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A RESOLUTION honoring the Murray State University Racers baseball team, 1
2025 College World Series participants. 2
WHEREAS, on June 9, 2025, at Jack Coombs field on t he campus of Duke 3
University, the Murray State University Racers defeated the Duke Blue Devils by a score 4
of 5-4 to win the Durham Super Regional and advance to the 2025 College World Series 5
(CWS) in Omaha, Nebraska; and 6
WHEREAS, the underdog Racers' Cinde rella run to Omaha marked only the fourth 7
time in the history of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Baseball 8
Tournament that a team seeded fourth in one of the tournament's 16 regionals advanced 9
through regional and super regional play to the CWS; and 10
WHEREAS, the Racers earned their way into the NCAA Tournament by winning 11
the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament championship, their first since joining that 12
conference in 2022; and 13
WHEREAS, in the first game in the double -elimination regional round, the Racers 14
scored a 9-6 win over the Ole Miss Rebels, who were ranked as the 10th -best team in the 15
entire 64-team field. The Racers then defeated Georgia Tech and lost a game against Ole 16
Miss, setting up a winner-take-all regional final; and 17
WHEREAS, the regional final saw an offensive explosion, with the Racers staking 18
themselves to a 12 -3 lead after 7½ innings. After a spirited Rebel rally, Graham Kelham 19
came on in relief to record the last eight outs of the game for the Racers, six of which 20
came by strikeout; and 21
WHEREAS, with the victory, the Racers advanced to a best -of-three game super 22
regional on the road against Duke University. After splitting the first two games of the 23
series, the Racers edged the Blue Devils 5-4 in game three, with Luke Mistone hitting the 24
go-ahead home run in the eighth inning and Kelham earning the win with another stellar 25
relief appearance; and 26
WHEREAS, with the win, the Racers advanced to the College World Series in 27
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Omaha, the Holy Grail of college baseball, and although they did not capture the ultimate 1
prize, the tremendous run through the tournament by this talented group of college 2
athletes will forever be remembered in the annals of college baseball history; and 3
WHEREAS, the Racers finished the 2025 season with a record of 44 wins against 4
17 losses, setting a school record for wins in a season in addition to earning the school's 5
first trip to the College World Series; and 6
WHEREAS, members of the Racers squad were Nico Bermeo, Nic Schutte, 7
Jackson McCoy, Gunnar Bingham, Harper McLendon, Isaac Huettl, Holden Carpenter, 8
Carson Garner, Dustin Mercer, Jaxon Diamond, Dom Decker, Kane Elmy, Conner 9
Cunningham, Jonathan Hogart, Derek Lebron, Will Vierling, Jacob Hustedde, E than 10
Lyke, Reese Oakley, Brayden Baker, Kingsley Guthrie, Luke Mistone, Danny Rollins, 11
Brady Grabowski, Dylan Zentko, Preston Chaudoin, Parker Patterson, Isaac Silva, Jack 12
Wajda, Matt Parenteau, Brevin Scott, Dan Tauken, Reed Braundmeier, Jackson Ugo, 13
Graham Kelham, Charlie Jury, and David Stokely; and 14
WHEREAS, the Racers were led by Head Coach Dan Skirka, who in seven seasons 15
has led the Racers to 209 wins; Assistant Coaches Steve Adkins, Hunter Wolfe, and 16
Anthony Ortega; and Director of Player Development Hayden Cross; and 17
WHEREAS, the dedication and excellence displayed by the 2025 Murray State 18
Racers baseball team have brought great pride to the school and the entire 19
Commonwealth, and they are indeed worthy of public commendation; 20
NOW, THEREFORE, 21
Be it resolved by the Senate of the General Assembly of the Commonwealth of 22
Kentucky: 23
Section 1. The members of the Senate join Senator Jason Howell in 24
congratulating the Murray State Racers and coach Dan Skirka for earning the school's 25
first-ever trip to the College World Series, applauding the talent and dedication of team 26
members and coaches, a nd wishing everyone involved with the team good fortune in all 27
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future endeavors. 1
Section 2. The Clerk of the Senate shall transmit a copy of this Resolution to 2
Senator Jason Howell for presentation to the team. 3