Story by Mark McFarland, Sports Editor

Baseball is a game that many young kids dreamed of playing professionally when they grew up. Playing Wiffle Ball with friends and Little League for competition, a variation of the sport has always been available for kids to play.  Murray State’s Head Coach Kevin Moulder was no different. He grew up in St. Louis, a baseball-loving city, with a dad who shared his love for the game. Baseball was always there for him and he was hooked on playing.

Every job Moulder had except for one was baseball related. He said he can’t remember a time he hasn’t loved the game.

“I don’t remember not loving baseball,” Moulder said. “I just kind of grew up around it.”

Moulder said baseball was his dad’s favorite sport and he grew up having his dad coach his Little League team.

After helping out with the junior college team, he was hired by St. Louis University as an assistant coach. The Bilikens hired Moulder in 2007, where he was an assistant head coach and the recruiting coordinator for the program. Moulder said he was always a fan of St. Louis and was happy he was able to spend some of his coaching career there. Moulder also said his dad played basketball for the Bilikens and his mom graduated from St. Louis.

“I have a tight family history with them,” Moulder said. “It was neat to be a part of that. It was a good time.”

Moulder coached for St. Louis until 2014 when he was hired to coach his alma mater Murray State starting in the 2015 season. Moulder said he was really excited when he got the call from Murray State.

“I was excited because  Murray State is a really special place to me,” Moulder said. “And then to put in a lot of hard work to finally get an opportunity to be a head coach was an exciting moment for me.”

Earlier this month, Murray State traveled to St. Louis to play the Bilikens. It was the first time Moulder had gone back to face his old team.

Murray State beat St. Louis 9-1. Moulder said it was a fun time. Many of the players are from St. Louis or the surrounding areas, so Murray State had a good crowd.

“It was a neat night for me, and it was a good night for our team,” Moulder said. “We played really well, and it really isn’t about me that night. It was great, I enjoyed it and everything, but I’m happy that our team played so well.”

Moulder said it was good for the guys to have a big crowd at the game as he said the attendees of the game were about 75 percent Murray State fans.

Moulder is in the second year of his contract, which expires June 30 of this year.

The Racers are in sixth place in the OVC and are 21-21 overall on the season.