The Murray State baseball team is flying out of Nashville this afternoon and boldly going where no Racers’ team has ever gone before – the Super Regionals.
The Racers will be playing Duke in a best-of-three series beginning at noon on Saturday. The second game will be at 11 a.m. on Sunday. If a third game is needed, it will be played on Monday.
Former Hopkinsville High School pitcher Preston Chaudoin is a junior hurler for the Racers and said the team still is enjoying beating Ole Miss for the Oxford Region title and making school history.
Murray entered last weekend’s regional as a No. 3 seed and most people didn’t give them much of a chance. But, Chaudoin said the team had nothing to lose and that was its advantage.
Murray knocked off No. 10 seed Ole Miss in the opening game last weekend before upsetting Georgia Tech to reach the region final. Ole Miss battled back to the region final and hammered the Racers in the first game to force the Monday winner-take-all game.
Chaudoin said Murray was able to put Sunday’s game behind it and focus on the task ahead.
After the region win, Chaudoin said it took them a while for reality to set in.
Chaudoin is a right-handed pitcher who has seen limited action most of the season. He has appeared in eight games and started one. He has struck out 14 and walked six and has an ERA of 4.76.
But he said he was ready last Sunday night when his name was called against the Rebels.
Murray State is 42-14 entering Saturday’s game against the Blue Devils, who are 40-19. The former Tiger said the team will take a similar approach this weekend as they did last weekend. Hopefully, they will get the same results.
The winner of this weekend’s series moves on to the College Baseball World Series. And Chaudoin said even though this Racers’ team has made history, their job isn’t finished.
Chaudoin is a Biology major and hopes to graduate next spring after finishing his senior season with the Racers.
Saturday’s game will be televised on ESPNU.
Murray State University photo