Murray State's offense collected 20 hits and 16 bases on balls en route to a baseball doubleheader sweep of Morehead State on Sunday afternoon (March 9) at Reagan Field. The Thoroughbreds posted a 10-4 win in game one and 9-5 victory in game two.
Murray State improves to 7-5 overall with its third straight win. Morehead State slips to 5-8 overall with its third consecutive setback. The twin bill opened Ohio Valley Conference play for both squads. The three-game series finale is scheduled for Monday (March 10) at 2 p.m.
"This is a disappointing start to OVC play," Head Coach Mike McGuire said. "We made a lot of mistakes, and Murray State seemed to capitalize each time. It's really hard to be successful when you commit four errors in game one and walk 11 batters in game two."
Morehead State held a 2-0 advantage heading to the bottom of the third in game one, but Murray State answered with two runs in the third, fifth and sixth innings to make it 6-3. The Thoroughbreds then added four insurance runs on four base knocks in their final at-bat.
The Eagles committed four errors in the opener, which led to three unearned runs. Murray State posted a 9-8 upper hand in hits and both teams stranded seven runners.
Junior left fielder Nick Newell led off Morehead State's third inning by launching his second homer of the campaign. Junior right fielder Brandon Rawe, who finished 3-for-4 with one run and one RBI, provided the Eagles' only other extra-base hit with a sixth-inning double.
Junior right fielder Anthony Bayus (2-for-4, 3 RBI) and junior shortstop Matt McGowan (2-for-4, 3 R, 1 RBI) paced the Thoroughbreds offensively. Murray State senior right-hander Cameron Finch, who allowed just two earned runs and five hits in seven innings, improved to 1-1 with the win.
Sophomore right-hander Matt Anderson fell to 0-3 with the loss in his fourth start of the season for the Eagles. He allowed two earned runs and four hits, while walking three and striking out nine in five frames. The Morehead State bullpen allowed six runs over the final three innings.
Murray State broke open the second contest with a six-run fifth inning. Morehead State's pitching walked six in the frame, including four straight with the bases loaded, before senior left fielder Ty Stetson capped the at-bat with a two-run single with two outs, which made it 7-0.
Junior left-hander Brock Downey worked seven scoreless innings for the Thoroughbreds in game two. He improved to 3-0 this season by scattering six this and walking just two while fanning six.
Morehead State junior left-hander Luke Schneider allowed just one run and four hits in 3.1 innings, but was pinned with his first loss of the campaign after three no-decisions. The Eagle bullpen yielded eight runs, eight walks and seven hits in 4.2 innings and 28 batters faced.
Junior first baseman Kane Sweeney led Morehead State in game two by going 3-for-4 with one run and two RBI, while freshman catcher Tyler Lawrence paced Murray State by going 3-for-4 with three scores. The Thoroughbreds registered 11 base knocks in the twin bill finale.
"We kicked the ball around in the first game and didn't throw the ball across the plate in the second contest," McGuire added. "The game is pretty simple when you break it down like that. Our offense did some good things today, but the other phases weren't good enough."
