GAME 44-46
Dates: May 7-8, 2021
First Pitch: Friday: 2 p.m. & ~5:30 p.m.; Saturday: TBA
Location: Murray, Ky.
Stadium: Johnny Reagan Field (550)
Series History: Murray State leads 75-35 (W2)
Last Meeting: May 22, 2019 in Marion, Illinois (OVC Tournament)
Follow The Racers:
Live Video: ESPN+ (Friday Only) Game 1 Game 2
Live Stats: Game 1 Game 2 Game 3
Twitter In-Game: @RacersBaseball
Murray State Game Notes
First Pitch
Following a conference series loss to Morehead State, the Racers won their first extra-inning game of the season in a non-conference midweek matchup with Belmont, 4-3. The Skyhawks are on a three-game skid, getting swept by Jacksonville State over the weekend. UTM's midweek game versus Lipscomb was cancelled.
Inside the Matchup
Murray State and UT Martin have met 109 times on the diamond before with the Racers holding a commanding 75-35 lead. The Racers have won three straight series and in Murray, the Racers have a 41-16 advantage.
Probable Starters
Game One - Shane Burns (LHP) (1-1, 4.60 ERA) vs Winston Cannon (RHP) (6-5, 3.50 ERA)
Game Two - Sam Gardner (RHP) (4-4, 5.18 ERA) vs Sam Folks (LHP) (2-5, 5.62 ERA)
Game Three - Jack Wenninger (RHP) (4-4, 5.44 ERA) vs Nick Wohlbold (RHP) (3-3, 5.13 ERA)
A Look at the Racers:
Murray State sits third in the conference standings only behind Morehead State and Southeast Missouri with an overall record of 23-20 and a conference record of 12-9.
The Racers will play five of their six remaining series at Johnny Reagan Field. On their home field, Murray State is 12-4 in 2021, outscoring opponents 118-96 in the 16 games.
Following their five-game win streak, the Racers have dropped four of their last five. MSU fell late to Southern Illinois in the midweek game in Carbondale. The Racers then headed to Morehead State where they dropped both games of the Friday doubleheader but avoided the series sweep with a convincing 13-3 win on Saturday. MSU fell 11-6 in a non-conference matchup with the Eagles on Sunday.
Eighteen of the Racers 25 runs against Morehead State came by way of the long ball. Murray State hit a total of 12 on the weekend to move them into 7th in the nation with 62. Jake Slunder lead the team with four followed by Brock Anderson, Bryson Bloomer and Brennan McCullough each with a pair of homers, including McCullough's first two of his career. Alex Crump and Jacob Pennington also added solo shots in the opening game of the series.
Murray State went to extra innings for the first time this season on Wednesday versus Belmont, coming away with a 4-3 victory. Down 3-2 and down to their last three outs, the Racers took advantage of two Bruin errors in the inning to score an unearned run and force extras. In the 12th, Ryan Perkins led off with a walk and advanced to third on a failed pickoff attempt. After two intentional walks, Perkins scored a wild pitch to win it for the Racers.
Jake Slunder had the best weekend of his career against Morehead State. He had his first career multi-home run game, finishing a grand slam shy of the home run cycle. His three home runs, 12 total bases, four runs scored and six RBIs are a career-high for him as well as third, fourth, sixth and seventh in Murray State's single-game records. Slunder owned a slugging percentage of 1.105 with eight hits including his four home runs and one double. On Wednesday, he had his 20th multi-hit game of the season.
Bryson Bloomer has been on a tear in the month of April batting .433 with an on-base pct of .462% and slg pct of .650%. He is on a 23-game reached base streak with hits in 20 of those games. Bloomer has a team-high 26 hits, 8 doubles and 14 RBI in the month and is outhitting the next closest Racer by 8 hits. Since his hot-streak, Bloomer's batting average has improved 99 points to .299, collecting 10 of his 13 multi-hit games during this time.
After a slow start to the season in which he was 0-4 in five starts with an ERA as high as 15.58, Gardner has found his groove in his last five outings. He has thrown 35.2 innings with an ERA of 1.77, only allowing seven earned runs. Gardner matched his career-high in strikeouts, nine, thrice in this span and walked just five batters. He was named OVC Pitcher of the Week for his complete game shutout performance against Belmont on Apr. 18. In his last outing, Gardner went all seven innings in the Racers' 13-3 win, allowing six hits while striking out five.
Murray State shortstop David Hudleson and catcher Alex Crump is batting .326 and .325, respectively. In the month of April, Hudleson was hitting a blistering .385, collecting 10 of his 15 hits. Crump had the second-highest slugging percentage in April, behind Bryson Bloomer at .622. He hit two home runs and drove in seven runs.
Jordan Cozart and Brock Anderson has slugged 27 of Murray State's 62 homers. Last week, Anderson blasted two of the Racers' 12 long balls and added a solo shot on Wednesday to take sole control atop the OVC's home run leaderboard.
The Racers are seventh on the NCAA Home Run leaderboard with 63 home runs. Murray State hit 12 home runs against Morehead State after hitting three in the series against Eastern Kentucky and two against Bellarmine in the game prior. They are also ranked 12th in home runs per game (1.48) and T-37th in doubles (78).
Brock Anderson is tied for 11th in the nation with 14 home runs. Anderson hit two long balls in the over the weekend against Morehead State and another on Wednesday versus Belmont. Jordan Cozart follows closely behind with 13, good for 14th in the nation. Anderson is 22nd (.33) in home runs per game while Cozart is 38th (.31). Jake Slunder is T-23rd with 19 stolen bases and T-29th in runs (43). Bryson Bloomer is 37th with 14 doubles. Connor Holden is T-38th with six saves. Jordan Cozart is T39th in runs (42).
Redshirt junior Connor Holden has been named to NCBWA's 2021 Stopper of the Year Midseason Watch List. He is one of 65 of the nation's top relief pitchers to be named to the list. This season, Holden is 0-1, owning a 2.76 ERA in 12 appearances on the mound with six saves, tied for 38th most in the country. In 16.1 innings pitched, Holden has struck out 18 compared to only three walks.
Scouting UT Martin
The UT Martin Skyhawks are currently sitting in ninth place in the OVC standing with an overall record of 15-23 and conference record of 7-11. They were picked to finish last in the preseason poll.
Last weekend, the Skyhawks were swept at home by the Jacksonville State Gamecocks. UT Martin has only won two of their six conference series with victories coming against Belmont and Eastern Illinois.
In conference play, Ethan Whitley has been on a torrid stretch at the dish. The junior first baseman is hitting .350 (21-for-60) and ranks fourth in the league in home runs (six) plus slugging percentage (.700) against league arms.
Will LaFollette has mashed six of his team-best 10 homers against OVC opposition while Blake Daniels is tied with Whitley and LaFollette for the team lead in RBI's (13) during league play.
As a team, the Skyhawks are hitting .245 with 46 home runs and a .406 slugging pct and . 326 on-base pct.
May 07, 2021 at 11:57AM
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Series With UT Martin to Begin With Doubleheader Friday - MSU GoRacers
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