Murray State
15-6, 1-0
Evansville
9-12, 0-1
Racers’ Offense Shows Out In Conference Opener
3/22/2024 10:39:00 PM | Baseball
Murray State has hit a home run in 14 consecutive games.
Murray State struck first on the scoreboard after a run was scored on an RBI groundout from Taylor Howell in the second inning. The Aces responded by taking the lead on a solo homer and an RBI groundout of their own.
The Racers continued their offensive attack with a five-spot put up in the third on an RBI double from Jonathan Hogart, a two-run double off the bat of Riley Hawthorne and was capped off with a two-run home run from Dan Tauken. Two more runs were added in the fourth after Carson Garner drove in a run on a sacrifice fly and Hawthorne's RBI infield base hit.
With Tauken's home run, the Racers extend their streak to 14-straight games with a home run.
MSU extended its lead to nine runs after an RBI single from Garner in the sixth and a Taylor Howell solo home run and Gunnar Bingham scoring on a passed ball in the seventh.
Evansville tried to claw back, scoring two runs in both the seventh and eighth innings on an RBI single, a run scored on a fielder's choice, a bases-loaded hit-by-pitch and a sacrifice fly. The Racers made it a 13-6 game in the ninth on a pair of sacrifice flies from Ethan Krizen and Logan Bland.
Cade Vernon earned his fourth win of the season after tossing seven innings allowing four runs on six hits and three walks with seven strikeouts. Eight Racers scored in Friday's win with five of them scoring two runs.
Murray State aims to clinch the series with a win on Saturday, March 23 for Game 2 of the weekend series in Evansville.
For more information on the Murray State baseball program, visit GoRacers.com or @RacersBaseball on Instagram and X.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Vernon, Cade (4-1)
L: Nick Smith (0-4)
Batting:
2B: Hogart, Jonathan 1 ; Hawthorne, Riley 1
HR: Howell, Taylor 1 ; Tauken, Dan 1
RBI: Hogart, Jonathan 1 ; Garner, Carson 2 ; Hawthorne, Riley 3 ; Howell, Taylor 2 ; Tauken, Dan 2 ; Krizen, Ethan 1 ; Bland, Logan 1
SF: Garner, Carson 1 ; Krizen, Ethan 1 ; Bland, Logan 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Vogel, Drew 2 ; Mercer, Dustin 2 ; Hogart, Jonathan 2 ; Garner, Carson 1 ; Hawthorne, Riley 2 ; Howell, Taylor 2 ; Tauken, Dan 1 ; Bingham, Gunnar 1
SB: Vogel, Drew 2 ; Mercer, Dustin 1 ; Hogart, Jonathan 1 ; Garner, Carson 1
HBP: Vogel, Drew 1 ; Howell, Taylor 1 ; Krizen, Ethan 1
Batting:
2B: Harrison Taubert 1
HR: Ty Rumsey 1
RBI: Mark Shallenberger 1 ; Cal McGinnis 2 ; Simon Scherry 1 ; Ty Rumsey 1 ; Evan Waggoner 1
SF: Cal McGinnis 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Brent Widder 1 ; Ty Rumsey 1 ; Harrison Taubert 2 ; Brendan Hord 1 ; Evan Waggoner 1
HBP: Mark Shallenberger 2 ; Kip Fougerousse 1 ; Evan Waggoner 1
