Murray State University Athletics
Murray State
Kentucky
Players Mentioned
Racers and Wildcats Set for Showdown at Brooks
5/16/2016 3:57:00 PM | Baseball
GAME 53
Murray State (25-27) vs. Kentucky (29-23)
May 17, 2016
First Pitch: 6 p.m.
Series History: UK leads 16-6
Last Meeting: MSU 1, UK 11 – March 9, 2016
Stadium: Brooks Stadium (Capacity: 1,200)
Dimensions: 330 (LF), 400 (CF), 330 (RF)
Live Stats
Twitter In-Game: @RacersBaseball
First Pitch
The Racers play their final non-conference contest of the season Tuesday as they travel to Paducah to face Kentucky at Brooks Stadium. This will be MSU's first trip to Brooks since 2014, where it also faced the Wildcats. The Racers are coming off a 2-1 weekend at EKU while UK was swept at Ole Miss over the weekend.
Inside the Matchup
This will be the second time this season the two teams will meet up. UK won the first matchup in March, 11-1 in Lexington. The last time these two met at Brooks Stadium, the Racers defeated the Wildcats in 12 innings, 4-3. John Lollar picked up the win 2014 while Andrew Bramley got the start and pitched 6.1 solid innings.
Probable Pitching Matchups
Jack Hranec (LHP) (3-4, 6.49 ERA) vs. Zach Logue (LHP) (2-1, 3.00 ERA)
Climbing the Rankings
A number of Racers have risen through the single-season top-10 rankings in program history in several statistical categories. Tyler Lawrence's 20 doubles is tied for the second-most in MSU history and is just one shy of tying the program record of 21 set by Tyler Pittman in 2006 and Brett McCutchan in 2003. Lawrence's 56 ribbies are the fifth-most in a single season in Racer history. Adam Bauer's 64 runs scored are the third-most in program history as are Ramsey Scott's 61 RBIs. Bauer already set the program record earlier this season with his seventh triple.
Scouting Kentucky
The Wildcats have three hitters batting .303 or better in 2016 and are led by Evan White's .368 average. White leads the team with 40 runs, 14 doubles and 10 stolen bases and is second on the team with 34 RBIs this season. Gunnar McNeill leads UK with 37 RBIs on the year and is one of four Wildcats with five home runs in 2016. Javon Shelby leads UK with 12 homers. The Wildcats are hitting .270 as a team on the season and are 38-for- 51 on stolen base attempts.
UK has a team ERA of 4.03 this season and is led by reliever Zach Strecker's 1.59 ERA in 21 appearances. Closer Sean Hjelle leads the team with seven saves in 2016. Starter Dustin Beggs leads UK with an 8-2 record and a 3.28 ERA. Beggs leads the team with 74 strikeouts and 90.2 innings pitched. Kyle Cody is second on the team with five wins and 66 strikeouts in 74.1 innings. The Wildcats have lost four straight entering Tuesday's contest and are led by eighth-year head coach Gary Henderson.
Ticket Information
To purchase your tickets to Tuesday's contest, please contact the MSU ticket office at (270) 809-3000.
