I just compared season tickets prices from the 2017-18 year to prices for 2018-19.  This comparison was done using the actual form from the athletic department that you submit to purchase your tickets.

Basketball chair seats are the same as last year.

Football tickets are actually less, due I think to one less home game.

The unrestricted donation required to purchase the basketball tickets was unchanged.

Bottom line.  There was no increase in season ticket prices.

Well maybe I was only half kidding about Western being light years ahead of us.   And, yes, Western has had some rough years in baseball since moving to Conference USA. My point is that for whatever reason Sims choose to transfer to Western, he felt it was what was best for him educationally and perhaps athletically and he didn't deserve the comment that was posted.  Now that I know you were kidding, I feel better.

One more thing.  I played baseball at Murray for four years and we went 14-2 against the Hilltoppers.  Go Racers!

I know there are Western haters on this board but the comment made previously is unfair to this young man.  Except for possibly basketball, Western's athletic program is light years ahead of Murray and Davis is taking of a NCAA transfer policy to better his baseball career in a more high profile program with more resources and significantly better facilities.  And there may just be extenuating circumstances that led to the transfer.  Give him a break for making a decision in his own best interest.

First, congratulations to Tennessee Tech.  They have made OVC baseball proud and I am pulling for them to make it to the CWS.  However, I think a case could be made that their achievement as of now is no greater than the 79 'Breds team.  At present they are two wins away from the CWS.  The 79 Murray team was only one win away from the CWS.

Yes the format was different in 79 as there were only 34 teams in the field but my argument is that those were the best 34 teams in the country.  That said, I hope that Tech wins two more and becomes the first OVC baseball team to make it to the CWS.   I think that if you look at what Tech has done, the number of OVC players picked in the draft, and a number of good wins over power conference teams by OVC teams, the OVC is becoming a baseball conference not to be taken lightly.  

Hopefully, Murray can become part of that conversation.  I strongly believe we were headed in that direction and I hope the coaching change does not cause us to lose the momentum that we have built up over the past four years.  As for none of our players being drafted, we would have had one, Davis Sims, but he indicated that he planned to return next year so MLB teams backed off.   And with the success of Grant Wood, we now have three freshmen all-Americans on the team moving into next year.

Quote from: HoptownRacer post_id=166210 time=1524789901 user_id=28They've been consistently good since the early part of this decade.  If you look on the OVC website their offensive stats are off the charts.  Pitching and defense is top 3 in the league, too.

Tennessee Tech is very good this year.  Probably the best ever in the OVC.  Everybody talks about their offense but there defense is very good and three pitchers were drafted this week.  

However, they have not always won since the early part of this decade.  Matt Bragga was hired in 2004 and had losing seasons his first four years.  As a matter of fact, he had a significantly lower winning percentage his first four that what Kevin Moulder had at Murray State.  Beginning in the 2008 season, Tech has had winning records in 8 of the 11 seasons including this year.  He had a good surge from 2008 to 2010 but then had a couple of bad years in 2011-12.  Also had a losing record in 2015.  However, he has had 4 40+ wins seasons since then including the 50+ wins they will finish with this year.  

The draft could put them into a rebuilding season next year.  They lose 4 of their position starters and Pitcher OY to graduation and possibly could lose three more juniors to the draft including two pitchers.  They will return the OVC Player of the Year, who, by the way, had a miserable NCAA in Mississippi.  Hope he can break out of his slump in Texas!

The Baseball program has actively solicited donations from baseball alumni for a number of years and Moulder embraced that effort and provided some incentives for giving.  That said, maybe 50 of over 400 identified alumni actually made donations.   Moulder also did a "friends and family" mailing from the current players.  I think that got a good response.  So he has had some discretionary funds available to him through the Racer Club.

Coaches
We have had difficulty keeping assistant coaches, not only in baseball but in football and basketball, as well, primarily due to the relatively low pay at Murray.  The assistant coach referenced earlier was Grayson Crawford, who was our pitching coach.  He left after fall practice when he was offered a similar position at Louisiana Tech at double his salary at Murray.  That left Coach Moulder having to scramble to find a pitching coach.  I think this is probably a problem at most of the OVC schools and is not unique to Murray.  However, the same cannot be said about the head coaches salary.  We finished the season ranked 7th in the conference.  I believe that's about where our head coach would be ranked in comparison to other OVC head coaches salary.  That will be as issue in searching for a new coach.  One other thing. Coach Moulder turned down an assistant position at an SEC school this past summer to stay here and continue to rebuild. That offer would have doubled his salary.   I know he thought he had more time and I believe that with time, he was going to move our baseball program to a level not seen for over 30 years.  

Record
In his four years here, Coach Moulder was 99-128, a 43.6 winning percentage.  By comparison, Rob McDonald, in his first four years, had a record of 78-141, a winning percentage of 35.6%.  It is inaccurate to say that the program hasn't improved on the field.  Last year we set a new school record for home runs in a single season.  Offensively and defensively, we are a much better ballclub than we have been.  What hasn't improved is our pitching.  We were poised to have an exceptional pitching staff this year but injuries, two freshmen pitching recruits who were drafted and signed pro, and the gap in changing pitching coaches all contributed to this.  BTW, to my knowledge, this is the first time that Murray State has lost freshmen recruits to the draft and is indicative of the high level of recruitment that Coach Moulder has done.  The benchmark for OVC coaches has to be the job that Matt Bragga has done at Tennessee Tech.  They won the OVC last year and are poised to win it again today and make their second straight NCAA appearance.  They have also been ranked in the top 25 much of the season.  It is interesting to note that Bragga, who has been at Tech for 15 years, didn't have his first winning season until his 6th year.  It takes a while to build a winning program when you have been down as long at Murray has.

Resources-Facilities
The AD has made a major commitment to improvement in facilities with lights, the new grandstand, a new pressbox, and other smaller improvements.  That said, we are still lagging behind some of the OVC schools.  Tech just built a new indoor practice facility and other schools already have one.  Starting the season in mid-February requires that the team have indoor facilities to get  ready for the season.  Several conference schools also have turf playing surfaces, another plus when starting the season in February. Jacksonville State just recently completed a new baseball stadium which is top of the line for OVC schools.  EKU has sunk over 2 million in improving their facility.  Others have made strides also, so while we have made a lot of improvement, I think we are probably at best about middle of the pack in terms of facilities.

Resources - Scholarships
All NCAA division one baseball teams are allowed 11.7 full-time scholarships and these can be divided among 27 players.  However, Murray State also allocates a dollar amount for the scholarships and they are funded at in-state rates.  So when we recruit an out-of-state player who is not from one of the regional tuition states, it is a budget buster and in effect reduces the number of scholarships available.  In all fairness, this has also been a problem for football and other men's sports except basketball. Coach Moulder has done a masterful job in leveraging other financial aid available to recruit players but we have to stay away from baseball talent-rich states like Georgia, Mississippi,  and Florida.  From what I know other OVC schools do not have this restriction.  That, by the way, is a University restriction and not an athletic department imposed restriction.

Resources - Misc.
We've done pretty well the past four years in terms of some of the other funding issues.  Coach Moulder was able to strike a deal with Under Armor for uniforms and we are as well dressed as anyone else when we take the field.  That is important and something that recruits look at.  Travel budgets are an issue.  We need to be able to go South in February and early March so we can develop and get ready for the conference play but our budget simply does not support taking the team to Florida, Texas, Arizona, or California for a week every year.  Also, our spring break is in middle March after OVC play starts so we would have to take that warm weather trip and the players miss a week of school even if we had the money.  Coach Moulder has done several fund-raisers and has been able to leverage private dollars to provide some support for things that he otherwise could not have gotten.  AW has also kicked in some funds when asked.  

The Bottom Line
We are about middle of the pack in the OVC in terms of overall support to baseball.  The AD has been good to baseball with discretionary funds that he has available but those funds are drying up with budget cuts and other funding issues at the University level.  I don't see resources improving in the immediate future and that will impact a coaching search.  I, personally, am disappointed that Coach Moulder was not given more time to build the program.

Ran out of pitching.  Hranec gave us a great game going 7 innings.  Playing 4 games in 3 days is taxing for every team in the conference but having to come back  and play the 2nd game today was tough.

The continued improvement is evident.  While we lose some good players, we will be a better team next year with the returnees and the new kids coming in.  As coach Moulder has said, rebuilding is a process and his plan is working.  But you are right.  We need more and better pitching overall but we are getting there!

Since no one else has responded, I will share with you what little I know.  

There are two factors (not counting talent) that the coaches have to consider when recruiting and offering scholarships.  One is the NCAA imposed limit of 63 full scholarships maximum.  The second, and the one that is generating some conversation, is the budget for football scholarships.  The scholarship budget for football does not provide enough funding to support recruiting very many student-athletes from outside our regional tuition area, which includes Tennessee, parts of Illinois and Missouri, and Alabama.  It would be impossible for our coaches to recruit heavily in football talent rich states such as Georgia and Florida because the budget would not support payment of out-of-state tuition.  I might mention that there are other sports at MSU impacted by the limited scholarship budget.  So the coaches have to balance not only the maximum number of scholarships they can award, they also have to balance how much those scholarships will cost.  This requires a balance of in-state, regional tuition states, and some out of state.  

As I understand, the football staff see this as a problem in recruiting the best athletes available.  They could go to Florida and Georgia and sign a number of football players but then they might only be able to fund 50 or so scholarships rather than the limit of 63.  

So, there is no quota, but rather a budget that requires a balancing act regarding the mix of in-state, regional, and out-of-state.

The argument is whether or not, the tuition part of athletic scholarships is a real expenditure that impacts the overall budget for the University since the money just shifts from one pot (the scholarship budget for the sport) to another (the University General Fund Tuition Revenue Budget).  It doesn't leave the University.  

I have no idea as to what the other OVC schools do and would doubt that a school like UTM is spending more money on football scholarships than us.  As stated previously, other sports at MSU have the same problem.

I understand that the President and AD are looking at this issue and ways to give the coaches more flexibility in recruiting the best athletes.

Gutzler broke his leg in the 2nd game of the Martin series so only played 17 games out of a 56 game schedule.  Although his primary replacement, Dixon, played pretty well, Gutzler is a special player and his presence in the line-up all year would have been a difference maker.  Also, our CF, Bence was out about half the season with a broken hand.  He was hitting .444 when he went down.  After he returned, we started playing our best ball.  Our best returning pitcher was also out the 1st half of the season and it took him a while to get back in shape.  He threw 8 innings in the walkoff win over Morehead and gave up only 4 runs.  If only!

We started the season with 8 new players as starters and it took them a while to gel but we were a good enough team to do some damage in the tourney by the end of the season.  Coach Moulder hit the nail on the head when it said in a RI article that we were only 5-4 against the bottom 3 teams in the league, all of which were in the early part of the season.  A couple of more wins there and we easily make the tourney.  In fact we had series wins against two of the six teams in the tourney.  

Assuming no defections, we return our entire position line-up and our best starter.  He has added a bunch of pitchers for next year and redshirted several freshmen pitchers this year so I like our team for next season.  They've been fun to watch!

When the All-OVC team is announced, I expect 2 and possible 3 players to make first team.  Our talent level is much improved and getting better.

JUCO transfer RF Brandon Gutzler was named the Sporting News National Player of the Week for NCAA Division 1 last week.  His numbers were incredible, including 5 home runs, 22 rbi's and a 570 something BA.   He is a great contact hitter with power.  Yea, the wind was blowing out to left center all last weekend and that inflated the hitting for both teams.  But a couple of Gutzler's homers would have been out if the wind had been blowing in!  In addition to Gutzler,  we have several other good hitters with power.  More power, size, and speed on this team that we've seen in years.   Look for this team to score a lot of runs.  Let's just hope the pitching comes along and gets healthy.  Two of our projected weekend starters have been injured.   The weather is going to be nice this coming weekend and if we don't make the finals of the basketball tourney, come out to the renovated Reagan Field and enjoy a baseball game and watch a fun team as they take on Creighton for a three game series.

I have been able to attend all the home games except one this year and watched several road games on streaming video.   Our talent level is not at the level to be competitive in the OVC and particularly our pitching.  Brock Downey is our best athlete, not just pitcher, and Coach Moulder made the decision to play him regularly.  He is currently hitting around .330, by far the best batting average on the team.  But with that decision came risks and the worst case happened in early April when Brock hurt his left wrist running the bases and didn't pitch or hit for nearly a month.   We had just beaten Peay 2 of 3 and were 9-6 in the conference.  We also lost our best reliever to a hand injury (his stupidity) for the season and our starting shortstop and center fielder to injuries for several weeks at about the same time.  All of this required a major juggling of a lineup that had little depth and it's no coincidence that our 19 game losing streak started then.  

Coach Moulder is bringing in a number of recruits(around 20) next year some of whom he thinks can increase the talent level immediately.   It's pretty easy to do the math and see that with only 9 seniors, some of the current players will not be back next year.  Lawrence is hitting around .290, has 8 home runs, and has improved significantly behind the plate.  I would expect that he and both Moore's, Matthews, West, Boegel, Anderson, Maerz to return and contribute next year.  There are probably a couple of more.  A few of the freshmen might be redshirted.  

We need 2-3 starters who can contribute immediately.  These will probably have to come from the JUCO ranks.  Our power numbers were way up this year.  Before this final series, we had hit 33 home runs where we only hit 10 all last season.  We have to make better contact and we need more size and speed.  

The bottom line is that rebuilding this program will not happen overnight.  It's not like basketball where a couple of top notch recruits can turn a program around immediately.  Coach Moulder was not hired until late July and was luck to be able to recruit Brad Boegel and Nick Moore at that late date.  He and his staff are recruiting hard and we will begin to see the fruits of their labor next season but it may take a couple of years to really turn the program around.  

The improvements to the facilities, both those that have already been made (grandstand, lights, and press box) and those that are planned as funds become available will help with recruiting.   IMHO, the biggest need remains an indoor practice facility where the hitters can hit year around regardless of the weather and the pitchers can throw.   By starting the season in mid-February, it's difficult to be competitive when you haven't been able to hit and throw regularly since fall practice ended.  

We are making progress and it will get better.   Be patient!

If we could just clone him, we would win the OVC.  Our #2 pitcher who Coach Moulder recruited after being hired has pitched a couple of good games and should give us a chance to win in the OVC.  But a third starter??  Can Downey pitch on one days rest?

First of all for you basketball diehards, I am one of you although I don't post on the basketball page.  I live and die by all Racer sports actually and haven't missed a home basketball game in years.  But this post is about BASEBALL.

Our program has been down for a long time and there are a lot of reasons.  Facilities, recruiting, coaching, you name it but we have only enjoyed something like three winning seasons in the past 25 years.  But 2015 represents a new era, not just a new coaching staff but an entirely new perspective and new expectations on the part of the University, the Athletic Department, and the baseball program.  

I've been one of the most vocal critics about our lack of facilities but with what's in the works now, we move from the bottom of the conference to the upper half and I don't think we are finished.  A new 550 seat grandstand was installed last winter and improved the fan experience.   If you haven't been by Reagan Field, you need to as new lights have been installed.  At least the poles have and the contractor expects to have the lights wired and ready to use before the first home game.  Currently the first actual night game will be on Thursday, April 2 against Jacksonville State although the lights might be used sooner if darkness becomes an issue in a game.  Today, the press box was scheduled to be demolished with construction of a new modern facility to follow over the coming weeks. It might be toward the end of the season before it's ready to utilize but it will be a huge asset to the program.  Other improvements are sure to follow.

Coach Moulder has inherited some talent with OVC Pitcher of the Year, Brock Downey, All-OVC second baseman Anthony Bayus, and Freshman All-American Tyler Lawrence among a group of at least six position starters returning.  When they hit the field you will see an entirely new look also as the team will sport all new Under Armor uniforms with a number of different combinations that can be worn.  Don't think for a second that prospective players don't pay attention to these things.  

While I don't expect miracles, I believe this team has a chance to have a winning season and make the OVC tournament and with the new recruits the coaching staff has assembled for next year, it's only going to get better!

I was a 'Bred and will always be a 'Bred but all I can say now is I am proud to be a part of the new Racer Baseball tradition.

The new grandstand for Reagan Field is coming along.  To see pictures of the progress, go to GoRacers.com and click on the Racer Progress tab.  The latest pictures were taken last weekend but the contractor hasn't been able to work this week because of the weather.  The chair seats are sitting in place up side down and still need to be installed but if the weather improves next week should be ready for the home opener next Friday.

This is a great start to the improvements to Reagan Field and was completely funded by the Athletic Department.  Thanks to AD Allen Ward for his commitment to the program.  Hopefully, we will be adding a new modern press box in the next year and lights soon after.  These projects will primarily be privately funded.  

These current and future improvements have been a long time coming and should be a big boost to Murray State baseball over the next few years.