Preview: Murray State at Evansville

EVANSVILLE, Ind. (Interstat) — The Murray State Racers and Evansville Purple Aces meet Saturday afternoon at Charles H. Braun Stadium for the rubber match of a three-game Missouri Valley Conference series. First pitch is set for 2 p.m. under cloudy skies and 76 degrees.

Murray State (29-25 overall) evened the series Friday with a 15-10 victory, after dropping Thursday’s opener 10-6. The Racers have won three of their last four games and sit at .500 in conference play. Evansville (20-30) is coming off a two-game sweep at Valparaiso last weekend but has lost three of its last five.

Luke Mistone, Murray State’s first baseman, is a key player to watch. In Friday’s win, he went 3-for-6 with a home run and five RBIs. Over his last 10 games, Mistone is batting .300 with two homers and 11 RBIs, despite a 1-for-6 showing Thursday against Evansville.

For Evansville, right fielder Ryan Seddon provides pop in the middle of the order. He homered and drove in four runs in Thursday’s victory, going 2-for-4, and is hitting .268 over his last eight contests with seven RBIs. He was 0-for-0 as a substitute in Friday’s loss.

The Racers’ offense has been potent recently. In Friday’s win, catcher Parker Airhart went 5-for-5 with a homer and four RBIs, and left fielder Connor Chisolm was 5-for-7 with two RBIs. Murray State has scored eight or more runs in three of its last four games.

Evansville will look to rebound behind its pitching staff. Reliever RJ James threw 1 1/3 scoreless innings Thursday, allowing two hits and one earned run with two strikeouts. Chris McCormack tossed a scoreless inning in the same game.

The series has been high-scoring: the two teams have combined for 41 runs in two games. The Interstat game simulator projects a 4-3 Evansville victory, but the Interstat ELO system gives Murray State a 59.9% probability of winning.

Saturday’s game will conclude the regular-season series between the Missouri Valley rivals.