Garner Walk-off Delivers Series Win Over Salukis

Sunday, May 4

Johnny Reagan Field

11:30 a.m.

Murray State

32-11, 14-7

Southern Illinois

31-15, 12-8

Southern Ill.

Murray State

Photo by: Dave Winder-Murray State Athletics

5/4/2025 7:17:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score 1 Box Score 2 Box Score Game-1 Box Score Game-2

The Racers are 14-7 in the MVC and are one game from first place Missouri State

The Murray State Racers split a pair of games Sunday, but still took the weekend series over the Southern Illinois Salukis at Johnny Reagan Field in Murray, Kentucky.

MSU won the first game 3-2 in 10 innings after a walk-off double by Carson Garner, but dropped an 11-0 decision in the second game.

The Racers are 32-12 overall and moved past the Salukis into second place in the Missouri Valley Conference with six games remaining in the regular season schedule at 14-7. MSU and SIU each have 32 wins in 2025, tied for the top spot in The Valley.

Next weekend, the Racers travel to Nashville, Tennessee to tangle with the Belmont Bruins, before coming home to face the Missouri State Bears in Murray (May 15-17) in the regular season finale.

Although harassed by persistent rain, the series in Murray was marked by some great moments on MSU Baseball Alumni Weekend. MSU 2024 Hall of Fame selection, Daniel Calhoun, was honored Friday and on Sunday, Johnny Reagan Day was celebrated with members of the Reagan Family and the 1975 team, MSU's first NCAA team and first 40-win team was honored.

Game 1 – SIU 2 Murray State 3 – 10 innings
Carson Garner's 10^th inning double gave the Racers a 3-2 win and the series win over the Salukis, while Isaac Silva spun another outstanding game from the mound.

Silva, carded 7.2 innings and gave only two runs to the Salukis on five hits, with two walks and six strikeouts. Silva was particularly effective against SIU's top-3 hitters in holding them to 2-of-13 from the plate with five of his six strikeouts.

The Salukis tied the game with a run in both the 7^th and 8^th innings, setting the stage for Garner's heroics in the 10^th.

After Graham Kelham retired Southern in the top of the 10^th, Jonathan Hogart walked to put the winning run on base and he was erased at second on a fielder's choice grounder by Jordan Mercer. On a 2-1 pitch, Garner's drive to left-center hit halfway up the wall and Mercer scored easily for the MSU victory that set off a team celebration at second base as Garner was mobbed by his teammates.

Game 2 – SIU 11 MSU 0
A chance at a sweep of the Salukis got off to a rocky start when Kane Elmy was hit with four runs in the first inning and Southern Illinois went on to beat the Racers 11-0 to avoid a sweep at JRF.

The Racers had only two hits in the nightcap, one each from Jordan Mercer and Luke Mistone.

After starter Elmy, Jacob Hustedde tossed 4.2 innings, giving one run on two hits, with a pair of walks and three strikeouts.

The loss marks first time in 2025 in which the Racers did not score.

Game Notes

Today's first game was MSU's third of extra innings this season and MSU is now 2-1.
All three extra inning games have gone 10 innings, as MSU had an 8-7 loss at Ole Miss and a home 12-11 win over Lindenwood in March.
With the series win, the Racers have won seven of the last 11 meetings with the Salukis.
The Racers have won their last five series in The Valley over Bradley, UIC, Valparaiso, Indiana State and Southern Illinois.
After a 2-4 start to league play, the Racers are 12-3 since.
Heading into the weekend, SIU (No. 92) and the Racers (No. 127) were the top ranked teams in the NCAA RPI.
MSU is 14-6 at home this season (4-3 MVC) and 34-14 (.708) in the last two seasons.
MSU Head Coach Dan Skirka is 5-3 all-time in the MVC and 8-7 all-time since 2019.
In his seventh season at Murray State, Skirka is 197-147 overall and 45-30 in The Valley.
Jonathan Hogart saw his 13-game hit streak stopped with a 0-for-4 in the second game, but he did match Jordan Mercer for the longest hit streak of the season for the Racers.
Dom Decker extended his team-leading on-base streak by getting on base in both games today and now has a streak of 27 games, longest of the season for MSU.
Hogart's streak of getting on base was stopped in the second game at 25 in a row.
Nic Schutte and Isaac Silva are quite the one-two punch for the Racers' pitching staff, as they combined for two wins in the series and 13.2IP, 5R, 9H, 6BB, 11SO, 3.40 Earned Run Average.
In MVC ERA, Schutte is No. 2 at 3.34 and Silva is No. 3 at 3.36.
The shutout of the Racers, marks their first of the season and the first since getting blanked at Indiana State 5-0 (May 13, 2023), which was their first season in the MVC.
This is the first home shutout of the Racers since 2019 by Austin Peay by a 2-0 score (March, 10, 2019).

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