Simon Elfrink
Staff Writer
selfrink@murraystate.edu
Murray State baseball started a history against the University of North Alabama by taking an 8-5 victory on Tuesday, March 10, in Florence, Alabama.
The Racers’ starter redshirt senior right-hander Joe Ivey struggled in just the second inning when the Lions loaded the bases with no outs. A wild pitch scored the first run of the game, and the Lions pushed the attack and scored two more runs with a ground ball and a single. Ivey was taken out after just 1.2 innings on the mound.
Head Coach Dan Skirka said Ivey’s timidity on the mound combined with the nature of the game led to his early pull from the driver’s seat.
“He was just trying to nibble a little bit too much,” Skirka said. “They had a dinker fall in. He had a chance to make a play and didn’t, so he didn’t pitch terrible, but the stat line wasn’t great. Knowing that we had our bullpen rested because we did such a good job over the weekend, we went to Pennington pretty quick.”
Redshirt freshman righty Jacob Pennington took over the mound to end the second inning. Pennington pitched a total of five innings, allowing two runs on four hits and striking out five batters, earning his first win as a Racer. Redshirt senior Jase Carvell threw the last 2.1 innings for the Racers, chalking up his first save of the season.
“We don’t hesitate to go to our bullpen,” Skirka said. “We’ve got a lot of guys out there that we’re confident in, and they showed why.”
Hitting wasn’t a strong suit for the Racers against the Lions, with only one batter, senior outfielder Sean Darmafall, having multiple hits. Darmafall ended up going 2-2 at the plate with a homerun and a pair of RBIs, drawing a walk for good measure.
The third inning was huge for the Racers, as junior first baseman Trey Woosley had a two-RBI single. Junior infielder Bryson Bloomer, junior catcher Tanner Booth and Darmafall all had RBI hits in the third inning as well. Senior outfielder Brock Anderson also contributed to the scoreboard with a two-run homer in the top of the seventh inning.
While the 8-5 victory wasn’t the overwhelming landslide the Racers experienced against Austin Peay over the weekend, Skirka said it was enough to get the win and he’s confident hitting will continue to come around.
“Darmafall was definitely the player of the game and then Brock Anderson’s big two-run home run late really sealed the deal for us,” Skirka said. “Obviously we want to do better and we’ve shown that we can do better. That’s the game of baseball, but we did enough to win the game.”