Murray State University Athletics
Murray State
Eastern Kentucky
Players Mentioned
Racers Travel to EKU for Pivotal Series
5/12/2016 9:33:00 AM | Baseball
GAMES 50-52
Murray State (23-26, 11-13 OVC) at Eastern Kentucky (23-26, 12-12 OVC)
May 13-15, 2016
First Pitch: Friday: 6 p.m., Saturday: 6 p.m., Sunday: Noon
Series History: EKU leads 62-54
Last Meeting: MSU 13, EKU 10 – May 10, 2015
Stadium: Hughes Field
Dimensions: 330 (LF), 415 (CF), 340 (RF)
Live Stats
Watch Live: OVC Digital Network (Saturday and Sunday possible)
Twitter In-Game: @RacersBaseball
First Pitch
The Racers hit the road playing for their postseason lives this weekend in a crucial three-game series with the Colonels. MSU is currently in 8th in the OVC standings and sits a game behind Tennessee Tech and EKU for sixth entering the penultimate weekend of the season. The top six teams in the league make the OVC Tournament later this month. The Racers hold the tiebreaker over TTU due to their sweep earlier this season.
Inside the Series
EKU has won three of the last four in the series, however, the Racers are 26-23 all-time in Richmond against the Colonels. MSU won 2-of-3 the last time it played at Hughes Field back in 2014. The Racers have won three of the past four series played in Richmond. EKU is 11-11 at home in 2016.
We're Going Streaking
Adam Bauer has reached base safely in all 49 games this season for MSU, which is a new program record. That streak is also the longest active on-base streak in the country. UC Irvine's Keston Hiura reached base in 52 straight dating back to last season and WKU's Danny Hudzina reached in 50 consecutive. Both of those streaks were ended last weekend.
Dubsky Dealing
Austin Dubsky had the best start of his career last Saturday in MSU's 4-1 victory over Belmont. Dubsky pitched a career-high seven innings and struck-out a career-best seven batters in picking up his fifth victory of the season. Dubsky scattered seven hits and walked just one batter against the Bruins.
Scouting EKU
The Colonels are led by one of the best hitters in the nation in Mandy Alvarez who is hitting a league-best .415 on the season. Alvarez has 13 doubles, 12 home runs and a team-best 55 RBIs in 2016. Slugger Kyle Nowlin leads the league and is second in the nation with 17 home runs and also has 50 RBIs on the year. Shea Sullivan leads EKU with a perfect 10-for- 10 on stolen base attempts and as a team, the Colonels are 43-for-57 on the year. EKU is hitting .293 as a team and has hit 55 homers.
The Colonels have a team ERA of 5.45 in 2016 and are led by Caleb Johnson's 3.30 ERA in 18 appearances. Eric Nerl leads the Colonels with five wins on the year and has a team-high 65.1 innings pitched. Starter Alex Hamilton has a team-best 60 strikeouts on the year and has a 4-5 record. Closer Brian Mroz has appeared in a team-high 22 games and has five saves on the season. EKU is led by first-year head coach Edwin Thompson.
Probable Pitching Matchups
Game one: Ryan Dills (RHP) (3-3, 5.21 ERA) vs. Alex Hamilton (LHP) (4-5, 6.09 ERA)
Game two: Austin Dubsky (RHP) (5-3, 4.53 ERA) vs. Eric Nerl (RHP) (5-4, 5.51 ERA)
Game three: TBA vs. TBA
