2nd Place Racers Battle Belmont In Nashville

The Murray State Racers hit the road for E.S. Rose Park to face the Belmont Bruins in Nashville, Tennessee in the second to last series in the 2025 Missouri Valley Conference regular season and the weekend finds the Racers in the hunt for a championship.

The Racers enter the series in second place in The Valley at 14-7, one game behind Missouri State. The Bears host Indiana State this weekend. The Bruins are 12-9 in the MVC, tied for 4th and have won a season-best seven in a row. The Racers have won five-straight series in The Valley against Bradley, UIC, Valparaiso, Indiana State and Southern Illinois.

The last time MSU visited Rose Park in 2023, they won the series by taking the final two games of the three-game set.

Murray State (32-12, 14-7 MVC) at Belmont (23-26, 12-9 MVC)
May 9-11, 2025 – E.S. Rose Park – Nashville, Tenn.
Game Times: Fri 4p, Sat 2p, Sun 2p
Television: ESPN+
Live Stats: GoRacers.com
All-Time Series: Racers trail 18-32 (7-16 at BEL)
Trends: Racers lost last three meetings since last win in 2023.
Next Up: Racers H MOST – Bruins at UIC

Game Notes

The Racers have won their last five series in The Valley over Bradley, UIC, Valparaiso, Indiana State and Southern Illinois.
After a 2-4 start to league play, the Racers are 12-3 since.
Heading into the weekend, the RPI rankings of the teams in the MVC include: SIU (82), Murray State (124), Illinois State (156), Indiana State (161), Missouri State (180), UIC (188), Bradley (228), Belmont (229), Evansville (274), Valparaiso (294).
MSU is 12-5 away from home this season.
In his seventh season at Murray State, Skirka is 197-147 overall and 45-30 in The Valley.
With another three victories, Skirka will become the fourth MSU Head Coach to win 200 career games, following Johnny Reagan (776, 1968-93), Rob McDonald (247, 2004-14) and Mike Thieke (231, 1994-03).
MSU's second baseman, Dom Decker, enters the weekend with an on-base streak of 27 games, longest of the season for MSU.
MSU's top starters, Nic Schutte and Isaac Silva look to stay effective this weekend against the Bruins.
This duo combined for two wins in the SIU series last weekend on 13.2IP, 5R, 9H, 6BB, 11SO, 3.40 Earned Run Average.
In MVC ERA, Schutte is No. 2 at 3.34 and Silva is No. 3 at 3.36.

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Players Mentioned

Nic Schutte

Murray State University