Murray State University Athletics
Sunday, May 30
Jackson, Tenn.
12 p.m.
Murray State
33-25
1
vs
10
Southeast Missouri
30-20
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
R
H
E
Murray State
0
0
0
0
0
0
1
0
0
1
2
1
Southeast Missouri
0
3
2
5
0
0
0
0
X
10
11
1
Photo by: Dave Winder-Murray State Athletics
Heartbreaking End to a Record-Setting Season
5/30/2021 3:22:00 PM | Baseball
The Racers fell 10-1 to Southeast Missouri in a winner-take-all OVC Championship game.
The 2021 OVC Baseball Tournament in Jackson, Tennessee had it all for the #2 seed Murray State Racers (33-25) needing two days to earn an extra-inning victory over Morehead State, a late-inning loss to Southeast Missouri, another extra-inning win against Austin Peay and a blow-out victory over Southeast Missouri to force a winner-take-all championship game Sunday against the #1 seed Redhawks (30-20).
The Racers had battled all tournament, playing the most games, pitching the most innings, but just ran out of steam on the final day, going down early to the Redhawks, falling behind 10-0 after four innings and could not recover.
The Redhawks will earn the OVC's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament, defeating the Racers 10-1 in the Murray State's first OVC Championship Game since 2003.
Southeast Missouri's starting pitcher Kyle Miller threw a two-hit complete game with a no-hitter going until Bryson Bloomer's first career triple broke up the bid in the seventh inning. Jordan Cozart drove in Bloomer for the Racers' lone run of the game.
Alec Whaley made his 83rd career appearance on the mound, the most in school history, pitching the final four scoreless innings of the game, only allowing two hits while striking out six.
Cozart had one of the best OVC tournaments ever, leading in hits, home runs and RBIs. His four home runs are second-most ever in the OVC tournament.
He and Anderson finish the season as Co-OVC Home Run Champions, both hitting 19 this season, tenth-most in the NCAA rankings and second-most in Racers history.
Anderson will also finish fourth overall in program history with 40 career home runs while Cozart is 10th on the list with 30 career long balls in their two and a half seasons as Racers.
Ryan Perkins has cemented himself in the Racer record books, finishing his career as the program's all-time leader in games played (238), at bats (862), second in runs scored (181), third in runs batted in (165), fourth in doubles (51), fifth in hits (226), walks (112) and hit by pitches (29) and sixth in home runs (38).
Sam Gardner finishes his collegiate career as a Racer. He started game two of the tournament against Southeast Missouri, throwing 5.0 innings, surrendering two runs on seven hits while striking out five.
Jonah Brannon's career as a Racer also comes to a close. Brannon played in five games this season, starting two and has one RBI coming on May 14 against SIUE.
The Racers had four players named to the 2021 OVC Baseball Championship All-Tournament Team: Brock Anderson, Jordan Cozart, Connor Holden and Jacob Pennington.
Murray State finished the season with a 33-25 overall record, the fifth most wins in program history and their 18 wins in OVC play was the most conference wins in history. The 84 home runs tied the program record set back in 2017 for home runs in a season. The Racers also broke the single-single home run record hitting seven home runs against Eastern Illinois on Mar. 13.
The Racers had battled all tournament, playing the most games, pitching the most innings, but just ran out of steam on the final day, going down early to the Redhawks, falling behind 10-0 after four innings and could not recover.
The Redhawks will earn the OVC's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament, defeating the Racers 10-1 in the Murray State's first OVC Championship Game since 2003.
Southeast Missouri's starting pitcher Kyle Miller threw a two-hit complete game with a no-hitter going until Bryson Bloomer's first career triple broke up the bid in the seventh inning. Jordan Cozart drove in Bloomer for the Racers' lone run of the game.
Alec Whaley made his 83rd career appearance on the mound, the most in school history, pitching the final four scoreless innings of the game, only allowing two hits while striking out six.
Cozart had one of the best OVC tournaments ever, leading in hits, home runs and RBIs. His four home runs are second-most ever in the OVC tournament.
He and Anderson finish the season as Co-OVC Home Run Champions, both hitting 19 this season, tenth-most in the NCAA rankings and second-most in Racers history.
Anderson will also finish fourth overall in program history with 40 career home runs while Cozart is 10th on the list with 30 career long balls in their two and a half seasons as Racers.
Ryan Perkins has cemented himself in the Racer record books, finishing his career as the program's all-time leader in games played (238), at bats (862), second in runs scored (181), third in runs batted in (165), fourth in doubles (51), fifth in hits (226), walks (112) and hit by pitches (29) and sixth in home runs (38).
Sam Gardner finishes his collegiate career as a Racer. He started game two of the tournament against Southeast Missouri, throwing 5.0 innings, surrendering two runs on seven hits while striking out five.
Jonah Brannon's career as a Racer also comes to a close. Brannon played in five games this season, starting two and has one RBI coming on May 14 against SIUE.
The Racers had four players named to the 2021 OVC Baseball Championship All-Tournament Team: Brock Anderson, Jordan Cozart, Connor Holden and Jacob Pennington.
Murray State finished the season with a 33-25 overall record, the fifth most wins in program history and their 18 wins in OVC play was the most conference wins in history. The 84 home runs tied the program record set back in 2017 for home runs in a season. The Racers also broke the single-single home run record hitting seven home runs against Eastern Illinois on Mar. 13.
T7 | SEMO 10, MUR 1
— Murray State Baseball (@RacersBaseball) May 30, 2021
Jordan Cozart is making his claim for tournament MVP. He has a tournament-leading 8⃣ hits, 4⃣ hrs, and 9⃣ RBIs. 💪 pic.twitter.com/zo2mQnBPGS
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: MILLER, Kyle (4-2)
L: Burns, Shane (1-3)
Batting:
2B: Cozart, Jordan 1
3B: Bloomer, Bryson 1
RBI: Cozart, Jordan 1
SH: Hudleson, David 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Bloomer, Bryson 1
Batting:
2B: MASON, Jevon 2 ; STAUSS, Wade 1
HR: SPERLING, Danny 1
RBI: WILBER, Tyler 2 ; ANDREWS, Lincoln 2 ; STAUSS, Wade 1 ; SPERLING, Danny 4 ; BASLER, Connor 1
Base Running:
RUNS: MASON, Jevon 1 ; WILBER, Tyler 1 ; KECK, Andrew 2 ; ANDREWS, Lincoln 1 ; STAUSS, Wade 2 ; SPERLING, Danny 1 ; LEEPER, Peyton 1 ; BASLER, Connor 1
SB: KECK, Andrew 1 ; LEEPER, Peyton 1 ; BASLER, Connor 1
HBP: KECK, Andrew 2 ; STAUSS, Wade 1
Game Leaders
Hitting
AB
4
R
1
H
1
RBI
0
AB
4
R
0
H
1
RBI
1
AB
4
R
0
H
0
RBI
0
AB
4
R
0
H
0
RBI
0
Players Mentioned
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RHP
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IF/RHP
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RHP
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