Story by Keith Jaco
Staff writer
Murray State Racer baseball used a six-run bottom of the eighth to earn its sixth win of the season over Kentucky State 12-8.
With a solid threat from Kentucky State’s offense, Head Coach Dan Skirka was happy to see his team rebound with late game heroics.
“We finally started to execute some things there at the end,” Skirka said. “[Kentucky’s State’s] a good club. You can’t take anything away from their offense. We made some pitches and they banged out 16 hits tonight. We got things going putting some pressure on them on the bases with our speed, so that was good to see.”
Murray State struck blood first in the bottom of the third as redshirt freshman first baseman Wes Schad brought home redshirt sophomore Jake Slunder on a one-out single.
Senior shortstop Jaron Robinson added to the Racers’ lead with a sacrifice fly to deep left, scoring junior right fielder Brock Anderson.
Freshman third baseman Josh Graves got two runs back for the Thorobreds in the top half of the fourth, belting a two-run home run to left field, tying the game at 2 apiece.
The Racers retook the lead 4-2 in the bottom of the fourth as Anderson doubled down the right field line, scoring Slunder and senior center fielder Tyler Duke.
Murray State went to its fourth pitcher of the day to start the fifth inning and Kentucky State took advantage. The Thorobreds used a five-run top of the fifth to take a 7-4 lead into the bottom half of the inning.
Senior catcher Joe McMahon got one run back for the Racers in the home half of the fifth, doubling down the right field line to score junior second baseman Jordan Cozart, cutting the Kentucky State lead to two.
Senior right fielder Jay Poullard grounded into a fielder’s choice in the top of the sixth, giving Kentucky State an 8-5 lead.
Murray State went on to answer in the bottom of the seventh, scoring one run on a double by Cozart as the Racers trailed the Thorobreds 8-6 at the end of seven innings.
Following a scoreless top half of the eighth, Murray State took advantage of multiple miscues by Kentucky State, scoring six runs on five hits and one error.
Despite two two-out hits and one walk, Murray State escaped the ninth inning unscathed to secure a 12-8 victory over Kentucky State.
Cozart and Schad led the way for Murray State against the Thorobreds, each going 2-5 with three RBI’s.
Skirka was pleased to see continued success from his first baseman Schad.
“Wes is a great kid and great worker,” Skirka said. “There’s going to be a learning curve there with him being a freshman. The tools are there, the talent’s there, he’s just been a little up and down for us. Today he was up so hopefully we can keep him up and ride it but he’s just got to get a little more consistent. The kid’s got uber talent.”
Murray State will host a three-game series against Eastern Illinois starting at 3 p.m. on Friday, March 15, at Reagan Field.
