Racers Fall In Mid-Week Tilt

Wednesday, March 2

Reagan Field

3 p.m.

Murray State

5-4

Lindenwood (IL)

3-13

Lindenwood-Bellevill

Murray State

Photo by: Sam Sheffer

3/2/2016 7:08:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score

An eighth inning rally was not enough to propel the Murray State baseball team past Lindenwood-Belleville Wednesday, as the Racers fell, 11-8, at Reagan Field in Murray.

Murray State (5-4) got off to a hot start in the game thanks to a pair of home runs from juniors Tyler Lawrence and Ramsey Scott and a pair of errors by the Lynx (3-13). The Racers would further pad their lead in the second on a RBI single from junior Caleb Hicks that allowed junior Adam Bauer to score for the second time in as many innings and giving MSU a 5-1 lead after two.

Lindenwood-Belleville, however, responded in a big way with a three-run third, a five-run fifth and two- run seventh to take an 11-5 lead. Part of the problem for the Racers came in the fifth, when the Lynx were able to plate three runs off of miscues by the Racers, scoring on two bases loaded walks and a wild pitch.

In the eighth, Hicks and Scott cut the lead to 11-7 on back-to-back RBI singles after two walks by the Lynx and a single from junior Brandon Gutzler earlier in the frame. Sophomore Kipp Moore added a run in the next at bat when he took a two-out, bases loaded walk to score Lawrence and make it 11-8. Unfortunately for Murray State, that would be the last of its offense on the day, as the next four batters were retired in order to give Lindenwood-Bellville the win.

Scott and Hicks finished the game at 2-for-5 with 2 RBIs each with Scott also adding a run, while Gutzler was 2-for-4 with a run and a walk. Lawrence was 1-for-3 with 2 RBIs in the contest, scored twice and was walked twice, while senior Nick Moore was 2-for-3 with a walk.

Freshman Blake Clynes fell to 0-1 on the year with the loss after allowing nine runs on 10 hits with four strikeouts and three walks over 4.2 innings of work. Junior Austin Dubsky allowed no runs on one hit with a walk over 1.1 innings of relief, with junior Chad Gendron following and giving up two runs on two hits, also with a walk and a strikeout, over 1.0 inning. Sophomore John Lollar looked sharp in his closing effort for the Racers, giving up no runs or walks and just one hit with two strikeouts in the final 2.1 innings of the game.

The Racers return to Reagan Field this weekend for a three-game set with the Bluejays of Creighton. Firs pitch is scheduled for 3 p.m. Friday, 2 p.m. Saturday and 1 p.m. Sunday.