Simon Elfrink
Staff Writer
Murray State baseball took a four-game sweep against St. Peter’s University in the first home series of the 2020 season.
Game 1:
The Racers started out strong in the first game against the Peacocks, earning a landslide victory in the form of a 12-0 shutout on Friday, Feb. 21.
Racer bats were hotter than ever with five individuals getting multiple hits. Redshirt junior outfielder Jake Slunder had three hits. Senior outfielder Ryan Perkins stayed hot at the plate, grabbing a pair of hits and driving in three runs. Redshirt junior second baseman Jordan Holly drove in four runs on two hits. Junior catcher Tanner Booth reached base four times with two hits and two base-on-balls. Booth also picked up an RBI in the process.
Head Coach Dan Skirka was pleased with the outstanding offense of his team in the series opener.
“Total team effort,” Skirka said. “All nine starters had either an RBI or a run scored, so anytime you have that you’re going to have success with everybody contributing.”
Racer pitching also set the pace in the first outing at Reagan Field. Senior Trevor McMurray was dominant on the mound, allowing only four hits through seven shutout innings. McMurray struck out five batters and walked one.
Redshirt senior Jase Carvell also took an inning on the mound, allowing a single hit and striking out a pair of batters. Freshman Jordyn Naranjo got his college debut in the ninth inning, striking out and walking one batter apiece and allowing no hits to end the game.
Skirka was impressed with his pitching staff on Friday, especially McMurray’s start at the home opener.
“I told pitchers after the game, ‘If you want to learn how to pitch, there it is,’” Skirka said. “[He] just attacked. Mixed his pitches and let our defense play. We got a really good outfield and we got a good infield. He let them work for him and was a bulldog.”
Games 2 & 3:
The Racers geared up on Saturday, Feb. 22, for a pair of seven-inning games against the Peacocks. The Racers took the first game by another wide margin, stacking up 15 hits and winning 11-1.
Three of those runs came off the bat of senior catcher Bryan Chilton, who went 2-2 with a pair of singles and two walks. Perkins stayed hot at the plate, going 2-3 and hitting a two-run blast in the bottom of the fifth inning. Redshirt sophomore first baseman Wes Shad had a breakout game, going 3-4 at the plate with three singles. Shad also crossed the plate twice for the Racers.
Sophomore Shane Burns took the mound for the Racers in the first game. The left-hander went five innings, walking five batters but allowing only a single run on two hits and eight strikeouts.
Junior right-hander Carter Piory came in for the final two innings of play, allowing one hit and striking out a pair of batters.
Graduate student Sam Gardner got the start on the hill for the second outing of the day for the Racers. Gardner went five innings deep, striking out five and walking two. The Peacocks scraped together three hits against Gardner but did not score while he was on the mound.
Junior righty Jake Jones took over on the mound in the sixth, allowing a leadoff home run. A pair of hits allowed the Peacocks to push another runner across home plate. A sacrifice fly drove in an additional run. Jones faced a jam with two outs in the top of the sixth with runners on second and third, but a timely strikeout left the damage at three runs.
The Racers wasted no time offensively, putting up seven runs in the first inning, three of which came off one great swing from Perkins, who hit his second homer of the day with two men on. Senior outfielder Brock Anderson had a pair of hits in the first inning: a single to lead off and an RBI double his second time around. Anderson struck again in the third inning, hitting a solo home run.
The final score of the second game of the day was 10-3 Racers.
Game 4:
On Sunday, Feb. 23, the Racers took on the Peacocks for a final time to pick up the four-game sweep, winning 13-3.
Freshman right-hander Ryan Fender got his first start on the hill, throwing two scoreless innings before allowing three earned runs in the top of the third inning. He struck out four batters during his time on the mound.
Senior right-hander Justin Thomas came in to take over the third inning with two outs and runners on first and second. A timely ground ball ended the inning and sent the Racers into the bottom of the third down3-2.
The Racers’ offense started out strong in the first, tallying two runs from base hit RBIs from senior infielder Jordan Cozart and junior infielder Bryson Bloomer. The Racers didn’t rally again until the bottom of the fifth inning, when three consecutive singles loaded the bases with the top of the lineup due to bat. A throwing error by the Peacocks first baseman allowed two additional runs to score.
With the Racers up 4-3 and runners at second and third, Cozart delivered again with an RBI sacrifice fly to center field. Perkins followed up immediately afterward, singling to right field on the first pitch of the at-bat and making it 6-3 Racers. Perkins then stole second base, giving junior first baseman Skylar McPhee the opportunity to drive him in with a double down the right field line. Shad extended the scoring of the fifth inning with an RBI triple.
Junior right-hander Connor Holden claimed the mound in the top of the sixth after the Peacocks placed runners on first and second after an error and a walk. Holden shut the rally down with a ground ball and a pair of strikeouts.
Back-to-back homers off the bats of Anderson and Cozart in the bottom of the sixth pushed the lead to 11-3. Anderson came back to hit an additional home run in the eighth inning.
Anderson admitted the key to his success over the weekend was loosening up at the plate and not trying to do too much.
“I just relaxed a little bit,” Anderson said. “Took a deep breath at the plate and just tried to barrel the ball every at bat.”
Redshirt senior left-hander Jase Carvell started on the hill in the ninth inning to finish the game with a pair of strikeouts and a flyout. The final score was 13-3.
After outscoring the Peacocks 46-7, Skirka was pleased with the consistent excellence of his hitters.
“You always want to build a little bit of momentum,” Skirka said. “College baseball is funny because there’s so many off days and in between days, but it’s good to put up some runs and give the guys some confidence.”
The Racers look to ride this momentum and stay strong at Reagan Field at 3 p.m. on Tuesday, Feb. 25, against the Southern Illinois University Salukis.
