Box Score 1 | Box Score 2 By Kevin Farr
Murray State Sports Information
ENID, Okla. – Mired in a four-game losing skid following an opening loss Wednesday, the Murray State Aggies were in desperate need of an offensive spark. They got just that and more from sophomore Austin Haley in forging a doubleheader split with Northern Oklahoma College-Enid at David Allen Ballpark.

The Jets claimed the twinbill opener by an 8-2 count before a slumbering Aggie offense erupted in a 17-4 victory in the nightcap. Maintaining a two-game lead over the Jets in the Region 2 standings, Murray State moved its record to 32-19 on the season and 14-8 in league play.

It will be a rematch at The Ranch in Tishomingo on Friday at 1 p.m. as the Aggies will look to secure the Western Division second seed in the Region 2 tournament next week.

Murray State's offense continued to struggle in Wednesday's opener after a rough weekend as they picked up only three hits against the Jets, all of which came on singles in the third inning.

Marlon Moore and Haley singled following a walk and the Aggies plated one run on a Michael Barham sacrifice fly as well as the second on a Brady Taylor single.

Cash Kuiper was tagged for the pitching loss even though he tossed four frames, yielding three earned runs on six hits with a pair of strikeout. Conner Smeltzer tossed two innings of relief while allowing three runs on four hits.

Game two was a different story as Murray State got off to a fast start with a pair of tallies in the first stanza. Haley added the first, belting a solo home run over the leftfield wall as the second batter of the game. Barham followed with a double and raced home on a two-out hit by Brennan Morgan.

NOC-Enid notched three runs in the third to go in front, but the Aggies immediately answered with a decisive nine-run explosion in the fourth. Kaden Monkerud got the flurry started with a double, but it was Haley's three-run bomb that really ignited things.

Taylor, Zach Makarewich, Juhno Son and Haley also contributed singles before the inning ended as Murray State sent 15 hitters to the plate in the frame. Taylor tossed in a solo home run to lead off the fifth while Monkerud chipped in an RBI single with two outs in the seventh.

The Aggies pushed across four more tallies for insurance in the top of the eighth before ending it on the run rule in the bottom half of the stanza. Barham doubled again with Haley, Tanner Norman and Monkerud adding singles.

Tayte Dome twirled three innings, allowing three runs on four hits in the state, but it was Jakob Holzer that earned the win as he limited the Jets to only one run on three hits and struck out five in four stanzas. Caden Allen chipped in one scoreless frame at the end to close it out.

Murray State rolled to 19 hits in the game, led by the four from Haley as well as three hits apiece by Monkerud and Makarewich. Son, Barham, Taylor and Morgan posted two hits apiece with one from Norman.