Murray State Baseball will travel to Carbondale, Illinois, this weekend for a series against the Southern Illinois Salukis as Missouri Valley Conference play continues, according to an April 23 announcement.
The matchup brings together the top two preseason favorites in the conference and could impact the current standings. Murray State is tied for first place with UIC at a 10-5 record in conference play. Southern Illinois sits fifth with a 7-5 record after sweeping Bradley last weekend.
The Racers enter the series following a midweek loss at Ole Miss but are coming off momentum from a three-game sweep of Illinois State. The pitching staff played a key role in that sweep: Nic Schutte earned Missouri Valley Conference Pitcher of the Week honors, and Jacob Hustedde pitched 6.1 scoreless innings against the Redbirds. Kainen Jorge contributed offensively by delivering a two-run single for Murray State’s first walk-off win of the season.
Southern Illinois holds an advantage in their all-time meetings with Murray State, leading the series 55-28. The Salukis have split their four conference series so far and recently lost to SEMO on Tuesday by a score of 5-1.
Sunday’s game will be nationally televised on ESPNU, marking it as Murray State’s only such appearance this season; Friday and Saturday games will be available via ESPN+. The Racers plan to use Nic Schutte, Jacob Hustedde, and Drew Deremer as starting pitchers across the three games while Southern Illinois has named Andrew Evans and Troy Shepard as starters for Friday and Saturday respectively.
