Simon Elfrink
Editor-in-Chief
Murray State baseball tied the season series with Belmont on Wednesday, May 5, at Johnny Reagan Field by walking the game off in the 12th inning.
While the Bruins took two of the three games in a weekend series on April 17-18, the Racers were able to equalize the slate with a 4-3 climactic win.
Hitting was weak for both teams as both the Bruins and the Racers only had eight hits apiece. However, the Bruins committed five errors, one of which allowed the Racers to tie the game in the bottom of the ninth to send the game into extra innings.
The Racers scored first dramatically when senior right fielder Brock Anderson homered to right field for his 14th big fly of the season.
The score hung there until the top of the third inning, when an RBI single by Brodey Heaton tied the game at 1-1.
The Racers answered in the bottom of the third when redshirt junior infielder Jordan Holly hit an infield single. Holly started at second base, with the Racers’ usual second baseman, Jordan Cozart, serving as the designated hitter. Redshirt junior David Hudleson, who played shortstop against Belmont, followed Hudleson with a walk. Redshirt junior center fielder Jake Slunder, gave the Racers the lead with an RBI-double down the right field line.
The Racers’ 2-1 lead lasted all the way until the seventh inning, when sophomore outfielder John Behrends hit an RBI single to left field, tying the game.
Another shallow single with a runner at third in the top of the eighth gave Belmont their first lead of the game, and with three outs away from a loss, the Racers were desperate for baserunners.
With one out in the bottom of the ninth, redshirt junior first baseman Trey Woosely reached first base on an error. The next at-bat, Hudleson also found his way on with an error. The Bruins’ third baseman threw the ball away on a ground ball, and Hudleson made his way to second as freshman Riley Hawthorne, who pinch-ran for Woosley, scored.
Tied at 3-3, the game went into extra innings. Both teams’ bullpens came in and dominated on the mound, locking down the offense all the way until the bottom of the 12th. Senior outfielder Ryan Perkins has been struggling at the plate recently and sported a meager .208 average going into the game, led off with a walk. After a failed pickoff attempt that allowed Perkins to get all the way to third, the Bruins chose to intentionally walk a red-hot redshirt junior third baseman Bryson Bloomer and Brennan McCullough. The Racers found an opportunity to walk it off with the bases loaded and no outs.
Perkins was the one who delivered the final blow, scoring on a wild pitch and giving the Racers a walk-off 4-3 win.
The Racers and Belmont split 2-2 in the season series, and the Racers improved to 23-20 on the season.
