Racers Secure #2 Seed in OVC Tournament, Split Doubleheader

Friday, May 21

Murray, Ky.

1 p.m.

Murray State

29-23, 0

Austin Peay

22-30, 0

Austin Peay

Murray State

Photo by: Dave Winder-Murray State Athletics

Racers Secure #2 Seed in OVC Tournament, Split Doubleheader

5/21/2021 9:29:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score 1 Box Score 2 Box Score (PDF) Game One Box Score (PDF) Game Two Photo Gallery

Murray State splits the final day of the regular season with Austin Peay

The Murray State Baseball team (30-23, 18-12 OVC) split the final day of the regular season with the Austin Peay Governors (22-31, 16-14 OVC) falling in the opening game, 9-3, before securing the #2 seed in the OVC Tournament next week with a 8-3 win.

Austin Peay clinched a spot in Jackson, taking two of three from Murray State.

With the win, the Racers become the sixth team in program history to reach 30 wins in a season. This also the first 30 win season and the first winning season since 2009.

Murray State's bat were finally were able to get going in the series finale after having been cuffed at the plate the previous two games. Five Racers had multi-hit games in game two.

Seth Gardner was a perfect 3-for-3 with a run scored and an RBI. Ryan Perkins also collected three hits and scored two runs.

Trey Woosley had a solid day at the plate going a combined 3-for-6. He drove in two runs in the first game with his sixth home run of the season.

Game One - Austin Peay 9, Murray State 3

Brennan McCullough got the Racers on the board first bringing home Ryan Perkins with an RBI double in the second.

Austin Peay grabbed the lead in the fourth on a two-run home run off the bat of Jack Alexander.

Trey Woosley matched with an opposite field two-run shot of his own in the bottom half. He slipped it just fair over the left field wall to regain the one-run advantage for the Racers.

The Govs then broke open the game with a five-run fifth inning. A solo shot, bases loaded walk and a three-RBI triple did the damage for Austin Peay.

Austin Peay tacked on single runs in the eighth and ninth to extend their lead and grab the third spot in the OVC Tournament and the series win over the Racers.

Murray State threatened in the bottom half of the eighth inning, having runners on the corners with two outs but a pop out ended the frame.

Sam Gardner (5-6) took the loss after surrendering seven runs on six hits in 4.2 innings worked while striking out three. Jake Jones threw three complete innings, fanning three and Jordyn Naranjo come in for the final 1.1 innings.

Game Two - Murray State 5, Austin Peay 1

After Austin Peay opened the scoring with a run in the second, the Racers responded with two in the bottom half of the inning.

An error and back-to-back singles evened the game at one and with a sacrifice fly giving Murray State a 2-1 lead in the second.

In the third, the OVC Home Run Champion, Brock Anderson, smashed with his seventeenth home run of the season, making it a 3-1 game.

The Racers added a pair of runs in the fourth on two wild pitches. Anderson walked with runners in scoring position but the pitch got away from Austin Peay's catcher Jack Alexander allowing Seth Gardner to come home and Jordan Holly to move to third. Holly then scored on a wild pitch during Cozart's at-bat.

Austin Peay got one run back in the top of the fifth to close the gap to 5-2 but Murray State had the answer in their half of the frame.

Four consecutive hits for the Racers began the fifth as Perkins led off, hustling to turn his hit into a double and came around on Tanner Booth's RBI single. Two more singles followed to load the bases. David Hudleson knocked in the second run of the inning on a sacrifice fly.

Another sacrifice fly in the seventh extended it to 8-2 to all but secure the game as Connor Holden came on for the final two innings. One Austin Peay run scored but Holden left the bases loaded in the ninth as the 30^th win is only the sixth time in program history a team has had a 30+ win season.

On the mound, Quinton Kujawa started the game going 4.1 innings. Jack Wenninger came on in relief to throw 2.2 innings and fanned four.

Murray State will be the #2 seed in the OVC Tournament starting on Thursday, May 27 at The Ballpark in Jackson, Tennessee. First pitch of the #2/#3 game is scheduled for 6 p.m. Their opponent is still to be determined as there is one final spot available in the postseason.