Murray State University Athletics
Murray State
10-4
UCF
7-5
Racers Fall to Central Florida in Series Opener
3/6/2026 8:37:00 PM | Baseball
ORLANDO, Fla. – Murray State baseball dropped its first Friday matchup of the 2026 season, falling 8-3 to Central Florida in the series opener Friday night.
Nic Schutte was handed his first loss of the 2026 campaign after making his fourth start of the year. Schutte tossed 5.1 innings, allowing five runs, four of which were earned, on nine hits. The nine hits surrendered tied a career high for the right-hander.
Despite the loss, Murray State (10-4) saw multi-hit performances from Luke Mistone, Kainen Jorge, and Kristofer Hokenson, who recorded two hits apiece. Mistone's performance marked his ninth multi-hit game through the first 14 contests of the season. Hokenson and Mistone each logged a stolen base as well.
Jorge provided the biggest offensive highlight of the night, crushing a game-tying solo home run in the fourth inning. The blast was his fourth of the year. Jorge finished the night with a second hit, a single to center field in the ninth.
Daylan Pena accounted for the second Murray State RBI, lifting a sacrifice fly to right field in the sixth inning to plate Connor Chisolm. In addition to Chisolm's hit and run scored, Jaxon Diamond logged a milestone in the contest, recording his first hit of the season and his first RBI of the year.
How it Happened
Central Florida (7-5) started the afternoon on offense with back-to-back doubles, taking a 1-0 lead in the first. Schutte settled in for the next few innings, putting up zeroes in the second and third frames before the game-tying solo shot from Jorge in the fourth.
UCF responded with a run of its own immediately after, scoring on a wild pitch to retake the lead. Pena's sacrifice fly came in the sixth, tying the game at 2-2 as he drove in Chisolm.
The Knights broke the game open later in the frame, putting across four runs in the sixth and two more in the seventh. Diamond came into the game as a pinch hitter with two outs in the ninth, hitting a single down the right-field line to score Jorge.
On Deck
Murray State looks to even the series tomorrow. First pitch is scheduled for 5 p.m. Central in Orlando, Fla. The game will be streamed live on ESPN+.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Smith, Braden (2-1)
L: Schutte, Nic (3-1)
S: Gray, Mateo (1)
Batting:
HR: Jorge, Kainen 1
RBI: Diamond, Jaxon 1 ; Pena, Daylan 1 ; Jorge, Kainen 1
SF: Pena, Daylan 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Chisolm, Connor 1 ; Jorge, Kainen 2
SB: Mistone, Luke 1 ; Hokenson, Kristofer 1
Batting:
2B: Williamson, Andrew 1 ; Lodise, Jordan 1 ; Smith III, John 1
RBI: Ross, DeAmez 1 ; Jacobs, Austin 1 ; Lodise, Jordan 1 ; Skinner, Zak 1 ; Smith III, John 1
SH: Gaskin, Cayden 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Williamson, Andrew 1 ; Ross, DeAmez 1 ; Jacobs, Austin 1 ; Lodise, Jordan 3 ; Moran, Landon 2
SB: Jacobs, Austin 1 ; Lodise, Jordan 1
HBP: Jacobs, Austin 1
