The Murray State baseball team opened its final series of the season with a 9-3 loss to UT Martin Thursday night at Reagan Field. MSU was out-hit in the loss 15-7 and three of those hits came via pinch hitters in the bottom of the ninth.
The Skyhawks (25-27, 12-16 OVC) opened the game with a leadoff home run to begin the scoring and didn’t look back. UTM added a pair of runs in the third to go up 3-0 and after a Brandon Gutzler sacrifice fly RBI made it 3-1, the Skyhawks extended the lead back to three at 4-1 in the top of the fifth.
MSU (25-28, 13-15 OVC) would get another sac fly in the bottom half of the fifth, this time from Jack Hranec to cut the deficit to 4-2, but that was as close as the Racers would get on the evening as the Skyhawks plated a pair of unearned runs in the top of the sixth to go up 6-2.
UT Martin scored three more runs in the ninth to go up 9-2 and the Racers got a run back in the bottom portion of the inning as Reed Thompson scored on a wild pitch. Caleb Hicks, Justin Perkins and Thompson all collected pinch-hit base knocks in the ninth.
Ryan Dills took the loss as he got the start on the mound. Dills went five innings and allowed three earned runs on eight hits while striking out nine batters. Tyler Horsley pitched the final four innings of relief on the night.
The Racers and Skyhawks resume their final series of the season Friday with a 6 p.m., contest.
