Simon Elfrink
Sports Editor
After a three-game sweep against EKU over Alumni Weekend, Murray State baseball took a solitary loss against Southern Illinois University on Tuesday, April 27.
Head Coach Dan Skirka put redshirt junior right-hander Quinton Kujawa on the mound to start the game. Kujawa had only pitched 8.1 innings in the season up until Tuesday’s game, having come out of the bullpen for most of the spring. Kujawa spent over half of his season’s innings in a win against Bellarmine on Tuesday, April 20. Against the Knights, Kujawa went 4.2 innings and allowed three runs on three hits and four walks. However, only two runs were earned, and Kujawa struck out four batters in his time.
Kujawa put together a solid start against one of the best teams in the region on Tuesday. SIU has had success all season, boasting a 26-12 record coming into their game against Murray State.
Both teams struggled to get anything going offensively as the pitchers dominated the game. It wasn’t until there were two outs in the bottom of the fourth inning that Kujawa ran into some trouble. SIU’s sophomore outfielder Tristan Peters doubled to left-center field and was promptly driven in the at-bat later when sophomore outfielder Vinni Masssaglia chipped a single to left field to give the Salukis a 1-0 lead.
Freshman infielder Riley Hawthorne led off in the fifth inning, getting his first career hit with a single to center field. Redshirt junior infielder Jordan Holly hit an infield single to shortstop, putting runners at second and third for senior Jordan Cozart, who was the designated hitter in the Racers’ lineup in the game against the Salukis. Cozart got the first of his two hits on the night in the fifth, scoring Hawthorne from second base. Redshirt sophomore outfielder Brennan McCullough helped the Racers chalk up another run with a double to center, scoring Holly to give the Racers a 3-1 lead.
The Racers stranded Cozart and McCullough, and the Salukis looked to snuff out the Racers’ momentum and retake the lead. They closed the lead to a single run in the bottom of the fifth inning when senior infielder Ian Walters hit an RBI single to left field.
The score hung there all the way until the top of the eighth, when Holly hit an infield single to the third baseman to score another run, giving the Racers a 4-2 lead.
With their backs against the wall, the Salukis found themselves down to their last five outs when Walters hammered a ball over the left-field fence to bring the score to 4-3. Junior outfielder J.T. Weber followed up with a triple down the right-field line to put the tying run on third base for senior infielder Nick Neville. Neville went beyond the tie and gave SIU the lead with a two-run long ball to right field.
The Racers never recovered offensively, and the Salukis walked away with a 5-4 comeback victory over the Racers.
Kujawa went six innings on the mound, allowing a pair of runs on four hits and striking out four batters.
Murray State’s overall record fell to 21-17 with the loss, but the Racers look to get back to winning again on Friday, April 30-Sunday, May 2, when they take on Morehead State for a four-game conference series.
