MURRAY, KY- WIU Baseball overcame an early deficit to take down Murray State 5-3 on Saturday afternoon, thanks to a monster performance from Liam Bushey at the plate and strong outings from Jason Buhl and Karsten Stotlar on the mound.
Murray State jumped out to a fast start with three runs in the first inning, but Buhl settled in and kept the Leathernecks in the game. He tossed six innings, allowing eight hits and three earned runs while battling through 104 pitches.
The Leathernecks would score five unanswered runs and would hold Murray State to zero runs over the final eight innings. WIU got two runs in the fourth on a sacrifice fly by Justin Bogard allowing Liam Bushey to tag from third and score followed by a Trevor Leon RBI single to bring the Racer lead to one at 3-2.
In the fifth inning, Western Illinois would tie the game on a Bushey RBI single scoring Paul Osting. Bushey led the charge offensively for the Leathernecks, going 4-for-5 with two RBI on the afternoon.
WIU would take the lead in the seventh thanks to a Kyree Alexander RBI single that scored Tyler Large. The Leathernecks would add on to their lead in the eighth inning following another Bushey RBI single.
With the game hanging in the balance, Stotlar took over on the mound in the seventh and slammed the door shut. The Junior lefty worked 2.1 scoreless innings, allowing just one hit while striking out one to earn the save.
The win improves WIU to 3-7 on the season as they will look to take the series tomorrow afternoon at 1 PM for the finale at Murray State.
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