Murray State University Athletics
Murray State
Drake
Racers Travel to Des Moines for Final Regular Season Test
4/30/2026 10:34:00 AM | Softball
MSU to Face Drake in MVC Series
Dates (Times): Friday, May 1 (2:30 and 5 p.m. CDT), Saturday, May 2 (1 p.m. CDT)
Opponent: Drake Bulldogs
Location (Venue): Des Moines, Iowa (Buel Field)
Streaming: ESPN+
Live Stats: GoRacers.com
The Murray State Racers (23-21, 14-9 MVC) are set to wrap up the 2026 regular season with a road Missouri Valley Conference series against the Drake Bulldogs (13-35, 7-18 MVC).
Winners of four straight, the Racers are third in the MVC standings after sweeping Illinois State last weekend. Drake is 11th in the conference, having recently claimed its first MVC series win of the season over Valparaiso on April 18-19. Following the series, the top six teams in the MVC standings will compete in a double-elimination MVC Softball Championship in Carbondale, Illinois, from May 6-9.
The Murray State bats came alive in a sweep of Illinois State, with six Racers combining to homer eight times on the weekend. After a weekend that saw her put up three RBI and the first double of her career, Reagan Towns was named the MVC Freshman of the Week on April 28. Kenley Minor extended her total to eight home runs on the season to lead the team. The sophomore adds a team-high 30 RBI and is batting .282. Kynadee Warner continues to lead the team with a .349 batting average and 52 hits, while freshman catcher Allie Waldron also remains a consistent threat at the plate, batting .326 with 23 RBI and 13 extra-base hits while leading the team with 22 walks.
As a team, the Racers are sixth in the MVC with a .281 batting average and have tallied 31 home runs, the most since the 2022 season, when the Racers hit 42 home runs on their way to a 40-win season that saw them win the OVC Championship and appear in the Tuscaloosa, Alabama, regional.
The Murray State pitching staff is third in the MVC with a 3.65 combined ERA. Senior Bre Haislip (10-8) features a team-low 2.90 ERA and leads the team with 79 strikeouts and 125 2/3 innings pitched. Karlye Graber (7-5) features a 3.29 ERA and 51 strikeouts across 82 2/3 innings pitched, second most on the team, and Raylee Roby (5-2) has a 3.29 ERA across 22 appearances and 51 innings pitched.
Scouting the Bulldogs
Murray State holds a 5-4 lead in the all-time series between the new MVC rivals. In 2025, the Bulldogs won a first-round matchup in the MVC tournament between the two teams, 8-2. Third-year head coach Lindsay Diehl and the Bulldogs are at the bottom of the MVC standings following a series loss to Indiana State and dropping a midweek matchup against Iowa State, 7-3. In 2024, the Bulldogs eliminated the Racers before falling to the No. 1-seeded SIU Salukis in the MVC quarterfinals, 12-4. The Bulldogs are 10th in the MVC with a .267 batting average, as Ava Husak leads the team with a .333 batting average and .606 slugging percentage. Kiley Kindelspire leads the team with 48 hits, 27 RBI, and 10 doubles, while Pearson Hall and Natalee Watts lead the way with seven home runs each. The Drake pitching staff has a combined 5.86 ERA, ninth-best in the MVC. Jayme Scheck (5-7) features a team-low 4.20 ERA with 39 strikeouts, while Peyton Driscoll (2-15) leads the team with 44 strikeouts across a team-high 96 1/3 innings and features a 6.25 ERA.
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