Ticket Punched - Racers defeat UIC - Murray State University Athletics

Friday, May 23

Normal, Ill.

7 p.m.

Murray State

38-13

UIC

22-32

UIC

Murray State

Photo by: David Eaton-Murray State Athletics

Ticket Punched - Racers defeat UIC

5/23/2025 11:50:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score Box Score (PDF)

The Racers’ 38th win of the season sends them to the title game at the MVC Tournament

The Murray State Racers advanced to the championship game of the 2025 Missouri Valley Conference Baseball Tournament Friday with a 5-2 win over the UIC Flames at Duffy Bass Field in Normal, Illinois.

The Racers (38-13) are 3-0 in the MVC Tournament and move into a Saturday game at 6 p.m. for the championship. MSU awaits the winner of the 2 p.m. game between of No. 2 Missouri State and No. 4 UIC.

In their third game of the event, the Racers had to find a way to get some offense going against UIC's Brandon Bac who didn't give up a hit to the Racers until the fifth inning.

MSU's Kane Elmy set down the final two outs in the first Flames at-bat and then pushed it to 14-straight batters retired as the Flames clinged to a 1-0 lead through four innings.

Dan Tauken cracked his eighth homer of the season and MSU's first hit against Bak to lead off the bottom of the fifth to tie it 1-1.

The Racers were down 2-1 in the top of the seventh when Will Vierling walked and Tauken stroked a single. MSU drew even on an RBI hit by Nico Bermeo and took the lead on a fielder's choice from Jonathan Hogart at 3-2. A fourth run was tacked on by a sacrifice fly by Dustin Mercer.

Carson Garner added his 16^th home run of the season in the eighth and Jacob Hustedde finished it out by getting the final seven outs.

Game Notes

The Racers didn't have a lot of offense, but they still created a win on only four hits.
Kane Elmy was stellar tonight as he began the game throwing nine consecutive strikes and had a run of 14-straight UIC batsmen set down between the first and fourth innings. His final line: 6.2IP, 5H, 2R, 0BB, 3K
Tauken recorded his 66 RBI this season, which puts him fifth all-time for a single season at MSU, just behind No. 4 Bryson Bloomer who had 67 RBI in 2022.
MSU Hall of Famer, West Cunningham's 86 RBI in 2010 is still the gold standard for the Racers in a single season.
Garner's homer in the eighth tied him with Hogart for the team lead with 16.
Garner's tape measure blast traveled 388 feet and was hit 107 MPH off the bat with a launch angle of 50 degrees.
Dom Decker pushed his streak of reaching base to 33 games with one hit by pitch.
Decker leads the MVC in on base percentage at .510, 23^rd in NCAA D-I.
The Racers have 38 wins, second-most for a single season in program history, as the Racers are chasing the 40 wins that the team from 1975 had as the most in program history.
The Racers are now 5-4 in the MVC Tournament in their third appearance in the event.
The Racers were the No. 2 seed in 2024 and the No. 6 seed in their first season in the MVC in 2023.
Murray State is seeking its first conference tournament title since Mike Thieke's 2003 team won the OVC Tournament title in Paducah, Ky.
In 2003, MSU played in the Hattiesburg Regional and lost to Baylor and Southern Miss.
If the Racers can win the MVC Tournament, it will mark their fourth trip to the NCAAs after 1975 and 1979 under legendary Coach Johnny Reagan, MSU defeated Tulane and New Orleans before losing twice to host Mississippi State.

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