Box Score 1 | Box Score 2 By Kevin Farr
Murray State Sports Information
Leading by two and three outs away from a must win sweep of Carl Albert State College on Friday, the Murray State Aggies watched that edge slip away, as well as their postseason hopes, in a conference doubleheader split at The Ranch.

Coach Sam Bjorling's unit blasted the visitors 13-1 in the opener before watching its seven-game winning streak thwarted with the late rally in a 12-11 loss.

The Aggies are now 29-28 on the season and 12-17 in league action while the visiting Vikings sit at 31-23 while wrapping up a Region 2 tournament berth at 14-15. The final contest of the three-game series is set for Saturday at 1 p.m. at The Ranch.

It was all Murray State in game one, and most notably sophomore Gage Gilchrist, who drove in a whopping six runs with a double and home run.

The Aggies raced to the early edge with two tallies in the first stanza, three in the second, three in the fourth and finally five in the fifth to end the seven-inning affair on a run rule.

That was plenty of support for Cash Kuiper as the freshman twirled all five innings, allowing one run on three hits with five strikeouts.

Murray State had a plethora of doubles in addition to Gilchrist as Ethan Rone, Wilbert Espinal and Brady Richardson all contributed one. Rone also drove in a pair.

The Aggies got one single apiece from Andrew Tinsley, Trace Necessary and Brennan Morgan.

After taking an early lead with four runs in the first stanza, spurred by a Morgan three-run homer, Murray State held the advantage until the seventh when things definitely turned into an offensive shootout.

Carl Albert plated four runs to take an 8-6 lead in the top of the inning, but the Aggies responded with three of their own highlighted by an Espinal solo homer and Necessary's two-run bomb.

The hosts manufactured another run without the aid of a hit in the eighth, giving them a 10-8 cushion heading to the final frame.

A single, hit batter and three-run homer with one out turned things quickly to push Carl Albert back in front. The Vikings added another tally for insurance, which proved to be decisive.

Murray State utilized back-to-back doubles from Gilchrist and Necessary in the ninth to cut the deficit in half. That's as close as it got however as the Aggies left the tying run stranded at second base.

Morgan wrapped up with two home runs and drove in five while Necessary also chipped in two hits and three RBI. Espinal posted two hits with one each coming from Gilchrist and Ty Chaddrick.

Brody Roe worked five innings on the mound, scattering four runs and four hits with seven strikeouts but didn't figure in the decision. Jakob Holzer, Kyle Holzer, Kaleb Melvin, Nathan Darden and Ryan Dugas all tossed in relief.