Box Score 1 | Box Score 2 By Kevin Farr
Murray State Sports Information
WARNER, Okla - Despite outhitting perennial Division I power Connors State on the day, the Murray State Aggies baseball squad came up short on the scoreboard in dropping both ends of a road doubleheader on Saturday.

The Aggies saw a late lead slip away in a 3-2 extra-inning loss in the opener before watching the Cowboys break open an even game in the fifth stanza for an 8-4 decision.

Murray State fell to 2-4 on the season and will look to snap a three-game skid back home on Monday with a 1 p.m. twinbill slated with DFW Post Grad.

A two-out rally in the third inning helped the Aggies break on top in the first contest when Wilbert Espinal walked and raced all the way around on a Trace Necessary double.

Connors State evened things with a fifth inning solo home run before Murray State went back in front in the seventh, thanks to another two-out flurry. Gage Gilchrist singled and pinch runner Bryson Brooksher stole second and then came across on Ethan Rone's RBI single.

A Cowboy double and Aggie error in the bottom of the frame tied it at 2-2 and forced extra innings. Another Murray State miscue led to the Connors State game winner in the eighth.

Necessary and Brennan Morgan tallied two hits apiece. Andrew Tinsley chipped in a double with Gilchrist and Rone both adding a single.

Staff ace Brody Roe tossed five solid frames in the start, yielding one run on four hits and struck out six but didn't figure in the decision. Kyndon Lovell had one frame of scoreless relief and Kaleb Melvin was tagged with the loss despite allowing no earned runs on three hits and four strikeouts in one and a third stanzas.

Connors raced to a 4-0 advantage through two stanzas of game two but Murray State immediately began to answer, pushing across a single tally in the third when Necessary doubled and scored on an Austin Haley single.

The Aggies erupted with three of their own in the fifth to tie the score as Wilbert Espinal belted a solo home run. Haley singled and rode home on a Tinsley double and he scored one batter later on a Connors State miscue.

Walks proved costly for Murray State in the bottom of the frame however as the Cowboys needed just two hits to plate four runs and take the lead for good, capitalizing on five free passes.

The Aggies finished the game with a 10-5 hit edge with Necessary, Espinal, Haley and Rone all posting two apiece. Tinsley and Morgan each tallied one hit.

Jakob Blackwell worked three innings, allowing three earned runs on three hits while striking out five. Cash Kuiper yielded four runs on two hits in one and two-third frames and Javarian Roquemore pitched one and a third scoreless stanzas of relief.