Murray State Hosts Redbirds For Alumni Weekend

Date (Time): Apr. 26-27 (5 p.m. CT, 2 p.m. CT, 1 p.m. CT)
Site (Venue): Murray, Ky. (Reagan Field)
Opponent: Illinois State Redbirds
TV: ESPN+
Live Stats: GoRacers.com
All-Time Record vs. Illinois State: 8-7

Murray State is slated for a three-game series with the Illinois State Redbirds April 26-28 at Reagan Field in Murray, Kentucky.

This weekend's series will be the 16th, 17th and 18th all-time matchups between the two programs. The Redbirds and the Racers met for the first time as Missouri Valley opponents in 2023, with Murray State sweeping the series in Normal, Illinois.

MSU leads the all-time series with an 8-7 record against Illinois State, having won seven of their last nine meetings.

Scouting Report
The Redbirds enter the series with a 20-18 season record under sixth-year head coach Steve Holm. Holm has totaled a career coaching record of 126-148 with all six years being spent at the helm of the Redbirds' baseball program. He has not recorded a winning season since 2019, when he led the program to a 36-26 record and a NCAA Regional appearance.

Illinois State enters the weekend having lost their last two series with MVC opponents and an extra-inning midweek loss on Tuesday to Northwestern.

Daniel Pacella, Noah Rabin and Auggie Rasmussen lead the team with eight home runs each, with Pacella also leading the Redbirds with 47 RBIs. Luke Lawrence leads the team with 56 base hits and 37 runs scored thus far. J.T. Sokolove has been one of ISU's more successful base stealers, having stolen 16 bases on 17 attempts.

Pacella and Lawrence, along with Luke Cheng and Tyler Herron, are the only Redbirds to have batting averages above .300 for the season.

Cameron Mabee, Tanner Perry and Tyrelle Chadwick lead the Illinois State pitching staff, combining for 11 of the Redbirds' 20 wins. Each of the three pitchers has punched out at least 40 batters this season and are the only players on the team to do so, with Perry leading the team with 45 strikeouts through 43 2/3 innings on the mound.

Weekly Notes
Murray State ranks among the top 75 nationally in base hits (55th), home runs (27th), runs scored (58th), runs per game (64th), slugging percentage (51st), strikeout-to-walk ratio (55th) and walks allowed per nine innings (23rd).

Jacob Pennington's 239 career strikeouts are the second-most recorded in program history, notching the No. 2 spot with his 233rd strikeout coming on his third strikeout of the first inning at UIC on April 20.

Dustin Mercer leads the team with 53 base hits, which are tied for the 9th-most in the Missouri Valley. In his last five games, Jonathan Hogart is batting .700 with 10 runs scored, seven extra-base hits including three home runs, nine RBIs and a staggering 2.127 OPS. Hogart's 46 runs leads the Racers and the MVC, with Mercer (41) and Drew Vogel (40) also in The Valley's Top 10.

Carson Garner's 14 home runs this season has surpassed his 2023 total of 10 and is tied for the 10th-most in a season in Racers baseball history.

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

Jonathan Hogart

Dustin Mercer

Jacob Pennington

Drew Vogel

Murray State University