2008 Woodie Awards
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'Breds beat Bears 1-0 in a pitchers' duel, after nine day layoff
Kyle Rogers
Issue date: 3/13/08 Section: Sports
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Staff writer
Pitching fans got a real treat Tuesday afternoon at Reagan Field. The Murray State Thoroughbreds played host to the Bears of the University of Central Arkansas and earned a 1-0 victory, the Racers stretching their record to 5-3 on the season.
Junior lefthander Daniel Calhoun took the mound for the 'Breds, giving them a fantastic performance. Calhoun pitched eight innings, striking out 10 and giving up no runs on six hits. Calhoun threw 92 pitches, 66 of which were strikes.
"I was impressed with Calhoun," Head Coach Rob McDonald said. "He came out and pitched strong for us. He was the key for us today."
Central Arkansas sent freshman Reece Cross to the mound for his first collegiate start and he kept up well with Calhoun.
Cross pitched seven innings for the Bears, striking out five and giving up one run on four hits. Cross threw 90 pitches; 63 were strikes.
"We knew Cross was a good pitcher," McDonald said. "He had an impressive ERA coming in to the game and he pitched very well."
Through eight and a half innings, the game was a true pitchers duel, with both pitchers tossing shutouts. Cross was pulled in favor of sophomore Michael Wild after the 'Breds' junior Matt Hon singled to begin the eighth.
Senior Matt Scheer came in to pinch run for Hon during the pitching change. Senior Andrew Cella laid down a bunt to advance Scheer to second. Junior catcher Daniel Miller grounded out to advance Scheer to third. Then freshman sensation Elliot Frey tripled down the right field line to score Scheer and end the shutout. Sophomore Jake Donze came in to pitch in the ninth and threw eight pitches, seven for strikes to end the game.
McDonald spoke many times this year about timely hitting and his team's ability to get on the base at the right time.
"Frey really stepped up and he has all year," McDonald said. "For him to step into this line-up like this is really impressive, especially being a freshman."
Frey is leading the 'Breds with a .462 batting average. He was batting .500 but went 1-3 Tuesday. Fortunately for Murray State, his one hit was the one RBI for the game and pushed the 'Breds to victory.
On paper, sophomore Kyle Tiernan had the best afternoon, going 2-3 at the plate. His hits came in the first and seventh innings.
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