Six Home Runs Power Racers to Doubleheader Sweep over Mercyhurst

Saturday, February 28

Nashville, Tenn.

12 p.m.

Murray State

8-2

Mercyhurst

0-5

Mercyhurst

Murray St.

Six Home Runs Power Racers to Doubleheader Sweep over Mercyhurst

2/28/2026 7:48:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score 1 Box Score 2

By: Sam Rhodes

NASHVILLE, Tenn – Six home runs across two games powered Murray State to a doubleheader sweep over Mercyhurst on Saturday at Jackson Field, with the Racers winning 10-2 and 6-5 to secure the series over the Lakers.

Luke Mistone, Kingsley Guthrie, Daylan Pena, Kainen Jorge, Kristofer Hokenson, and Jake Slade all went yard across the two contests as the Racer offense provided a persistent power threat throughout the afternoon.

"When we have a good process, we have some power," head coach Dan Skirka said. "When they try to do it, that's when they muscle up and we have some bad at-bats. So, hopefully, they're learning that right now. They don't have to try to hit home runs, that they put a good swing on a good pitch, and we have a chance for it to leave the ballpark."

Guthrie claimed the farthest homer of the day, crushing his 412 feet at 102 mph off the bat.

With the sweep, Murray State (9-2) secured its seventh consecutive victory, tying the program for the 11th-longest active win streak in the country and the longest in the Missouri Valley Conference.

Jacob Hustedde took the mound to kick off the day and threw a stellar 3.2 innings, holding Mercyhurst (0-5) to just three hits with no runs allowed while punching out two. Reese Oakley took over for the next 3.1 innings and secured his second win of the season, striking out six and allowing just one earned run.

"First game, we got the leadoff batter out in all nine innings," Skirka said. "That's winning baseball. When you do that, it's really hard for an offense to get going".

Complementing the strong pitching in the opener, Pena and Mistone hit home runs in the third and fourth innings to give the Racers a 4-0 lead going into the fifth. Mistone's three-run home run was his first of the season and the fifth of his collegiate career.

The nightcap featured five different Racers taking the bump, with Drew Deremer making his first career start. Ben Rosin, Jackson Ugo, Parker Patterson, and Dylan Zentko combined for zero earned runs in the final 3.2 innings of work. Zentko earned his first win of the season in the effort.

Game two displayed a distinctly different style of play, as a closely contested game was only settled with back-to-back solo home runs from Jorge and Hokenson in the bottom of the sixth inning.

"The guys stepped up in the batter's box there at the end," Skirka said. "And when we got Zentko in the backend, you're pretty confident".

The late-game heroics led the Racers to their third comeback win of the season.

"Happy they never quit, that they kept fighting," Skirka said, "and obviously had some really big at-bats there. But, we have to get better."

The Racers and Lakers face off in the series finale tomorrow at 1 p.m. central at Trevecca Nazarene University.