Box Score By Kevin Farr
Murray State Sports Information
In a late addition to the schedule, Murray State opened the home baseball campaign Friday afternoon against North Central Texas and struggled offensively in a 4-3 loss to the Lions at The Ranch.

Despite managing just four hits on the day, the Aggies carried a 3-2 edge to the seventh before North Central plated a pair of runs to claim the lead for good.

Murray State took an early 1-0 cushion in the opening stanza as Gage Gilchrist walked and came all the way around to score on three wild pitches.

The hosts tacked on a run in the fourth thanks to another leadoff walk with Brennan Morgan coaxing the free pass and eventually scored on Ty Chaddrick's double to left – the Aggies' lone extra base hit on the day.

North Central evened things in the fifth briefly before another leadoff walk in the bottom of the stanza, this time to Wilbert Espinal, came around to score on Morgan's two-out RBI single.

Chaddrick picked up a one-out single in the sixth but that proved to be the final Murray State base runner as the final 11 Aggie batters were retired in order.

The Lions capitalized on a pair of walks in the seventh frame as well with a two-run double pushing across the go-ahead tallies.

Chaddrick posted half the team's hits on the day with Morgan and Trace Necessary adding a single apiece.

Jakob Holzer fired five innings on the mound, yielding two runs on four hits with five strikeouts and one walk, while making the start. Brance Garrett was saddled with the loss in one and a third frames of relief as Kyle Holzer finished the contest with two and two-third innings of scoreless four-hit relief.

The Aggies will be right back in action on Saturday on the road at Connors State for a doubleheader beginning at 1 p.m.