Racers Look Ahead To Midweek Tilt With Western Kentucky

Date (Time): Mar. 26 (13 p.m. CT)
Site (Venue): Murray, Ky. (Reagan Field)
Opponent: Western Kentucky Hilltoppers
TV: ESPN+
Live Stats: GoRacers.com
All-Time Record vs. Western Kentucky: 71-54-1

The Racers are slated for a midweek matchup at home against the Western Kentucky Hilltoppers on Tuesday, March 26 at 3 p.m. at Reagan Field in Murray, Kentucky.

This will be the first time since 2020 the two programs will take the field together and the first matchup in Murray since the 2017 season.

The Racers lead the all-time series 71-54-1 but have dropped the last five games and are 2-8 in the last 10 against WKU. MSU is 0-2 against the Hilltoppers under head coach Dan Skirka but Tuesday's game will be the first home appearance against Western Kentucky under the sixth-year skipper.

Scouting Report
The Hilltoppers enter Tuesday's game with a 16-9 record under head coach Marc Rardin, who is in his second year at the helm of the WKU baseball program. Since last season, he has amassed a 49-35 record including a semifinals appearance in the Conference USA baseball tournament.

Western Kentucky is led offensively by Blake Cavill, who leads the team in batting average (.359), runs (25), base hits (33), OPS (1.072), doubles (11) and is tied for the most RBIs on the team with 21. Brady Browning leads the Hilltoppers in home runs with five. Cavill, Browning, along with Ethan Lizama and Cristian Garcia, are the only players on the roster batting over .290 thus far this season.

Five players on WKU's roster have totaled at least 20 base hits. Dylan O'Connell has proven to be an efficient baserunner for the Hilltoppers, leading the team with nine stolen bases in 12 attempts and 19 runs scored this year.

Jacob Bimbi leads Western Kentucky's pitching staff with 34 strikeouts across 23 1/3 innings with a 3-0 record through six starts. Jack Bennett has been one of the primary arms for WKU with a team-high 27 innings and the second-most strikeouts behind Bimbi with 26. The Hilltoppers' 4.35 ERA is the third-best in C-USA and ranks 44th in Division I.

Weekly Notes
The Racers come in off their second-straight weekend sweep over Evansville to open Missouri Valley Conference play and have won six-straight games. Murray State is one of two MVC teams to start conference play with a perfect 3-0 record and are the only team in the conference that remains undefeated at home, boasting an 11-0 record at Reagan Field since the start of the 2024 campaign.

The Racers were tabbed 18th in this week's mid-major power rankings, per 11point7 College Baseball, and are one of two MVC schools (Indiana State) among the top 40 in Division I RPI. Murray State's 39 home runs lead the conference and rank 28th nationally and are top 40 in Division I in K:BB ratio, WHIP and BB/9.

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

Murray State University Athletics

Racers Look Ahead To Midweek Tilt With Western Kentucky

Next Event

Related Videos