Moore's Walk off Gives Racers a Wild Victory

Saturday, April 23

Reagan Field

2 p.m.

Murray State

19-21, 8-9

Tennessee Tech

21-16, 10-10

Tennessee Tech

Murray State

Photo by: Sam Sheffer

4/23/2016 7:18:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score

Nick Moore laid down the perfect bunt and Caleb Hicks scored from third on the squeeze play as Murray State walked off in dramatic fashion, defeating Tennessee Tech 8-7 in 11 innings Saturday afternoon at Reagan Field.

The contest was a marathon that last four hours and 45 minutes and was the Racers' (19-21, 8-9 OVC) second extra-innings win this season in conference play. The other was MSU's first OVC win of the year over UT Martin back in March.

Things started off well for the Racers in the game as a Tyler Lawrence RBI groundout in the first gave MSU a quick 1-0 lead as Kipp Moore scored. However, the Golden Eagles (21-16, 10-10 OVC) looked to be well in control after that, scoring in each of the next four innings and took a 6-1 lead into the sixth.

The Racers showed their resilience from there, retaking the lead with a six-run bottom of the sixth. Kipp Moore's groundout to second brought home Jaron Robinson and Adam Bauer's RBI infield single in the next at-bat cut the deficit to 6-3. After a walk from Lawrence loaded the bases, Ramsey Scott stepped to the plate and delivered the biggest hit of the game other than Moore's walk off. Scott belted a grand slam to right field which propelled MSU into a 7-6 lead. The homer was Scott's ninth of the year and the second grand salami for the Racers this season.

An RBI single from Jake Farr, who went 5-for-5 in the contest, knotted the game back up at 7-7 in the eighth inning. From there on out, both teams had their chances to break the tie but timely pitching and solid defense from both squads kept the game tied into the 11^th. The Racers hit into a double play in the eighth which spoiled a scoring opportunity and in the ninth, Cody Gilbert was thrown out at third on a bunt which squandered another chance. TTU had the bases loaded with one out in the 10^th when Cody Maerz came on and delivered back-to-back strikeouts to keep the game all square.

Maerz continued his busy weekend for MSU and picked up his second win of the season a game after closing-out the ninth Friday night for his first save of 2016. Maerz pitched 1.2 innings and allowed one hit and tallied the two strikeouts in the win. Andrew Bramley was also solid out of the bullpen, pitching 2.1 innings of scoreless baseball to go along with three strikeouts on the day.

Robinson led the way at the dish for the Racers going 3-for-5 in the win. It's Robinson's third straight game with multiple hits. Bauer and Nick Moore each collected two hits and Kipp Moore drew three walks in the contest. Scott's four RBIs on the home run now gives him 26 on the season in conference play.

MSU will look for the sweep Sunday afternoon in game three of the series. First pitch is scheduled for 1 p.m.