Murray State University Athletics
Murray State
SIU-Edwardsville
Racers Hit Road For SIU Edwardsville Doubleheader
3/21/2011 8:07:44 PM | Softball
Murray State softball gets back to action Tuesday afternoon, visiting SIU Edwardsville for a pair of OVC contests beginning at 2 p.m.
SIU Edwardsville was victorious in three of five games between the two teams in 2010, but MSU took two of the final three games between the two teams. Both games in Edwardsville last season were close, with the hosts Cougars taking game one 2-1 and the Racers rebounding in game two for a 3-2 win.
Murray State returns home this weekend, hosting Tennessee Tech for three games on March 26-27. First pitch Saturday is scheduled for 1 p.m.
Scouting the Cougars
Murray State hits the road for a weekday doubleheader at newest OVC-member SIU Edwardsville.
The Cougars opened OVC play a week ago, dropping two out of three at home against Southeast Missouri. They enter having defeated Indiana State on the road 4-1 on March 17.
Taylor Tooley leads SIUE with a .314 batting average in 24 starts this season. Lindsey Coleman is the ace of the pitching staff, holding a 2.75 ERA with a record of 7-8 on the season. She has 94 strike outs in 99.1 innings pitched.
The Racers dropped a three-game set to Eastern Illinois, falling 5-2 and 4-0 in the opening two games Saturday before dropping the finale 5-0 Sunday. MSU is still looking for its first OVC win of the season after losing three at UT Martin to begin the conference schedule.
Second baseman Lauren Buch kept her position as the top hitter in the OVC. She leads the league with a .426 batting average, recording 20 hits in 47 at bats this season.
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.
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 20-24 in steal attempts this season, and Glosser leads the team with eight steals in nine 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.
