Murray State University Athletics
Murray State
4-2
Butler
2-5
Strong Pitching, Timely Hitting Lead Murray State to Sweep Over Butler
2/21/2026 7:41:00 PM | Baseball
CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. — The Murray State baseball team completed a weekend sweep of Butler, taking both games of a Saturday doubleheader, 6-4 and 3-2.
"It's hard to win a doubleheader, always," head coach Dan Skirka said. "It doesn't matter who you're playing. Really proud of our guys, but especially how game two started. That guy was just throwing all strikes and made it tough for us."
Murray State (5-2) generated 18 hits across the twin bill, highlighted by Kainen Jorge's go-ahead, two-run home run in the seventh inning of game two. Jorge's blast came a half-inning after Butler (2-6) broke a scoreless tie to take its only lead of the series, sparking an immediate response from the Racers.
"You hope you can build on that," Skirka said. "That toughness is what we want. You never know what it's going to take. Some days, you have to score 15 like last weekend, and today three. So, it's just a matter of getting the job done and embracing whatever the game gives us."
The Racers' pitching staff was dominant throughout the day, striking out 26 batters across both contests. In the opener, Jacob Hustedde made his second start of the season, tossing three innings of one-run ball. Reese Oakley took over on the mound and struck out seven batters over four innings, setting up Dylan Zentko to shut the door for the save.
Ethan Lyke started game two, throwing 4 1/3 scoreless innings with four strikeouts while allowing just two hits. Drew Deremer earned his second win of the season after pitching 2 2/3 innings in relief. Ben Rosin closed the game with two scoreless frames, striking out three and allowing just one hit to secure the first save of his career.
Luke Mistone continued his impressive start to the 2026 campaign, recording multi-hit performances in both games, his fifth of the season and 28th of his career, to push his season batting average to .429.
"He's as good bat-to-ball as anyone I've probably coached in my 18 years, and then he gets in there and does what a great leader does. When we needed him, we're down 2-0, that's the guy you want in the box, and he hits a double down the line. That's exactly what he does, he just gives really good at bats."
How it Happened (Game 1)
Murray State opened the scoring in the bottom of the second inning when Jorge sparked the offense with a leadoff double down the right-field line and later crossed the plate on a wild pitch to give the Racers an early 1-0 advantage. Butler responded in the top of the fourth to tie the game on a solo home run, but the Racers immediately answered in the home half of the fourth, breaking the tie with a decisive four-run frame.
After loading the bases on singles by Parker Airhart and Sloan Barrett and a walk to Jake Slade, shortstop Colby Ott delivered the biggest hit of the game. Ott ripped a bases-clearing, three-run triple down the left-field line to make it 4-1, the first triple of his collegiate career. Center fielder Connor Chisolm followed with an RBI groundout to plate Ott and extend the Murray State lead to 5-1.
Butler cut the deficit to 5-3 with a two-run triple in the top of the fifth inning, but the Racers got a run back in the bottom half when Airhart laced an RBI double to left field to score Jorge. The Murray State bullpen completely took over from there. Reese Oakley earned the win after striking out seven batters over four innings of relief. Dylan Zentko then shut the door, striking out five across the final two frames to secure his second save of the season and cap off the 6-4 victory.
How it Happened (Game 2)
Game two of the doubleheader began as a pitchers' duel, with neither team able to push a run across in the first six innings of action. Murray State starting pitcher Ethan Lyke set the tone early for the Racers, tossing 4.1 scoreless innings while striking out four batters and allowing just a pair of hits.
Butler broke the scoreless tie in the top of the seventh inning, bringing home a pair of runs on RBI singles to take a 2-0 lead. However, the Racers responded immediately with a decisive three-run rally in the bottom half of the frame. Luke Mistone sparked the offense with a leadoff double down the left-field line, and Daylan Pena quickly followed with an RBI double to right-center to cut the deficit in half. Kainen Jorge launched a go-ahead, two-run home run to left-center field, flipping the script and giving Murray State a 3-2 advantage.
The Murray State bullpen held the line from there to secure the sweep. Drew Deremer earned his second win of the season after pitching 2.2 innings in relief. Ben Rosin then took over on the mound for the final two frames, tossing two scoreless innings with three strikeouts to slam the door and earn the save.
Game Notes
- Mistone posted two-hit performances in both games today, his fourth and fifth mutli hit games on the season
- Mistone extends his hitting streak to six, the only Racer to record a hit in each game this season
- Mistone struck out for the first time this season in game two
- Jorge's go-ahead homer in game two was the 10th homer of his career, second as a Racer, leading the team with two this season.
- Jorge now leads MSU in home runs, triples, slugging percentage and total bases.
Pitching Staff
- The first time the Racers arms have combined for 16 strikeouts in a game since striking out 16 at Kentucky March 7, 2023.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Deremer, Drew (2-0)
L: M. Winders (1-1)
S: Rosin, Ben (1)
Batting:
RBI: D. Gavin 1 ; D. Ayers 1
SH: L. Crock 1
Base Running:
RUNS: C. Lewis 1 ; W. Burgess 1
SB: L. Baker 1
CS: G. Gilmore 1
Batting:
2B: Mistone, Luke 1 ; Pena, Daylan 1 ; Butina, Tyler 1
HR: Jorge, Kainen 1
RBI: Pena, Daylan 1 ; Jorge, Kainen 2
Base Running:
RUNS: Mistone, Luke 1 ; McCoy, Jackson 1 ; Jorge, Kainen 1
SB: Slade, Jake 1
