Box Score 1 | Box Score 2 By Kevin Farr
Murray State Sports Information
The Murray State offense exploded for 28 runs in a pair of games Sunday while wrapping up a four-game sweep of Carl Albert State College in conference baseball action.

Coach Sam Bjorling's squad routed the host Vikings, 13-1, in the opener before winning a 15-12 second game slugfest to improve to 38-14 overall and 22-10 in conference action.

The Aggies wrap up the regular season this week against Western Oklahoma State College with a home twinbill at 1 p.m. Thursday ahead of a road trip to Altus for Saturday's finale.

It was all Murray State in Sunday's first contest as the Aggies posted a 16-3 hit advantage in the five-inning run rule decision. They scored at least two runs in all but one inning while throttling the Vikings.

Southpaw Brody Roe was the pitching benefactor of the offensive explosion as the freshman twirled all five innings, yielding one run on three hits as he struck out seven and walked two.

Murray State got off to a blazing start as Garrett Gruell set the tone with a solo home run just two batters into the contest to key a two-run first stanza. The Aggies added two more tallies in the second frame as it was Brady Benedict's solo blast that spurred another two-run frame.

Following a scoreless third inning, Murray State notched another pair in the fourth as Gruell homered for the second time with Gage Gilchrist doubling and scoring on another two-bagger from Patrick McCullough.

A seven-run top of the fifth put the proverbial nail in the Vikings' coffin with Clay Jung and Gruell each contributing RBI doubles ahead of a McCullough three-run homer and Trace Necessary solo blast.

McCullough ended the game a perfect 4-for-4 at the plate and drove in five runs. Gruell tallied three extra base hits and three RBI. Gilchrist, Ashton Inman and Benedict finished with two hits apiece.

The second game was a wild affair with a plethora of runs as each team scored in six of its nine times to the plate.

Murray State got a pair of runs in the first inning and two more in the third on a Wilbert Espinal home run, but the Aggies still trailed 8-4 heading into the sixth inning. That's when they cut into the margin with a Gruell solo homer before surging back in front with four tallies in the seventh.

Inman's two-run homer narrowed the gap to 8-7, Gruell soon tied it with a RBI single and Gilchrist put Murray State back in front on a run-scoring groundout.

Carl Albert answered with two runs of its own, but the Aggies regained the lead for good moments later on consecutive RBI hits from Benedict, Jung and Gruell. Inman chipped in a two-run single in the ninth to fuel another three-run flurry that proved to be decisive.

The hosts pushed across two runs and had the tying run at the plate again in the bottom of the ninth when Tyler Zylstra posted two straight strikeouts to end it.

Zylstra fired three innings of relief, scattering two runs on two hits while being credited with the pitching win.

Murray State ended with a whopping 18 hits, four of which came from Gruell, who also knocked in three runs. Inman pitched in three hits and four RBI while McCullough had three hits and drove in one.

Espinal and Benedict tallied multi-hit games also with Espinal driving in three and Benedict two.