Simon Elfrink
Staff Writer
selfrink@murraystate.edu
Murray State baseball will travel to Carbondale, Illinois, to take on Southern Illinois University of Carbondale and then return home to host a three-game series against Bowling Green University.
The Racers have played the Salukis a total of 30 times since their history began in 2004. The Racers have been on the bottom end in 18 of those games, winning 12. The last time the two faced each other was in May 2019 when the Salukis served the Racers an 8-3 loss, accumulating the Racers’ third loss in a row against the Salukis. The Racers look to break that streak on Tuesday, Feb. 25, at Reagan Field.
The Salukis are off to a decent start after a mediocre 2019 season (26-29), having won three of four games against Jackson State University, but also having lost by one run against Belmont University.
Hitting was not a strong suit for the Salukis in 2019 as not a single player batted near or over .300. The best average on the team was former senior utility player Alex Lyon, who hit .276. Lyon also led the team in most offensive statistics, including hits (53), doubles (13), triples (2) and home runs (7). Lyon was also one RBI shy of leading the team in RBIs (38). The Salukis will also miss graduate infielder Nikola Vasic, who hit .236 and drove home 23 runs.
Senior Ian Walters was the RBI leader with 39, hitting a modest .226 in the process. Phillip Archer is a big returning name for the Salukis, having hit .262 with six home runs and 27 RBIs last season. Junior outfielder J.T. Weber comes into 2020 having hit .261 last season, chalking up 16 RBIs.
Saluki pitching might pose a problem for the Racers. After two days of rest, it’s likely senior Brad Harrison will get the start on the mound. Harrison’s ERA in 2019 was a solid 3.05, going 3-1 and striking out 35 batters.
The weekend series against Bowling Green will start on Friday, Feb. 28, at 3 p.m.
The Racers have had success against the Falcons in their 11-game history, winning seven games. The Racers haven’t played the Falcons since 2014, when the Racers took two of three games in the series. Like the Racers, the Falcons are off to a slow start in 2020, going 0-3 in the first week of play. They look to turn things around before they end up with a repeat of last season when they couldn’t put a good run together, ending the season 16-33 overall.
Graduating in 2019 was infielder Neil Lambert, who led the team in batting average at .322. He also chalked up 17 RBIs, the most of any Falcon except for former senior infielder Brad Croy, who had 24 RBIs and hit .319.
Senior outfielder Jake Wilson had the most impressive returning stat line from 2019, hitting .303 with 12 RBIs. Junior infielder Dylan Dohanos has a bright future ahead of him, hitting .290 with 14 RBIs in his sophomore season.
Sophomore left-handed pitcher David Stopp comes back for his junior season after appearing in 16 games and achieving a team-low 2.55 ERA. Right-handed junior Andrew Abrahamowicz returns with a 3.11 ERA and 61 strikeouts in 2019. Freshman righty Tyler Hays started in 14 games, racking up a 5.10 ERA but striking out a team-high 72 batters.
The Racers hope to capitalize on these last four games to start the early season at 8-4.