MURRAY —Back in the summer, Murray State’s baseball program captivated the nation by capping what already was the greatest season in its history with an unlikely run to the College World Series.
Friday morning, there was a ceremony that may eventually help enhance the chance for more visits to Omaha, with the chance for more success once in Omaha. On the surface, the groundbreaking for the Jim and Sue Cash Clubhouse may seem like only another way of making the dwellings of an existing program have a more impressive appearance.
However, in a day and age where the battle for prized recruits — the likes of which a Murray State previously had been unable to pursue — is referred to by many as “an arms race,” these types of enhancements can have very extensive effects. In other words, making one’s program look very similar to some of the most well-known outfits in America could be the difference between gaining a key recruit and losing one.
“Momentum … I think it’s the one word that describes this,” said Murray State Director of Athletics Nico Yantko, adding how this and other projects for Racer sports programs show, unequivocally, how Murray State wants to play the game in this arms race, as opposed to being a spectator. “When we sit back, there’s no question about it. There’s two kinds of categories in this new reality, right? There’s players and there’s participants and we fully intend to be players. That’s with everything from our facility profiles, our infrastructure and our plans in the revenue sharing era, so we’re not getting it confused. There is no question that our sports profile has continued to get more competitive across the board.
“This comes on the tails of the most successful year in school history.”
That did not seem likely when Yantko first returned to his alma mater in September 2022 to assume the A.D.’s spot. Murray State was barely a month into being a resident in its new home, the powerful Missouri Valley Conference, after 75 years with the Ohio Valley Conference. From Day 1, though, Yantko has not changed from his original thoughts, that Murray State’s best days were coming.
The 2024-25 academic year at the “Finest Place We Know” epitomized what he had been describing. Murray State won an amazing seven championships — a repeat regular-season title in the first sport that produced a Valley title, tennis; it barely missed The Valley team title in golf but still claimed an individual crown for Trey Wall; the women’s basketball team of Head Coach Rechelle Turner tied for its first regular-season crown, then won the postseason tournament, and baseball did the same as the basketball team. The other title came from the one team still in the OVC, rifle.
All of those programs have received improvements, none more impacting than the indoor hitting facility baseball received inside Stewart Stadium. The first year of using that facility directly led to a record-breaking year on offense for the Racers, who finished second in The Valley regular-season standings.
“As we grab our shovels and, symbolically, break the ground today, we’re laying the foundation for continued success, new legacies and countless memories on Johnny Reagan field,” said Murray State President Dr. Ron Patterson. “We’re building community, elevating our baseball program and a brighter future for Murray State University.”
Yantko said that every one of these additions, and those to come, had a driving force.
“Our ability to propel this momentum is only from one group … Racer Nation,” he said, noting how the Cash couple resembles this idea. “Jim and Sue were certainly Racers and legacy at that, and I believe that their legacy is going to continue to live through this very, very impressive structure.”
The clubhouse, made possible by a $1 million donation from Jim and Sue that secured the naming right, will be much more than its name implies. Along with being a gathering place for the players and coaches, the 3,000-square-foot facility barely beyond the right-field fence at Johnny Reagan Field, will be the new home of the baseball offices (currently housed at Roy Stewart Stadium), along with a new locker room, player lounge, team meeting room and training room.
“Thank you to the Cash family,” said Murray State Board of Regents Chair Dr. Robbie Fitch.”Your generosity, your belief in this program and your investment in Murray State University will make an impact for generations. Investments like this are exactly what move our baseball program forward elevate our Department of Athletics, state university as a whole. We’ve already witnessed what these investments can produce.
“In recent years, thanks to donor support, we opened an indoor hitting facility in the very first year, … school record for home runs. Year Two? Omaha. We were also able to expand the coaching staff and invest in them in ways that we hadn’t been able to before.
“Those accomplishments were not accidents. They were the direct result of people.”
Compared to other such facilities, Murray State’s building will probably be smaller in stature than others the Racers and their fans have seen … Mississippi in Oxford (where the Racers upset the 2022 CWS champions on their home field for an NCAA Regional title), Arkansas in Fayetteville (home to one of the most powerful programs in America, seen by many as the best to have never won a CWS title), Vanderbilt in Nashville (two-time CWS champion and last year’s NCAA No. 1 seed). Kentucky, like those others, a member of college baseball’s most powerful league — the Southeastern Conference — seems to be taking the same path as Murray State. For a long time, it languished well behind its SEC brethren, both on the field and in its overall look.
Then, not too long ago, it was injected with funding, both from its administration and its fan base. It got a new stadium. Other improvements came. And, last year, one year before Murray State made its introduction to the nation, UK made its own visit to Omaha for its first-ever CWS appearance.
“We’re looking to appear like a program on that scale and we’re going to continue to look the part as well,” Yantko said. “Yes, for us, there are pieces that are scaleable but, for us and our facility profile, we act how we operate. We want to be big, right? We want to continue to have this high level of success and we believe we can do that because of our unique ability to lean into our captive audience.
“Racer Nation is unique and there’s nothing like it. It’s our secret weapon.”
Yantko also wanted others recognized. He said it was a back-porch conversation with Murray’s John and Jan Fuqua —she being a daughter of former Racer baseball coaching legend and stadium namesake Johnny Reagan — that pointed him toward baseball needing to be counted. There also was The Murray Bank’s role in the establishment of a new video board at Reagan Field.