Racer Softball Hosts 4th Annual Racer Classic

Dates: March 10-14, 2022
Site (Venue): Murray, Ky. (Racer Field)
Live Coverage Links: goracers.com/coverage
MSU Record (Streak): 10-7 (L2)
Racers All-Time vs. The Field: 17-9 (4-1 vs. Western Illinois, 2-1 vs. Loyola Chicago, 9-7 Evansville, First Meeting with St. Thomas)
MSU Next Game: Mar. 17 vs. UTEP (Murray, Ky.)
MSU Next Home Game: March 17^th vs. UTEP

Tournament Central

The Racers will make their 2022 home debut on Sunday as hosts of the Racer Classic. To avoid bad weather that is expected on Saturday, the tournament has been moved to Thursday and Friday and to Sunday and Monday, with the Racers competing in seven games over the five days. Murray State is set to face Loyola Chicago, Western Illinois, Evansville and St. Thomas in this year's tournament action.

Last Time Out:
The Racers dropped two of three last weekend at the Coach B Classic in Carbondale, Illinois. The tournament began with a six-inning, mercy-rule win over Ball State, and the Racers second victory of the year against the Cardinals. Murray State then fell 1-0 to Northern Kentucky in the nightcap on Friday before falling to Northwestern, 7-0 on Saturday morning. The Racers' final two games of the classic against Ball State and Southern Illinois were canceled due to rain.

In the opening game of the tournament, the Racers held a 1-0 lead in the first inning of the game extending it to 3-0 on Lindsey Carroll's third triple of the season. The Racers bats then exploded for five runs in the bottom half of the sixth inning to end the game in mercy-rule fashion.

Murray State was held off the board in their next two games, against in-state rival Northern Kentucky and Big-Ten foe Northwestern, falling 1-0 and 7-0, respectively.

In the circle, the Murray State pitching staff allowed eight runs over the three games with one shutout.

Entering The Weekend:
The Racers enter the weekend at 10-7, while hitting .273 on the season. Their 4.88 runs per game rank in the top third of NCAA Division I programs as the Racers are outscoring opponents by more than double, 83-40.

Logan Braundmeier has been a handful for opposing teams in the leadoff positon. Braundmeier is hitting team-highs in batting average (.400), slugging percentage (.709), on-base percentage (.468), runs (15), hits (22), doubles (8), home runs (3) and RBIs (16) and stolen bases (5).

Also providing power to the Racer lineup is junior Gracie Osbron. Osbron ties Braundmeier for the team-lead with three home runs and is second on the team with four doubles. She is slugging .609 with a .404 on-base percentage.

Senior Sierra Gilmore leads the OVC in walks having drawn 11 over the first 17 games. Gilmore has hits three of the team's sacrifice flies which ranks her fifth in the nation.

In the circle, Murray State is anchored by redshirt junior Hannah James and redshirt sophomore Jenna Veber. James carries a 1.39 ERA with 43 strikeouts in her 45.1 innings of work with opponents hitting .214. Veber holds a 1.48 ERA in 47.1 innings of work and has walked only five compared with 27 strikeouts on the season.

The Racers pitching staff boasts the lowest ERA (1.46) in the conference, only allowing 23 earned runs, 20 less than the Southeast Missouri pitching staff who is second in the conference with 43 earned runs. James and Veber have thrown 83.8% of the innings in the circle and has the lowest ERAs in the league among pitchers with 15+ innings.

The Racers have multiple players ranked highly in the NCAA individual statistical categories. Sierra Gilmore is the highest-ranked player for the Racers as she is fifth in the nation in sacrifice flies with three. Murray State also two other players in the top 20, and they are Logan Braundmeier and Hannah James. Braundmeier is 15th in doubles with eight and 17th in doubles per game with .47 while James is 15th in shutouts with three.

OVC Honors
- Two weeks in a row, the Racers were chosen for a league award. Hannah James was honored with her fourth career OVC Pitcher of the Week after going 1-0 with a 0.78 ERA at the Mercer Invitational. She limited batters to a .200 batting average, only allowing one earned run while striking out nine.
- Logan Braundmeier won OVC Player of the Week, hitting .500 (9-18) with one home run, five doubles, nine RBI and seven runs scored at the Blazer Classic. She had a slugging percentage of .944 and an on-base percentage of .571. Braundmeier's 10-game hitting streak is the longest this season.

Fourth-Best Start in Program History
- Through the first 17 games of the season, the Racers are off to their fourth-best start in program history with their 10-7 start. Three other times (2012; 2015; 2020) the Racers have started 9-5 in program history.

Best Starts in Program History
2017 – 13-4
2015 – 12-5
2012 – 11-6
2020 – 11-6
2022 – 10-7

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Players Mentioned

Logan Braundmeier

Lindsey Carroll

Sierra Gilmore

Hannah James

Gracie Osbron

Jenna Veber

Murray State University Athletics