Racers Clinch MVC Opening Series with 3-1 Win Over Valparaiso

Saturday, March 21

Evansville, Ind.

2 p.m.

Murray State

15-8, 2-0

Valparaiso

6-12, 0-2

Valparaiso

Murray St.

Photo by: Murray State Sports Information

Racers Clinch MVC Opening Series with 3-1 Win Over Valparaiso

3/21/2026 6:22:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score

By: Sam Rhodes

EVANSVILLE, Ind. – Five innings of shutout relief and a two-RBI triple from Kainen Jorge powered the Racers to a 3-1 series-clinching victory over MVC foe Valparaiso on Saturday.

After Valparaiso (6-12, 0-2 MVC) plated a run in the second inning, the Racers' arms held the Beacons scoreless for the final seven frames of the contest.

Jacob Hustedde earned the start and tossed four innings, allowing just two hits and one unearned run. Hustedde has surrendered only two earned runs over his last 20.2 innings pitched.

Carter Boyd took over on the bump and dominated with 3.2 innings of shutout relief. He allowed just three hits and struck out two to earn his first win as a Racer.

Ben Rosin closed out the game to earn his second save of the season, punching out three in 1.1 innings of work.

"We got seven of the nine leadoff guys out," head coach Dan Skirka said. "Just did a good job of making them work really hard to get on base and get rallies. The one run that scored was unearned; we had to match their guy... it's all about the pitching holding them to one run today."

Jorge highlighted the Murray State (15-8, 2-0 MVC) offense with two hits. The most significant was a two-run triple in the sixth inning that drove in the game-winning runs. The triple was Jorge's third of the season.

Conner Cunningham put the Racers on the board with his first triple of the year in the fourth inning, scoring Jorge, and making today the first time since March 29, 2025 the Racers have recorded multiple triples in a game.

"He's such a professional hitter," Skirka said of Cunningham. "Great approaches, really good process at the plate. As a sophomore, he's already seen some things and played some games, so he's not intimidated. For him to get in there and find some consistency and find health, I think, has been the big thing for him."

Kristofer Hokenson joined Jorge as the only other Racer to record multiple hits, extending his reached-base streak to 16 games.

Connor Chisolm and Luke Mistone each added singles in today's contest.

The Racers will look to complete the sweep over Valparaiso tomorrow at 1 p.m. in Evansville.