824 slugging percentage and .556 on-base percentage. He hit a home run in the team's midweek game at No. 22 Alabama. In the opener at South Alabama (an 11-2 JSU win), he had two hits, scored two runs and drove in four RBI. Webb followed that with two hits and a RBI in Saturday's win and closed the weekend by going 4-for-5 with a double and two RBI. Webb ranks sixth in the OVC in hits (1.33/game) and eighth in RBI (1.00/game).

The Gamecocks own the best earned run average in the league at 4.16 and are second in opponent batting average (.268). They will start Christian Edwards on Friday, Dylan Hathcock in game one and Isaiah Magwood in game two on Saturday.

Edwards has a 2-1 record with a 3.60 ERA and 28 strikeouts in 20.0 innings of work. Hitters are batting .162 against him. Hathcock has a 7:1 strikeout-to-walk ratio, tallying 14 punch outs through 17.0 innings pitched. Magwood has thrown 12.1 innings, striking out 15 with a 2.19 ERA.

As a team, the Gamecocks are hitting .268 through the first fifteen games with 138 hits, 27 doubles, 4 triples, 11 home runs, 79 RBI, scored 88 runs and tallied 206 total bases with a .400 slugging % and . 370 on-base %.

Perkins Hits 200-Game Milestone, Racers Honor 2020 Seniors Against JSU

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Players Mentioned

Brock Anderson

Shane Burns

Jordan Cozart

Alex Crump

Sam Gardner

Ryan Perkins

Jake Slunder

Jack Wenninger

Murray State University Athletics