Story by Kelly Diesel, Staff Writer
An excess of pitching talent utilized by Murray State’s baseball team wasn’t enough to topple Missouri Tuesday night when the Racers lost 11-0.
The Racers came into the game with an overall record of 22-22 with only 11 games left in the season before the OVC Tournament. A total of seven pitchers were used by Murray State in Tuesday’s game, compared to three pitchers used by Mizzou.
The Racers started senior pitcher Jack Hranec on Tuesday night. Hranec pitched five innings, giving up five runs on eight hits with three strikeouts.
The Tigers got on the board first in the bottom of the second inning, thanks to an RBI single to right field from sophomore infielder Ian Nelson.
Junior infielder Matt Berler followed Nelson’s single with a sacrifice fly to center field, putting Mizzou on top 2-0. Sophomore outfielder Connor Brumfield added one more run in the inning with an RBI double to left field to make it 3-0.
Mizzou scored two more in the bottom of the fifth inning off an RBI ground out from junior outfielder Trey Harris and a solo home run to to left field from junior catcher Brett Bond.
In the bottom of the seventh inning, the Tigers added four more runs to their total. Freshman outfielder Kameron Misner started the scoring with an RBI double to left field that scored one.
Freshman infielder Chris Cornelius drove in three runs with an RBI single to right field, making it 9-0 in favor of the Tigers. Cornelius scored on his single due to an error by Murray State junior outfielder Brandon Gutzler.
Despite the onslaught of hitting in the seventh, freshman outfielder Ryan Perkins made a catch so spectacular it made SportsCenter’s top 10 best plays Tuesday night.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8izh9NTiLDo
Mizzou scored their final two runs in the bottom of the eighth inning off an RBI single to left field by Bond that scored one and a fielder’s choice RBI from junior infielder Alex Samples that scored another.
Tuesday’s loss brings the Racers to under .500 on the season with a record of 22-23.
Murray State will take on Eastern Kentucky next in a three-game series starting at 6 p.m. on Friday, May 5, in a home game held at Reagan Field.