Simon Elfrink
Sports Editor
selfrink@murraystate.edu
Murray State Baseball took another series win on Saturday, March 20, after they won two of three games against Jacksonville State University.
“Jacksonville State’s a very good ball club year in and year out,” said Head Coach Dan Skirka. “Always competing, top of our league. To win the series, first and foremost that’s the big thing. [I’m] proud of the guys.”
Game One
The Racers’ first game against Jacksonville State took place at 3 p.m. on Friday, March 19, at Johnny Reagan Field. The game featured a pitchers’ duel between sophomore left-hander Shane Burns and the Gamecocks’ junior right-hander Christian Edwards. Edwards went seven innings on the mound, not allowing a single hit for the Racers in that time. Edwards also struck out nine batters and walked three.
Burns held his own on the mound as well, going 7.2 innings on the mound and allowing just two runs on seven hits, walking three and striking out three.
The Gamecocks got both runs off Burns in the top of the second inning. The first run came across on a single by junior infielder Cole Frederick. Redshirt junior catcher Zeth Malcomb followed with a single of his own to drive in another run, making the score 2-0 in favor of the Gamecocks.
The scoreboard turned into a double-sided line of zeroes all the way until the bottom of the eighth inning, when senior outfielder Jake Slunder hit a sacrifice ground ball to drive in a run, making the score 2-1 in favor of the Gamecocks.
In an unprecedented turn of events, the Racers drew five straight walks in the bottom of the ninth inning, walking the game off 3-2.
Despite Burns’s incredible start, it was redshirt junior righty Jake Jones who took the official win in the pitchers’ column, throwing the last 1.1 innings of the game, walking one batter and striking out another.
“Their game one starter did a phenomenal job,” Skirka said. “We did a good job of matching that. Shane Burns kept us in the ball game, Jake Jones came in and we kept it at a two-nothing game. When we got into [their] bullpen we got one in the eighth and then went out in the ninth and our guys got good at bats.”
Game Two
As meager as the scoring came in game one, Saturday, March 20, had different things on the menu for both teams in the scoring columns. The Racers struck first, putting up four runs in the bottom of the first inning on a wild pitch, an RBI single, a bases-loaded walk and a sacrifice ground ball.
The Gamecocks got their first tallies on the board in the top of the second on an RBI single and another sacrifice to make the score 4-3.
From there, neither team stopped putting up crooked numbers in multiple frames. The game was tied at seven runs in the bottom of the fourth until redshirt junior infielder Trey Woosley hit an RBI single before redshirt sophomore outfielder Brennan McCullough drove another run in with a double down the right field line.
Jacksonville State battled back until they were up 12-11, and lengthened their lead to 15-11 with a three-run homer off the bat of senior catcher Alex Webb. An RBI double pushed their lead to 16-11, where the score remained until the end of the game.
“They came out swinging,” Skirka said. “We had the lead early and they came back. Like I said, they’re a good, well-coached team, they’re talented. We knew they weren’t going to go away and it was a dogfight. We had a chance, we had runners on base with a couple hits here and there, a couple plays, a couple pitches and we were right there.”
Game Three
After a short break, the Racers took the field again and turned the bats back against the Gamecocks, ringing up a whopping 11 runs in seven innings of play.
“I’m super proud of the guys coming back and just showing toughness after a long, back-and-forth game one [of the double header],” Skirka said.
The Gamecocks’ bats cooled off entirely as Jacksonville State didn’t manage to tally even a single run. The Racers’ starting pitcher, freshman righty Jack Wenninger, pitched all seven innings on the hill, shutting out the Gamecocks and allowing six hits while striking out four batters.
“Jack Wenninger was lights out on the mound,” Skirka said. “He did [go throw the complete game], and we had some more guys in the bullpen ready. I think we’re deep there and I was confident [in going to the bullpen], but Jack just came out clicking, didn’t walk anybody. That’s what we’re always talking about: not giving away free bases.”
Senior outfielder Ryan Perkins had a career day at the plate in the third game of the series, going 3-4 and driving in seven of the Racers’ 11 runs. Slunder also went 3-4 in the box and crossed the plate for the Racers every time he got aboard, driving in one run for Murray State. Senior catcher Alex Crump had three hits as well, two of which were doubles.
The Racers’ record improves to 10-9 overall and 2-2 in conference play. The Racers will play the second half of a home-and-home series at Arkansas State University on Tuesday, March 23, at 3 p.m.