Simon Elfrink
Staff Writer
Murray State baseball finished the third week of the 2020 season with a three-game sweep against Bowling Green University at Reagan Field, pushing the Racers to 7-5 overall.
Game 1:
Senior right-hander Trevor McMurray got the start on the hill for the first game on Friday, Feb. 28. The veteran starter plagued the Falcons with six innings of zeroes on the scoreboard.
However, in the top of the seventh McMurray walked a batter, allowed a hit and walked an additional batter to work himself into a jam. With two outs and the bases loaded, McMurray threw his 104th pitch to get a timely fly ball to shallow center field. He exited the game with five strikeouts, five walks and three hits.
Head Coach Dan Skirka was glad to see McMurray continue to set the tone for the Racers’ pitching.
“Can’t say enough about him,” Skirka said. “He’s locked in right now. We’re playing some good defense behind him and he’s attacking hitters.”
A two-out rally in the first inning got the Racers on the board early with a walk, a passed ball and a single to left off the bat of senior second baseman Jordan Cozart. The Racers spent the next several innings trying to get something going against the Falcons’ starter junior right-handed Andrew Abrahamowicz.
The Racers got a jumpstart in the bottom of the fifth when redshirt junior center fielder Jake Slunder hit a solo shot to dead center. Senior outfielder Ryan Perkins singled before Cozart doubled. An error and a hit off the bat of junior first baseman Trey Woosley made it 4-0 Racers before the Falcons reliever could put away the last out of the inning.
Redshirt junior right-hander Brayden Cook took the mound for the Racers in the top of the eighth with a 4-0 lead. The Falcons went down quietly in the eighth, but Cook had some trouble in the ninth, issuing a pair of walks and putting runners on first and second with two outs. However, a 1-3 ground ball put the game away in favor of the Racers.
Despite the slow middle portion offensively, Skirka was pleased overall with his hitters after the first game of the series.
“We had some good swings off their guy, then he kind of made an adjustment and settled in,” Skirka said. “You never like to see too many zeroes on our end, but we came back [and] got into their bullpen. You always want to get into the bullpen Friday early, and hopefully that sets you up for a good series.”
Game 2:
Sophomore left-hander Shane Burns started for the Racers on Saturday, Feb. 29, for Leap Day baseball.
In the third inning, the Falcons put a runner on second after a fielding error and advanced to third on a sacrifice bunt. A hit-by-pitch and a walk later, Burns found himself in a jam with the bases loaded and two outs. However, Burns threw a much-needed strikeout to end the inning.
Burns remained on the mound until the sixth inning when he allowed a walk and a hit after striking out two batters. He struck out six during his time on the mound, walking four and allowing a pair of hits.
Senior right-hander Justin Thomas was charged with finishing the inning. A weak ground ball sent the game to the bottom of the sixth, still 0-0.
The first run of the day came for the Racers after redshirt junior infielder Jordan Holly drove a runner in from first on a double in the left field gap.
The next inning, the Falcons took the opportunity to push their first run of the series across the plate after a single, a fielder’s choice and another single.
Junior right-hander Jake Jones took the mound for the Racers in the top of the eighth inning with the score still tied 1-1.
The Racers went into the bottom of the ninth looking to bring the second game of the series home. A two-out rally in the form of a hit and a hit-by-pitch put runners on first and second and brought junior catcher Alex Crump to the plate. Crump loaded the bases with a walk, putting Holly back in the driver’s seat. Holly rose to the occasion and delivered a full-count RBI to shallow left center field, driving in the winning run.
After hitting both RBIs for the Racers, Holly said anticipation and patience were key to the walk-off victory.
“[I] just tried not to do too much,” Holly said. “Just needed one run, and he was struggling with commands. The only thing that I knew [was that] I was getting a fastball, so it was ‘don’t be late on it, don’t get beat by a fastball when you know it’s coming.’ It’s nice to know what’s coming, and 3-2 we knew he was going to throw a fastball.”
Game 3:
The Racers took the field on Sunday, March 1, looking for a three-game sweep. A jumpstarted offensive effort helped them do just that, and the Racers took the last game of the series 25-5.
Right-handed graduate student Sam Gardner started on the mound for the Racers.
The Racers got on the board early after a pair of walks set junior infielder Bryson Bloomer up for an RBI-double. With two outs and runners at second and third, senior outfielder Brock Anderson tore it open for the Racers with a three-run shot to right-center field for his fifth home run of the year.
The second inning put runners on second and third once more for the Racers. Cozart stayed hot and drove in both runs with a double. Perkins followed up three pitches later, taking the Falcons’ pitcher dead center for his fourth home run of the year.
The Racers prepared to push the game to blowout territory in the third inning when a pair of hits and a walk loaded the bases for Slunder, who singled to bring in one run. Cozart followed up with a deep single, driving in another couple of Racers and making the score 11-0. By the end of the third inning, the Racers were up16-0.
Cozart was taken out of the game after some contact between him and a baserunner in the fourth inning. Junior infielder David Huddleson came in to replace him.
Gardner allowed his first run in the fourth inning, but was able to stop the Falcons’ rally there. Gardner came out after the fifth inning, striking out four and walking one. Senior right-hander Alec Whaley came in to pitch in the sixth for his first innings of the 2020 season. Whaley worked himself into a tough spot after a throwing error and a pair of walks loaded the bases with only one out. A fielder’s choice allowed one run across, but that was the extent of the scoring for the Falcons in the sixth.
Junior righty Carter Poiry started on the mound in the seventh inning. Poiry got one runner out but walked the bases loaded before surrendering the mound to redshirt senior lefty Jase Carvell. Carvell allowed back-to-back doubles before walking another batter to load the bases again. Carvell threw back-to-back strikeouts to get himself out of the inning, but the Falcons succeeded in sneaking three runs across the plate.
Freshman righty Ryan Fender pitched in the eighth for the Racers, and junior right-hander Connor Holden closed out the game in the ninth inning.
Nonstop scoring helped the Racers ramp up the final score all the way to 25-5 for the last game of the series.
After seeing streaky hitting from several of his players, Skirka was happy to see his whole team come together for an overwhelming offensive effort in the series finale.
“Seven innings of not just scoring a run but scoring multiple runs with almost everybody contributing, obviously [we’re] happy with that,” Skirka said. “We told them to just keep working and it’ll come, and it was a good day to hit.”
The Racers will travel to Lexington, Kentucky, to play a showcase against UK at 3 p.m. on Wednesday, March 4.
