MURFEESBORO, Tenn — Defending Missouri Valley Conference and NCAA Super Regional baseball champion Murray State got a needed bounce-back win, along with a taste of revenge, Tuesday afternoon.
A few days removed from a disappointing series loss at Lindenwood of the Ohio Valley Conference, the Racers defeated Middle Tennessee of Conference USA, 5-3, on the same field where they fell to the Blue Raiders two weeks ago. Both teams have identical 12-8 records after Tuesday’s game.
Murray State’s pitching was not as strong as it showed in a very low-scoring series with Lindenwood, but it still kept MTSU below double-digit hits (eight). That was also the number the Racers registered, marking some improvement from the previous weekend.
However, the Racers still had some issue scoring runs. All of their scoring came in a five-run fourth inning. This came after they were retired in order in the first three frames. The Racers did have a runner in scoring position in the top of the ninth but could not capitalize on that opportunity.
Still, the Racers’ pitching staff was solid in not allowing the Blue Raiders to make too big of a threat.
Anthony Perritano was 2-for-3 at the plate for Murray State and had two RBIs. Both of those were produced on his two-run single with two outs in the fourth that made the score 3-0. That followed Kris Hokenson’s RBI single.
Colby Ott then had what became the winning hit with a two-run double that upped the score to 5-0.
MTSU scored a run apiece in the fifth, sixth and seventh innings. The Blue Raiders had the winning run at the plate with runners at first and second and two outs in the ninth but reliever Ben Rosin earned the save by inducing the last batter to pop out to second base.