Bland is Grand, Racers Pull Off Comeback Win

Saturday, February 25

Birmingham, AL

2 p.m.

Murray State

2-4

UAB

2-4

MURRAY STATE

UAB

Photo by: David Eaton-Murray State Athletics

2/25/2023 9:45:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score Box Score (PDF)

After trailing 6-5 through eight innings, Infielder Logan Bland’s Grand Slam highlighted the ninth inning heroics to win 12-6

Murray State baseball picked up a dramatic 12-6 victory over UAB on Saturday evening in Hoover, Alabama, highlighted by a ninth-inning grand slam off the bat of second baseman Logan Bland. After trailing 6-5 after eight innings, the Racers exploded for seven runs in the ninth to pick up their second win of the year.

The MSU bats were on full display throughout the afternoon going for 14 hits including three doubles, a triple, and the ninth-inning grand slam. The grand slam is Bland's first as a Racer while fellow infielder Carson Garner went for a double and a triple in the bout.

Garner pieced together three total hits to raise his batting average to .391 to go with an impressive 1.158 OPS thus far in the season. Riley Hawthorne, Brennan McCullough and Ethan Krizen all had multihit performances with McCullough driving in the go-ahead run on an RBI double in the ninth inning.

Relief pitcher Bryce Valero earned the win after allowing just one earned run in 3.0 innings pitched while striking out seven Blazers. Nathan Holler slammed the door shut in the ninth inning, allowing just one hit and allowing zero runs.

The Racers look to pick up their first series win of the young season tomorrow in the rubber match with UAB at 1 p.m. Ryan Fender is scheduled to get the start on the mound for the Racers.

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Friday, August 29

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Wednesday, August 20

Murray State to Host 2026 Missouri Valley Conference Baseball Tournament Presented by Credit Union 1

Thursday, August 14

Next Event

UAB

L, 2-3

Feb 26 (Sun)

1 p.m.

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Full Schedule

Team Stats

Pitching:

W: Valero, Bryce (1-0)

L: Ben Abernathy (0-1)

MURRAY STATE

Batting:

2B: Hawthorne, Riley 1 ; McCullough, Brennan 1 ; Garner, Carson 1

3B: Garner, Carson 1

HR: Bland, Logan 1

RBI: Mercer, Dustin 1 ; Brown, Cade 1 ; McCullough, Brennan 2 ; Garner, Carson 3 ; Sammons, Cade 1 ; Bland, Logan 4

Base Running:

RUNS: Hawthorne, Riley 1 ; Mercer, Dustin 2 ; Howell, Taylor 1 ; Pennington, Jacob 1 ; Gardner, Seth 1 ; Brown, Cade 1 ; McCullough, Brennan 2 ; Garner, Carson 1 ; Sammons, Cade 1 ; Bland, Logan 1