Murray State University Athletics
Murray State
Jacksonville State
Players Mentioned
Racers Head to Alabama For Series With JSU
4/7/2016 3:03:00 PM | Baseball
GAMES 33-35
Murray State (15-17, 5-7 OVC) at Jacksonville State (19-9, 9-0 OVC)
April 8-10, 2016
First Pitch: Friday: 6 p.m., Saturday: 1 p.m., Sunday: 1 p.m.
Series History: JSU leads 26-13
Last Meeting: MSU 10, JSU 9 – April 4, 2015
Venue: Abbott Field (Capacity: 1,500)
Dimensions: 330 (LF), 400 (CF), 335 (RF)
Live Stats: Game one | Game two | Game three
Live Audio
Twitter In-Game: @RacersBaseball
First Pitch
The Racers travel to face one of the two teams left in the league that are undefeated in OVC play this season in Jacksonville State. The three-game series begins Friday at 6 p.m. MSU is coming off a 7-3 win Wednesday over Southern Illinois while the Gamecocks defeated UAB 11-10 on Tuesday. JSU is 11-4 this season at Abbott Field.
Inside the Series
The Racers are 7-12 all-time on the road against JSU and went 1-2 at Abbott Field in their last trip there in 2014. MSU took 2-of-3 last season against the Gamecocks in Murray. The Racers had a pair of walkoff wins in that series, the first by Matt McGowan in game two, the second by Kipp Moore via a three-run home run in game three.
Scouting Jacksonville State
Clayton Daniel leads the Gamecocks and is third in the OVC with a .383 batting average. Daniel leads the team with 46 hits and nine doubles and is second on JSU with 26 RBIs and 27 runs scored. Paschal Petrongolo leads the team with 27 RBIs while Gavin Golsan has a team-best 28 runs scored this year. Golsan is also second in the conference with 12 steals this season on 19 attempts. JSU is 28-for-36 as a team on stolen-base attempts in 2016. As a team, the Gamecocks are hitting .304, a mark that ranks fifth in the league.
JSU has the league's strongest bullpen as the Gamecocks feature four relievers with an ERA at 2.70 or lower. Closer Justin Hoyt leads the league with eight saves on the year and hasn't allowed an earned run in 12 appearances in 2016. Graham Officer leads JSU with a 4-1 record and 37 innings pitched and has a 3.65 ERA. Jack Pierce leads the team with 26 strikeouts in 2016.
Probable Pitching Matchups
Game one: Jack Hranec (LHP) (3-2, 5.40 ERA) vs. Graham Officer (RHP) (4-1, 3.65 ERA)
Game two: John Lollar (RHP) (3-0, 5.25 ERA) vs. Jack Pierce (LHP) (3-1, 5.45 ERA)
Game three: Ryan Dills (RHP) (1-3, 7.71 ERA) vs. TBA
