Murray State University Athletics
Murray State
SIUE
Three Games in Edwardsville Await Racers in Third OVC Series of 2021
3/19/2021 9:26:00 PM | Softball
Racers look to win third OVC series in as many opportunities when they meet SIUE on the weekend
Dates: March 20-21, 2021 – 1 PM / 3 PM / 1 PM
Site (Venue): Edwardsville, Ill. (Cougar Field)
Live Video: ESPN3 (Saturday), ESPN+ Sunday
Live Stats: goracers.com/coverage
MSU Record (Streak): 7-14, 4-2 OVC
Racers All-Time vs. SIUE: 13-14
SIUE Record (Streak): 2-9, 2-4 OVC
MSU Next Game: March 24th vs. Austin Peay
MSU Next Home Game: Same
Murray State softball will travel to Edwardsville, Illinois for a three-game weekend series against SIUE beginning on Saturday afternoon. The weekend contests, which will serve as the third OVC series for the Racers in 2021, will feature a Saturday doubleheader beginning at 1:00 p.m. followed by a single game on Sunday at 1:00 p.m. The Saturday games will be streamed on ESPN3, while Sunday's contest will be featured on ESPN+. Live stats for all three contests are available on goracers.com.
All-Time Series:
The Racers and Cougars have met 27 times prior to the weekend, with SIUE holding the all-time series by a single game with 14 wins. Murray State has taken four of the last five from SIUE, however, including a doubleheader sweep in the last meetings in Edwardsville during the 2019 season.
A Look at the Racers:
The Racers (7-14, 4-2) enter the weekend after taking two of three from both UT Martin and Eastern Kentucky in back-to-back weekends to open conference competition in 2021. The Racers are batting .321 in conference-only contests this year, and are led by junior Lindsey Carroll who is batting .500 with six RBI and four runs scored through six OVC games thus far. Sierra Gilmore has supplied the power as the Williamsburg, Indiana native leads the Racers in home runs (3), RBI (13), and slugging percentage (.525) through all competitions. Murray State's 15 stolen bases in conference play also ranks #1 in the league, with Jensen Striegel leading all individuals in that category with five those over the last two weekends.
The Murray State pitching staff has also been impressive posting an overall ERA of 2.69 through 21 games. Junior Hannah James leads the way with 79 strikeouts in 64.1 innings behind a 2.39 ERA while opposing hitters are managing just a .191 average against her at the dish. James' 31 strikeouts in conference play are also the most in the OVC.
Scouting SIUE
The Cougars (2-9, 2-4) got off to a slow start in 2021, but took two of three from Tennessee State to win their first conference series of the season in their last time out. SIUE has also lost their fair share of close games on the year, playing in four extra-inning affairs and coming up empty in all four opportunities. Redshirt freshman Lexi King leads the Cougars with a .368 batting average in conference-only games, while Zoe Schafer is now tied for second in SIUE program history in home runs with 29 in her career. Alana Cobb-Adams is also hitting .377 through all games, scoring a team-high 22 runs to pair with seven stolen bases in 2021.
Notes
· Fifth-year senior Lexi Jones needs just one more home run to break into the top five on Murray State's all-time home runs list. Her 24 career round-trippers currently sits one behind Casey Castile's 25 for fifth-most in Racer history. Castile played for MSU from 2012-14.
· Sierra Gilmore's 97 RBI now sits in the #9 spot on MSU's all-time RBI list. Immediately ahead of her is Leslie Bridges, Shelbey Miller, and Ellyn Troup who each have 98, 99, and 100 respectively as Gilmore looks to further move up the rankings.
· With 79 strikeouts on the year, junior pitcher Hannah James passed Haven Campbell's 201 career strikeouts to now own sole possession of the #4 spot on the program's all-time strikeout list with 249 total in a Racer uniform.
· Lily Fischer and Sierra Gilmore have each posted five multi-hit games on the year to lead the Racers in that category.
· Lindsey Carroll enters the weekend riding a five-game hitting streak.
