Murray State University Athletics
Murray State
Eastern Illinois
Racers Face Eastern Illinois in 2011 Home Opener
3/18/2011 3:22:55 PM | Softball
Murray State softball returns to Racer Field for the first time in the 2011 season as the Racers host Eastern Illinois in a three-game series March 19-20 with games starting at 1:00 p.m. each day.
MSU split a pair of games this week at UAB, dropping the opener 4-0 before holding off the Blazers for a 2-0 win in game two. Lauren Buch hit her team-leading fifth home run in the first inning of the nightcap, powering the Racers to their first win against a Conference USA team.
The Racers return to OVC play early next week, traveling to SIU Edwardsville for a doubleheader March 22.
Murray State returns home for the first time this season, hosting Eastern Illinois for a three-game set.
The Panthers enter the weekend having won all eight of their games at the Rebel Spring Games in Kissimmee, Fla. EIU shut out their opponents four times during their four days in Florida.
Eastern Illinois leads the OVC in team pitching, holding a 1.01 ERA as a team in 18 games this season. Stephanie Maday is the staff of the squad with a 6-1 record in seven starts and ERA of 0.18, having allowed just one run in 38.2 innings this season.
The Racers split the overall season series against Eastern Illinois in 2010. MSU won two of three in the final series of the regular season, but lost to the Panthers in the first game of the OVC Tournament.
Second baseman Lauren Buch stayed hot at the plate against UAB, hitting her fifth home run of the season to score both runs in the Racers 2-0 win at UAB. She leads the OVC with a .474 batting average and has hits in each of the last six games.
The Racers 7-2 win against Big Ten opponent Iowa in the final game of the DeMarini Invitational was MSU's first win in the program's history against a major conference school.
Murray State finished the weekend 1-4 at the DeMarini Invitational in Fullerton, Calif. The Racers faced a strong group of teams, dropping first day matches against Cal State Northridge 6-4 and Oregon State 7-3. MSU faced a pair of ranked Pac-10 schools on day two, falling 8-0 against #10 Cal and 14-2 to #14 Stanford. Murray State won its last game of the Invitational, needing extra innings to defeat Iowa 7-2. The Racers scored five runs in the top of the eight.
Chelsey Sullivan tossed the first no-hitter in program history, shutting out Belmont for a five inning, 8-0 victory. She walked three and struck out three in picking up her second win of the season.
Freshmen Coming Up Big The Racers got a pair of big hits from freshmen in extra innings against Iowa. Leslie Bridges drove in the game-winning run with a bases-loaded single. Meghan Sims doubled two batters later to put the game out of hand, scoring three to give the Racers a 6-2 lead. Freshman Madysen Wilton picked up her first career win in a 2-0 victory at UAB. She entered in relief, tossing 2.1 innings in the road win.
Freshman Meghan Sims homered in her first collegiate at bat. Sims, batting second in the MSU lineup, drove a 1-2 pitch deep to left center to give the Racers a 1-0 lead in game one.
Wrapping Up the War Eagle Classic The Racers came out of the weekend with a 1-3 record, losing games against Middle Tennessee State, Auburn and Georgia Southern with a win against Belmont. MSU had early leads against the Blue Raiders and Eagles and played the host Tigers close through the first few innings, but struggled to keep teams off of the bases in the middle of games, giving up 21 runs in innings 4-6 in three games.
Murray State will meet with four different teams in non-conference play that advanced to the 2010 NCAA Championships. UAB, Auburn and Stanford each won one game and dropped a pair in the regional round. 11th seeded California was a perfect 3-0 in the regional round before dropping a pair in the super regionals against Georgia.
The Racers open the 2011 season with 16 consecutive games before returning to Murray for their home opener against Eastern Illinois on Mar. 19. The schedule turns in MSU's favor toward the end of April as the Racers will play 11 straight home games just before the end of the regular season.
MSU brings back 13 players from last season's inaugural squad with three freshmen and a sophomore transfer joining the team. Seven returners started at least 38 games in the field last season and the Racers projected starting lineup heading into 2011 had 348 games of experience last year.
Murray State blew past the rest of the OVC on the base paths in 2010, leading the conference with 96 stolen bases. Junior Megan Glosser ranked second in the OVC with 28 steals in 32 attempts, and teammate Jenna Bradley tied for third overall with 17 stolen bases. The Racers are 17-21 in steal attempts this season, and Glosser leads the team with seven steals in eight attempts.
The Racers had three players earn All-OVC recognition in their first season of competition. Freshman Ellyn Troup was named to the 12-member All-OVC Second Team and the All-Newcomer Team as an infielder. Junior Jenna Bradley joined Troup on both the all-second and all-newcomer teams as an outfielder. The final member of the MSU squad to earn league honors was sophomore Megan Glosser, as a utility player on the All-Newcomer Team.
The Racers didn't waste any time making a name for themselves in their inaugural season. MSU is one of a few teams around the NCAA that have advanced to their respective conference tournaments (when not all the teams advance) in their first season of competition. Boise State earned the last seed in the Western Athletic Conference tournament at season ago and Brigham Young won the Mountain West title to advance to the NCAA Regional in 2001.
