Simon Elfrink
Sports Editor
In Murray State baseball’s first opening series of the 2021 season, the Racers took three of the four games against Purdue University Fort Wayne.
The two teams faced off for the first of two double headers on Friday, Feb. 26, at Johnny Reagan Field.
Game One
Graduate right-hander Sam Gardner got the start on the mound for the Racers in game one, going three innings and allowing four runs, three of which were earned, to cross the plate on four hits. The rest of the Racers’ arms fared similarly as the Mastodons strung runs together throughout the first game of the series.
Down 6-0 in the fifth inning, the Racers got something going when the Mastodons’ pitcher, junior left-hander Justin Miller, walked the bases loaded with only one out. After a pitching change, the Mastodons traded an out for a run when senior infielder Bryson Bloomer drove a run in by hitting into a fielder’s choice.
The Racers traded blows with the Mastodons in the sixth, loading the bases once more with an error forced by senior outfielder Brock Anderson, a single off the bat of senior designated hitter Tanner Booth and a walk drawn by redshirt junior outfielder Wes Schad. While pitching to the next Racer, senior catcher Alex Crump, sophomore right-handed pitcher Gerald Pintarich balked on the mound, moving each runner up by a base and giving the Racers a run, making the score 7-2. Crump hit a sacrifice fly to left field, allowing another Racer to cross the plate and cutting the deficit to four runs.
Bloomer, who had delivered for the Racers earlier in the week against Middle Tennessee with four hits, four runs and four RBIs against the Blue Raiders, continued to swing a hot bat in the seventh inning when he drove one over the left field wall for his first home run of the season. Booth followed up an inning later by leading off the eighth with his first of the year, closing the gap to two runs. The Racers tacked on another run in the eighth when redshirt senior outfielder Jake Slunder singled to center field and scored Crump, who had doubled down the left field line a couple of at-bats before.
The Racers were looking to ride their offensive momentum to a climactic finish, down just 7-6 going into the top of the ninth inning. However, the momentum was killed by a 3-run inning from the Mastodons, who retired the heart of Murray State’s lineup with three straight outs to end the game at 10-6.
Game Two
Freshman righty Jack Wenninger owned the bump for the Racers in the second game against the Mastodons, sending a message with a dominant collegiate debut. Wenninger pitched five innings and allowed only a single run on two hits, striking out seven batters in the process and walking none. Senior right-hander Jake Jones came in for the Racers in the sixth, allowing two hits and a walk but striking out three batters to finish the inning unscathed on the scoreboard.
The Racers wasted no time getting to work from the plate. Senior outfielder Ryan Perkins doubled down the left field line with two outs in the first, only to swap places with senior second baseman Jordan Cozart, who doubled to right field to give the Racers a 1-0 lead.
Wenninger’s only earned run came in the top of the second, when the Mastodons pushed one across the plate via a sacrifice fly to center field. Head Coach Dan Skirka was thrilled to see another one of his underclassmen come out and deliver for the Racers in his first start.
“[He] did a great job, really did a great job,” Skirka said. “This week we had Jordyn Noranjo at Middle Tennessee [get] his first win, and then Jack Winnenger got his first win so [I’m] proud of the young bucks. They put the work in and prepared and went out and performed so [that’s] awesome.”
Both teams were quiet until the fourth, when Cozart led off with a single up the middle. Anderson followed him with a single of his own, allowing Cozart to go from first to third on the play. Anderson took an opportunity to steal second base an at-bat later, but the next two Racers struck out, setting the stage for senior first baseman Trey Woosley to do some damage with two men in scoring position. Woosley delivered with a single to left field, driving home both Cozart and Anderson. Woosley then stole second base, giving senior infielder David Huddleson the opportunity to keep things rolling with a single through the left side of the infield and scoring Woosley.
The Racers were still leading 4-1 in the bottom of the fifth when Cozart hit a two-run shot to left center field. The Racers got the next two men on via a hit by pitch and a single. Redshirt sophomore infielder Jacob Pennington punched one to left field, driving a run in with a single to give the Racers a 7-1 lead. Junior outfielder Brennan McCullough kept the ball rolling with a sacrifice fly to center, and Bloomer added an RBI single to push the lead to eight runs going into the sixth inning.
Racer freshman right-hander Adam Weihe took the mound in the seventh and had a hard time with the Mastodons, allowing four runs in the final inning of play. Still, the Racers’ offense gave the pitching all the insurance they needed, and despite the powerful last-minute push from the Mastodons, the Racers pulled out a 9-5 victory, splitting the day with Purdue Fort Wayne.
Game Three
On Saturday, Feb. 27, Sophomore left-hander Shane Burns claimed the hill for the Racers to start the second day of play at Reagan Field, but the Mastodons didn’t waste any time getting baserunners on in the third game of play. A leadoff single from junior infielder Aaron Chapman followed by a passed ball got a man on second base with no outs in the top of the first. A strikeout and a flyout later, Burns was one out away from getting out of a tight spot when he allowed an RBI single off the bat of redshirt junior outfielder Justin Greene.
Slunder singled in the bottom of the first to set up the answer to the Mastodons’ first inning offense. Cozart delivered once again with a two-run homer to left field, giving Murray State a 2-1 lead in the first inning.
Both teams left the scoreboard untouched until the fourth inning when the Mastodons got a run across on a trio of singles before Chapman drove two more in with a double down the right field line. An out later, the Racers’ coaching staff elected to pull Burns and put Pennington in the driver’s seat. Pennington would hold the Mastodons at four runs for the remainder of the game.
Head Coach Dan Skirka mentioned that despite one of his most dependable starter’s lackluster outings, he has no fear that Burns and the other starters will definitely come around. On the flipside, Skirka was pleased but not surprised with the way players like Pennington handled themselves out of the bullpen.
“On the mound, [we] got some really good performances from Jacob Pennington and Alec Whaley,” Skirka said. “[They] were phenomenal coming out of the bullpen.”
The Racers were able to tie the game up at four after some ugly defense by the Mastodons in the bottom of the sixth. The game then went on a three-inning stalemate with neither team able to get ahead. In the bottom of the ninth, the Racers set themselves up for a dramatic finish with a pinch-hit single by Woosley, followed by a walk from Huddleson. Slunder then put a flare into shallow right field, giving Woosley a chance to break for home. A bobble by the right fielder and a throw up the line later, and the Racers walked off with a game three victory (5-4).
Game Four
Just like in the third game of the series, Murray State’s starter sophomore righty Ryan Fender didn’t stay on the hill for long. Alec Whaley came in with only one out in the second inning and went on the pitch 4.2 innings. Before he was pulled, Fender walked a pair of batters and allowed a key single that allowed the Mastodons to push a tally on the scoreboard. Purdue Fort Wayne struck again on a wild pitch, getting an early 2-0 lead over the Racers.
The score remained as such until the bottom of the fourth when Woosley stepped up to the plate and slapped an RBI single to left field. Later in the inning, Huddleson drove in another pair of runs with a double, giving the Racers their first lead of the game.
The Racers looked to senior right-hander Connor Holden to close out the game, which he did, earning the save and holding the score at 3-2 in favor of the Racers.
Skirka was happy to have come away with the series win in the home opener.
“We had multiple guys step up and do some things for us offensively and defensively,” Skirka said. “Trey Woosley played great on both sides of the ball, David Huddleson had the big two-out RBI and then obviously Slunder had the game-winning hit [in game three]. Cozart was really good for us all weekend. [It’s] just good to see a lot of different guys contribute.
Despite the trend in a more productive game offensively since the first game of the season, Skirka said the thing his lineup is missing the most is consistency.
“We still haven’t hit our stride, and it’s still early,” Skirka said. “Once we can kind of get clicking and get more consistent…I like our offense. We got a lot of old guys, [and] we knew that was going to be one of our strengths. And we’ve just got to get to work and get some of the guys going.”
The Racers will gear up next to play a solitary game against Arkansas State University on Tuesday, March 2, before remaining in Arkansas for a four-game series against the University of Arkansas from Friday, March 5, to Sunday, March 7.
