Racers Erase Four-Run Deficit to Defeat UT Martin

Tuesday, February 24

Martin, TN

3 p.m.

Murray State

6-2

UT Martin

3-5

Murray State

UT Martin

Photo by: Murray State Sports Information

2/24/2026 8:20:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score

By: Sam Rhodes

MARTIN, Tenn. — The Murray State baseball team claimed a 7-5 come-from-behind victory over former OVC foe UT Martin on Tuesday to win its fourth straight game.

The Racers' bats were mostly silent in the front half of the game, generating just two hits across the first four innings.

"We have to have a little more urgency early on," head coach Dan Skirka said. "It took us five innings to score a run. We didn't really have anybody on base. We just didn't have that good of at-bats."

After a slow start offensively, the Racers (6-2) found their swings in the back half, scoring in each of the last five frames. The turning point came in the sixth inning when Parker Airhart snatched the momentum back with a three-run shot to bring the game within one. It was his first home run as a Racer.

The Murray State offense amassed 13 hits on the afternoon. Senior first baseman Luke Mistone led the way with a 3-for-5 performance at the plate, including a double. The effort marked his third consecutive multi-hit game, his sixth of the year, and extended his hitting streak to eight. Airhart finished with a team-high four RBIs, while Colby Ott, Daylen Pena, and Kris Hokenson each contributed multi-hit efforts.

Airhart eventually capped his impressive day with a crucial insurance run in the ninth inning.

"That last run is huge," Skirka said. "When you're up one in the ninth, to tack on another to give us a little more separation there."

On the mound, the Murray State bullpen locked down the UT Martin offense in the late innings. Parker Patterson earned the win, tossing two scoreless innings while allowing just two hits and striking out two. Dylan Zentko closed the door in the ninth, inducing a pair of flyouts and a groundout in a perfect frame to secure his third save of the season.

How It Happened

UT Martin struck first in the opening frame with a sacrifice fly to make it 1-0. The Racers evened the score in the top of the fifth when Hokenson crossed the plate on a wild pitch. However, the Skyhawks capitalized on a pair of Murray State errors in the bottom half of the inning to plate four unearned runs. The Skyhawks paried an RBI double and triple, giving UT Martin a 5-1 advantage.

Trailing by four, Murray State began its comeback in the sixth when Airhart launched a three-run home run to center field, scoring Kainen Jorge and Pena to cut the deficit to one. In the seventh, Mistone tied the game at 5-5 with an RBI single to right that brought home Connor Chisolm. The Racers took their first lead of the day in the eighth inning on an RBI single to left field from Ott, scoring pinch-runner Jackson McCoy. Airhart added the final insurance run in the ninth with an RBI single to right, plating Jorge to cap off the 7-5 comeback victory.

Riding a four-game winning streak, Murray State returns to action this weekend for a three-game, neutral-site series against Mercyhurst beginning Friday at 3 p.m. in Nashville.