ST. CHARLES, Mo. – The Lindenwood baseball team (9-9, 0-0 OVC) took their series opener against Murray State (11-7, 0-0 MVC) by a score of 4-0 on Friday afternoon. The shutout victory was fueled by a dominant pitching performance from Josh Newell.

Newell tossed eight shutout innings while allowing just two hits with five strikeouts to pick up his third win of the season.

Offensively, Will Geary led the Lions with two hits (2-4) while Filip Sarota drove in a team-high two RBIs. Kam Edwards and Tyler Ellis both recorded doubles for the game's only two extra base hits.

How it Happened
Lindenwood took advantage of two errors by the Murray State in the bottom of the first to take an early lead, loading the bases before Charlie Isom-McCall scored from third on a 4-6-3 double play. With two outs, a fielding error on a hard-hit ball to third base by William Zareh allowed Kam Edwards to score the inning's second run.

The Lions doubled their lead in the bottom of the third, with Filip Sarota delivering a two-out, bases loaded single up the middle to drive in two more runs.

That would be it for scoring, as the teams would combine for five hits and no runs through the game's final five and a half frames.

After giving up a hit in the top of the first, Josh Newell retired 22 consecutive MSU batters, facing the minimum through seven and two thirds innings as the early hit was subsequently caught stealing.

Murray State broke up the nearly perfect game with a Daylan Pena two-out single to right field before a hit by pitch moved a Racer into scoring position for the first time in the contest. However, Newell stayed collected and kept the shutout in tact with a flyout to right field.

Aaron Jungers entered the game in the top of the ninth and finished the job, surrendering just a two-out base hit before recording the game's final out.

Next Up
Game two between the Lions and Racers is set for Saturday at 1:00 p.m.