The Murray State baseball had their opening series this past weekend against the Mastodons of Purdue Fort Wayne, and it went exactly how the Racers hoped it would.

The Racers outscored the Mastodons 33-5 over the course of the three games, and it was due in no small part to the long ball. Five home runs were hit in the first two games on Sunday, and they accounted for eight of the team’s runs. If the Racers offense can play like this throughout the season, they can continue the result they got this weekend.

Game 1

The Racers took the first game of the three-game in commanding fashion, winning 11-1.

They started off the game scoring six unanswered runs, with three of those being in just the first inning. On top of that, the first and only run that the Racers allowed wasn’t until the sixth inning, as the pitching was one of the biggest factors in the win.

Senior starting pitcher Cade Vernon got the win in the very first game of the season, pitching the first 5.1 innings and racking up seven strikeouts. He also only allowed one hit and the only run of the game.

On the offensive side, redshirt junior shortstop Drew Vogel and graduate student first baseman Taylor Howell provided a lot of the team’s offense. Both had three runs batted in apiece, and Vogel had a solo home run in the fourth inning. Junior third baseman Carson Garner also finished with a home run and two RBIs.

Game 2

The second game of the three-game series against the Mastodons had a very similar outcome to the first, except this time, the Racers won with a score of 17-2.

The offense was the star of this game, as the Racers had two players with four RBI’s each, those being Garner and redshirt junior outfielder Dan Tauken. Two home runs were also hit in the game: a solo shot by Howell in the second and a three-run homer by Garner in the third.

The Racers scored 14 unanswered runs to start the game, with 12 of them coming in just the first three innings. 

As for the pitching, senior Bryce Valero got the start and the win, as he pitched the first five innings and racked up six strikeouts while only allowing one hit and no runs. 

Game 3

The third and final game of the three-game series had the same outcome of the first two, but was closer this time, as the Racers won 5-2.

Pitching was the story of this game, as neither team scored after the third inning. Graduate student Ryan Fender got the start and pitched the first 3.2 innings, racking up seven strikeouts, but he also allowed two runs. 

Graduate student Allen Roulette relieved Fender and pitched the last 5.1 innings, and it was his pitching that got the Racers the win. Even though Roulette pitched the majority of the game, he only allowed one hit on his way to six strikeouts.

As for the offense, Howell and Tauken batted in four of the team’s five runs. The other RBI belonged to redshirt senior catcher Ethan Krizen, who got a sacrifice fly in the third inning that extended the team’s lead to three.

What’s Next

The Racers will look to continue their win streak in their first road game of the season on Wednesday. They will be up against the Southeast Missouri State Redhawks at 3 p.m. in Cape Girardeau.