Racers Set for Three-Game Battle with Memphis

Murray State (10-10) at Memphis (9-10)

GAME 21-23
Dates: March 26-28, 2021
First Pitch: Friday-6 p.m.; Saturday-2 p.m.; Sunday-1 p.m.
Location: Memphis, Tenn.
Stadium: FedEx Park (2,000)
Dimensions: 318 (LL), 379 (CF), 317 (RL)
Series History: Memphis leads 64-36
Last Meeting: Feb. 20, 2019 (Murray State Won 10-6)

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Twitter In-Game: @RacersBaseball
Murray State Baseball Notes (PDF)

Probable Starters
Shane Burns (RHP) (1-1, 4.44 ERA) vs Blake Wimberley (RHP) (1-2, 4.30 ERA)
Jack Wenninger (RHP) (2-1, 2.33 ERA) vs Chris Dunham (RHP) (1-1, 3.78 ERA)
TBA vs TBA

First Pitch
MSU is coming off winning their second conference series win against Jacksonville State, taking two of three, including a walk-off victory and a shutout. The Racers split their series with Arkansas State. Memphis is coming off losing back-to-back game to No. 2 Arkansas, 14-1 and 9-4

Inside the Matchup
Outside of the OVC, the Tigers are the team the Racers have played second-most behind Middle Tennessee as this will be the 101st meeting between the two schools. Memphis holds a 64-36 advantage and is 33-20 at home. The Racers are 2-2 in their last four matchups with Memphis dating back to Mar. 22, 2016.

Weekend Recap
The Racers took two of three from Jacksonville State to earn their second conference series victory of the 2021 season. On Friday, Shane Burns went 7.2 innings and despite the Racers being no-hit through the first seven innings, Murray State won using a triple in the eighth and five straight walks in the ninth for the walkoff victory, 3-2. During the Saturday doubleheader, MSU lost the slugfest game one, 16-11, but bounced back in rubber match, as Jack Wenninger throw first complete game shut out. Ryan Perkins set a new career high in RBIs with seven as the Racers won 11-0.

The Racers lost their midweek matchup against Arkansas State, 3-1, splitting the home-and-home series with the Red Wolves. Murray State previously won 9-6 on 3/2.

A Look at the Racers:
On Friday, Ryan Perkins became the tenth Racer to reach the 200 career games in a Murray State uniform. The St. Charles, Mo. native has had hits in five of the last six games including two multi-hit games. He drove in seven of the Racers 11 runs in the rubber match against JSU for a new career high, coming up to the plate with the bases loaded three times and delivering two singles and a double. With his performance over the weekend, Perkins moved into third in RBIs on the team.

Murray State has drawn a league-leading 100 base on balls. They are tied for 29th in the nation and used the free pass to walk off in the series opener against Jacksonville State. The Racers drew five consecutive free passes to come from behind and walk off win 3-2. The next day the Racers began the game drawing five walks in the first inning and finished with 12 total in the game. Jordan Cozart leads the team with 13 walks followed by Jake Slunder with 12.

The Racers' offense is paced by the combination of Jordan Cozart (.312/6/22) and Brock Anderson (.280/8/20). Anderson's eight home runs are tied for eleventh most in the country, while the duo has accounted for 50% of Murray State's home runs this season.

On the mound, the Racers will hand the ball to redshirt sophomore Shane Burns and freshman Jack Wenninger. Burns is 1-1 with a 4.44 ERA with sixteen strikeouts over 26.1 innings. He has thrown at least seven innings and allowed just two runs in each of his last two starts. Wenninger is 2-1 through four starts with a 2.33 ERA. He has fourteen strikeouts to nine walks and has a .203 OBA, best among qualified pitchers on the team.

Scouting Memphis
The Memphis Tigers wrap up non-conference play against the Murray State Racers with the three-game series. The Tigers are off to an 9-10 start in 2021 picking up wins against Lipscomb, Grambling State, Miami (OH) and Middle Tennessee.

Memphis has lost to ranked opponents, No. 4 Ole Miss, then No. 2 Vanderbilt, and No. 2 Arkansas.

All-American Hunter Goodman led the Tigers over the Blue Raiders tying the game in the tenth inning with a three-run shot off the scoreboard in left. Goodman leads the Memphis offense, hitting .329, 23 hits, four doubles, one triple, six home runs, 13 RBIs and is slugging .671 with an .422 OBP.

Blake Wimberley is the reigning AAC Pitcher of the Week for his complete game shutout on Friday against Middle Tennessee. On the season, he is 1-2 with a 4.30 ERA and 29 strikeouts in 23.0 innings of work. Hitters are batting .222 against him.

As a team, the Tigers are hitting .236 with 139 hits, 27 doubles, 2 triples, 18 home runs, 81 RBI, scored 91 runs and tallied 224 total bases with a .381 slugging % and . 340 on-base %.

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Players Mentioned

Brock Anderson

Shane Burns

Jordan Cozart

Ryan Perkins

Jake Slunder

Jack Wenninger

Murray State University