Murray State Drops First Conference Games in Series Loss to Belmont

Friday, April 3

Murray, Ky.

1 p.m.

Murray State

20-11, 7-1

Belmont

11-20, 3-5

Belmont

Murray St.

Murray State Drops First Conference Games in Series Loss to Belmont

4/3/2026 8:24:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score 1 Box Score 2

By: Sam Rhodes

MURRAY, Ky. - Murray State dropped both games of Friday's doubleheader against Belmont, marking its first two Missouri Valley Conference losses of the season and a series defeat.

"Obviously today didn't go our way, and I know the guys are disappointed," head coach Dan Skirka said. "We were right there, especially in game two of that doubleheader. A couple bounces went their way and we were on the barrel a couple times, we couldn't get a big knock."

In the opener, Belmont (12-20, 3-5 MVC) posted a dominant 12-1 victory. Jacob Hustedde took the loss for Murray State (20-12, 7-2 MVC), allowing a career-high eight runs, seven earned, the most in a single outing of his collegiate career. Joshua Fleming provided a bright spot for the Racer pitching staff, tossing 1.2 shutout innings while allowing just one hit. Tyler Butina accounted for Murray State's only run with a solo home run to right field, his second of the season.

The Bruins clinched the series in the nightcap, defeating the Racers 9-5.

Belmont built early momentum with four runs in the first two innings, but the Racers responded in the bottom of the second. Kristofer Hokenson tied the game at 4-4 with his sixth home run of the year.

Belmont reclaimed the lead for good in the sixth inning with a two-run homer and extended the advantage to three with a run in the seventh. Kainen Jorge cut into the lead with a sacrifice fly in the eighth, but the Bruins added two insurance runs in the ninth to seal the win.

Despite the losses, Skirka remains optimistic about the team's conference standing.

"After three conference weekends, we've put ourselves in a pretty good spot," Skirka said. "So, we're going to take advantage of the next two days off. We've been traveling a lot, the guys are pretty beat up, pretty tired, so a couple days of recovery will be great and get right back to work on Monday."

The Racers return to the road Tuesday, April 7, for an in-state midweek matchup against Bellarmine in Louisville. First pitch is scheduled for 2 p.m.