Murray State baseball and head coach Dan Skirka announced its 2019 schedule, Monday, featuring 53 games, including 26 at Johnny Reagan Field. The slate includes five opponents who participated in the 2018 NCAA Tournament, including four conference champions.
“We have a very tough schedule ahead of us,” said Skirka. “Our first three non-conference weekends will be very challenging and prepare us perfectly for the OVC season. I am very excited for the spring to see how we stack up against some of the best programs in the region.”
The Racers open the season with three games at 2018 Summit League champion Oral Roberts (Feb. 15-17) in Tulsa, Oklahoma before heading to Memphis to take on the Tigers for one game on February 20.
MSU then begins a stretch of 11 home tilts in 12 games, beginning with a three-game series against Miami (OH) (Feb. 22-24). The team hits the road for one game at Western Kentucky on February 26 before returning home for a three-game set against Illinois State on the first day of March. Following a home contest against Southern Illinois on March 5, the Racers open OVC play with the Battle of the Border against Austin Peay (March 8-10). MSU will then close out this stretch when they host Kentucky State, March 12.
From March 15-17, the Racers hit the road in the OVC for the first time when they take on Eastern Illinois. This is followed by two games at Missouri (March 19-20), who is coming off a 34-22 record in the powerful SEC.
The Racers return home for a three-game series against Jacksonville State (March 22-24) before hitting the road again for two games against Austin Peay (March 27) and Middle Tennessee (April 2).
Murray State then plays four straight games against 2018 NCAA Tournament, beginning with one game at Johnny Reagan Field against 2018 Missouri Valley champion Missouri State (April 3). The Racers then hit the road to take on two-time defending OVC regular-season champion Tennessee Tech (April 5-7), who is coming off a 53-12 record, setting a new OVC record for most wins in a season. The Golden Eagles also had the nation’s top offense in 2018 and became the first OVC team to make a Super Regional after winning the Oxford Regional.
The Racers return home for a game against Middle Tennessee (April 10) before a three-game series against Southeast Missouri (April 12-14) and a single game against Evansville. MSU follows this with a three-game series at Belmont (April 18-20) on Easter weekend.
Following one game at 2018 Atlantic 10 champion Saint Louis (April 24), the Racers return home for a three-game tilt against Eastern Kentucky (April 26-28). On the first day of May, MSU plays at Southern Illinois before traveling to 2018 OVC Tournament champion Morehead State (May 3-5).
The Racers will play its final non-conference game of the season at Evansville (May 7) before wrapping up the home slate with three games against UT Martin. The 2019 regular season will come to a close with a three-game set at SIU Edwardsville from May 16-18.
The Ohio Valley Conference Tournament will be contested from May 21-26 at Rent One Park, home of the Southern Illinois Miners of the Frontier League, in Marion, Illinois for the first time.
