Senior Day Highlights Final Weekend of 2021 Campaign

Friday, May 7

Murray, Ky.

6 P.M.

Murray State

Morehead State

Photo by: Dan Hasko - Murray State Athletics

5/6/2021 5:36:00 PM | Softball

Live Coverage Links

Racers host Morehead State for a three-game set at Racer Field, beginning with Friday's Senior Day at 6 PM

Dates: May 7^th (6 PM) & May 8^th (1 PM / 3 PM)
Site (Venue): Murray, Ky. (Racer Field)
Live Video: ESPN+ (Saturday Games)
Live Stats: goracers.com/coverage
Murray State Record (Streak): 19-29, 16-15 OVC (Lost 5)
Morehead State Record (Streak): 11-27, 3-23 OVC (Lost 3)
Racers All-Time vs. Morehead State: 14-7

Murray State softball will wrap up the 2021 campaign with one final home series as they are set to host Morehead State for three games on the weekend. The series will kick off on Friday evening at 6:00 p.m. in a game that will also serve as Senior Day with recognition taking place before the first pitch. The pregame ceremony will recognize Jenna Bleiberg, Taylor Makowsky, Lexi Jones, and 2020 seniors Kristen Bialek and Ellison Barrett. Racer Field will then see its final action of the year with a Saturday doubleheader beginning at 1:00 p.m. The Saturday games will be streamed live on ESPN+, while all three contests will have live stats on goracers.com.

All-Time Series:
The Racers and Eagles have met 21 times prior to this weekend's clash, with Murray State holding a commanding 14-7 lead in the all-time series. The Racers earned a doubleheader sweep of the Eagles in convincing fashion in the most recent meetings, cruising to a pair of five-inning victories with scores of 9-1 and 15-0 at Racer Field in 2019. Murray State is also 8-3 against Morehead State in the all-time series when playing at home.

A Look at the Racers:
The Racers enter the final weekend of the season on a five-game losing streak after dropping three close contests on the road to Southeast Missouri in their most recent action. Unfortunately, due to a reduced four-team OVC Tournament field in 2021 as a result of circumstances surrounding COVID-19, Murray State is no longer able to reach the conference tournament.

The Racers rank second in the OVC in stolen bases with 63 on the year through all competitions, and are batting .250 as a team in conference-only contests. Leading the way offensively is Sierra Gilmore, who is pacing the team in batting average (.311), slugging percentage (.493), on-base percentage (.361), and RBI (34). Additionally, her 15 doubles are the most in the OVC. Jensen Striegel has also provided quality at-bats for the Racers while staying aggressive on the base paths, batting .277 to accompany a team-high 20 stolen bases in 2021. Logan Braundmeier leads the Racers in both home runs (6) and runs scored (30), while Gilmore and Lily Fischer have each chipped in four round-trippers of their own. For Braundmeier, the Aviston, Illinois native is also a perfect 19-19 in stolen base attempts on the season.

In the circle, the Racers are tied with Southeast Missouri for the league's best team ERA at 2.66, while their 242 strikeouts rank fourth-most in the OVC. Individually, Hannah James owns a team-best 2.44 ERA while recording 139 strikeouts (2^nd in OVC) and holding opposing hitters to a .209 average through 137.2 innings of work in 2021. Jenna Veber has made an OVC-leading 37 appearances, posting a 2.59 ERA through 124.1 innings to go along with four saves on the year, while Taylor Makowsky has turned in a winning record of 5-3 as the fifth-year senior has posted a 2.77 ERA with 37 strikeouts through 53 innings.

Scouting Morehead State:
The Eagles enter the weekend on a three-game skid after getting swept by SIUE in their last time out. They are batting .224 and have averaged 3.3 runs per contest in 2021. Alexis Strother has done it all for Morehead State offensively, leading the team in batting average (.302), on-base percentage (.393), slugging percentage (.453), RBI (25), and home runs (3). Kirya Kingery's 21 stolen bases are tied for second in the OVC, while her .274 batting average is second-best on the team.

In the circle, the Morehead State pitching staff carries a 4.99 ERA that sits at the bottom of the league. Freshman Lennon Spicer is the OVC leader in innings pitched with 148.1 in 2021. Her 77 strikeouts and 4.01 ERA lead the Eagles. Kelsey Perkins (4.26 ERA, 17 K) has logged 47.2 innings on the year, and is the only other pitcher on the roster to pitched more than 40 innings this season.

Notes/Upcoming Milestones

With one stolen base in the weekend series against Southeast Missouri, Jensen Striegel continued to climb the ladder on Murray State's all-time stolen base list with 48 in a Racer uniform. She needs just two more to tie Mo Ramsey's 50 (2012-15) to move into second place in program history.

The Racers are 8-3 when they score a run in the first inning, and 12-6 when they score the first run of the game.

In games where the Racers hit at least one home run, they are 12-2 in 2021. In contrast, Murray State is 7-27 when they do not hit a home run.

Fifth-year senior Lexi Jones needs just one more home run to break into the top five on Murray State's all-time home runs list. Her 24 career round-trippers currently sit one behind Casey Castile's 25 for fifth-most in Racer history. Castile played for MSU from 2012-14.

Sierra Gilmore enters the weekend with 118 career RBI in a Racer uniform. She needs eight more to catch Jocelynn Rodgers' 126 (2014-17) for third on the program's all-time list.

Hannah James' 139 strikeouts on the year are just nine away from the current Murray State single-season strikeout record of 148 set by CheyAnne Gaskey in 2013.

With 139 strikeouts on the year, junior Hannah James owns sole possession of the #4 spot on the program's all-time strikeout list with 309 total in a Racer uniform. Her 24 career wins are also sixth-most in Racer history as she chases Chelsey Sullivan's (2010-12) 27 to move into the top five.

Logan Braundmeier is a perfect 19-19 on her stolen base attempts this season. She looks to become the first Racer to record 20 stolen bases in a season without being caught.

With four saves in 2021, Jenna Veber needs just two more to tie CheyAnne Gaskey's single-season program record of six that she set in 2013.

Hannah James has held opposing batters to a .209 average on the season. Currently, the lowest opponent batting average over the course of a season was when Mason Robinson held hitters to a .222 average in 2016.

A strong pitching weekend in the final games of 2021 could mean a new Murray State single-season ERA record. The Racers own a 2.66 staff ERA on the season, which is the second-best single-season mark only to the 2.53 record set in 2012.

Sophomore Lily Fischer has been hit by a pitch 12 times this season, which is the fourth-highest season total in program history. Ellyn Troup set the Racer record in 2012 when she was hit by a pitch 21 times.