Life in the Valley

Mercer’s 4 Doubles Highlight 9-6 Racers Victory; Georgia Tech Next

We tried to tell you.

We tried to tell you that Murray State’s lineup ran deep. We tried to tell you that they had starting pitchers who could work long into a game and relievers who could shut the door. We tried to tell you that if you put the ball in play, the Racers would handle it.

But for most of the season, Missouri Valley Conference baseball teams mostly weren’t talked about and not highly regarded.

Murray State announced its presence with authority Friday night in Oxford, Miss., upsetting #1 regional seed and #10 national seed Ole Miss, 9-6. The Racers advance in the winner’s bracket to take on Georgia Tech. The Yellow Jackets defeated Western Kentucky earlier Friday, 9-2.

Western Kentucky and Mississippi will meet in an elimination game Saturday.

Dustin Mercer led the Racer (40-13) offense with 4 doubles and 3 RBIs. The last of them came in the top of the 9th inning with the bases loaded, a shot down the left-field line that scored 2 runs and gave the Racers some cushion heading into the bottom of the 9th.

Ole Miss put 2 runners in scoring position in the 9th, but Graham Kelham struck out Rebels power hitter Judd Utermark for the 2nd out. After Issac Humphrey was hit by a pitch, Kelham got Campbell Smithwick to pop up to 2B Dom Decker in short right for the final out.

The victory is Murray State’s 2nd over Ole Miss in 3 tries over the past 2 seasons, and just the 5th all-time in 27 tries. But none had the stakes that this one did. And perhaps, with Ole Miss able to run out its better pitchers, some thought Murray State’s lineup wouldn’t be as potent.

Jonathan Hogart answered that question on the very first pitch of the game, homering to deep right-center field. Later in the 1st, Luke Mistone’s fielder’s choice scored Mercer to make it 2-0. Murray State doubled that lead in the 2nd, Mercer’s second double scoring Conner Cunningham, then Carson Garner’s sac fly bringing Hogart home.

Not that this would be easy.

Utermark hit a 3-run homer to center in the 3rd that might have just landed somewhere northeast of Nashville. Smithwick’s homer in the 4th tied it, then Ole Miss took a 5-4 lead on Luke Hill’s RBI single.

The Racers immediately answered. Will Vierling’s RBI double tied it in the 5th. In the 6th, Hogart scored on Garner’s ground out, giving Murray State a 6-5 lead. But that advantage disappeared in the 7th, when Will Furniss singled to score Hill.

But Ole Miss never could hold Murray State’s offense down. In the 8th, Decker singled, scoring Cunningham to give the Racers the lead for good. With a runner on in the Ole Miss 8th, Kelham got pinch-hitter Ryan Moerman to ground out to short to end the inning.

Nic Schutte was charged with all 6 Rebel runs, but that’s no indication of how he pitched. Schutte went 6 1/3 innings, allowing just 5 hits and striking out 9. He threw 119 pitches, allowing head coach Dan Skirka to only use 2 bullpen arms – Kelham and Jacob Hustedde – who combined to get the last 8 outs. Each threw less than 30 pitches, and the Racers didn’t have to turn to Dylan Zentko at all, which could put him in line for multiple innings Saturday. Issac Silva is expected to be the starter for Murray State.

Ole Miss joined Oregon, Oregon State, and Southern Miss as regional hosts to lose their opening games Friday.

The win is Murray State’s first in the NCAA Tournament since 1979.

Ed Morgans is the founder of MVCBaseball.com. An Evansville graduate, Ed has written about and broadcast college baseball, while following the sport for 40 years.