Racers Set For Final Non-Conference Weekend Series

Dates (Times): Mar. 15-17 (3 p.m. CT, 2 p.m. CT, 1 p.m. CT)
Site (Venue): Murray, Ky. (Johnny Reagan Field)
Opponent: Little Rock Trojans
TV: N/A
Radio: N/A
Live Stats: GoRacers.com

The Racers return home to Reagan Field to host Little Rock in a three-game series starting on Friday, March 15 at 3 p.m. CT in Murray, Kentucky. This is Murray State's final weekend series before opening up Missouri Valley Conference play.

MSU has played the Trojans 20 times since the 1989 season, but the two programs have not met on the diamond since 2006. The Racers are 14-6 against Little Rock in that span and have won seven of the last 10. The Trojans won the series, 2-1, in Murray during the 2006 season.

Scouting Report
The Trojans enter the weekend with an 11-6 record under head coach Chris Curry. Curry enters his 10th season leading the Little Rock baseball program with an overall 216-245 record.

Little Rock's pitching staff and defense has been one of the best thus far among teams in the Ohio Valley Conference, leading the league in ERA, fielding percentage, double plays, strikeout-to-walk ratio, hits per nine innings and strikeouts per nine innings. The Trojans are also top three in the OVC in scoring, WHIP and walks allowed per nine innings.

Little Rock currently rides a five-game winning streak, with a midweek win over Arkansas Pine-Bluff, a series sweep of Northwestern State and a seven-inning run rule over Arkansas State, who the Racers also defeated earlier this season.

The Trojans are led by Nico Baumbach, who has batted .327 through 14 games played with three homers, 11 RBIs and 12 runs, which is tied with Ty Rhoades for the team lead in runs scored. Rhoades also leads the team in RBIs with 13 and a .311 batting average through 17 games. Baumbach, Luke Petcol and Skyler Trevino combine for 10 of the team's 18 home runs in 2024.

Little Rock's pitching staff is led by the quartet of Jack Cline, Thomas Kuykendall, Hoss Brewer and Jackson Wells. Brewer leads the team and the OVC in strikeouts with 28 followed by Kuykendall with 25. Kuykendall and Cline have been two of the more efficient arms for the Trojans in terms of allowing runs, with both being the only players on the roster with an ERA of less than four and at least 17 innings pitched.

Five different Little Rock pitchers have at least 19 strikeouts recorded this season.

Weekly Notes
Murray State is coming off a 10-6 road loss to Kentucky after holding a 6-0 lead in the third inning. The Racers are currently ranked 40th in RPI in Division I and hold the fourth-best record in the Missouri Valley entering the weekend.

MSU is just one of two teams in the MVC (UIC) to have an undefeated home record this season; Murray State is 8-0 and UIC is 5-0.

Murray State's 176 hits are the 35th-most in the country and second-most in the conference. They lead the conference in home runs with 30 which also ranks 22nd in Division I.

Carson Garner continues his hot performance at the plate, sitting in the top five in the country in home runs and top 25 in slugging percentage.

The Racers' pitching staff has been one of the more efficient groups in The Valley to start the season, sitting in the top three in ERA, strikeouts per nine innings, strikeout-to-walk ratio and WHIP.

For more information on the Murray State baseball program, visit GoRacers.com or @RacersBaseball on Instagram and X.

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Players Mentioned

Carson Garner

Murray State University Athletics