Losses piled up for the Racers during their OVC bye week as the offense and pitching both hit a slump.

A three-game series against Samford (17-17) kicked off a set of nine straight road games for the Racers (14-24, 9-6) as they were outscored 41-11 over the three games.

In the first game on Friday, Samford players hit six homeruns en route to a 17-2 win. Centerfielder Pokey Harris drove in the Racers only two runs with a double in the seventh inning.

During the second game, the Racers took an early lead 3-1 after three and a half innings but committed three errors on the game. Each error eventually resulted in runs for Samford who won 10-3.

Game three, won by Samford 14-6, was about timely hitting as Samford hit 6-17 with runners in scoring position (RISP) and the Racers were only able to manage 3-19 RISP.

Struggles continued for the Racer offense on Tuesday as they lost 6-3 in Nashville, Tenn., to Lipscomb (21-13). They never had a lead despite outhitting Lipscomb 10-8.

Wednesday night marked the end of the OVC bye week for the Racers as they played Western Kentucky (18-16) and lost 5-4.

The Racers will return to OVC action at 6 p.m. Friday night at Tennessee Tech (15-19, 8-10). Senior Brock Downey will get the start on the mound for the Racers as they try to end the six-game losing streak.

Story by Blake Bernier, Staff writer