Murray State Racers baseball


The Murray State Racers baseball team is the varsity intercollegiate athletic team of the Murray State University in Murray, Kentucky, United States. The team competes in the National Collegiate Athletic Association's Division I and is a member of the Missouri Valley Conference, having joined in 2022 after being a charter member of the Ohio Valley Conference.

History

Murray State baseball reached national prominence in the 1970s under coach Johnny Reagan. The team won or shared 11 conference titles during his 36-year tenure from 1958 to 1993, which included 27 straight winning seasons and its first two Division I Baseball Championship">NCAA Division I">Division I Baseball Championship appearances in 1975 and 1979. Murray State's 1975 team finished the season with a 40–9 record, was ranked No. 23 in Division I and led the nation in batting average. The 1979 team, ranked 17th in Division I, came one win from advancing to the College World Series. Murray State's 1973 and 1974 teams also finished the season ranked in the NCAA poll.
Notable Murray State baseball alumni include Pat Jarvis, Jack Perconte, and Kirk Rueter. The team was known as the Thoroughbreds until 2014, even though the university had adopted the nickname of Racers.
In 2025, the Racers made it to their first Super Regional, upsetting teams in the Oxford Regional to make it to that point. From the Super Regional, they defeated the Duke Blue Devils in the series 2-1 to advance to the College World Series for the first time in program history.

NCAA Tournament

Murray State has played in the NCAA tournament four times.
1975 [NCAA Division I baseball tournament|1975]South RegionalLSU
Miami		L 2–7
L 7–8
1979 [NCAA Division I baseball tournament|1979]Starkville RegionalTulane
New Orleans
Mississippi State
Mississippi State		W 5–3
W 16–15
L 6–8
L 8–18
2003Hattiesburg RegionalBaylor
Southern Miss		L 6–7
L 0–18
2025Oxford RegionalOle Miss
Georgia Tech
Ole Miss
Ole Miss		W 9–6
W 13–11
L 8–19
W 12–11
2025Durham Super RegionalDuke
Duke
Duke		L 4–7
W 19–9
W 5–4
2025College World SeriesUCLA
Arkansas		L 4-6
L 0-3