2025 Fall College Baseball Reset: Murray State

The 2025 Murray State Racers were arguably one of the best college baseball stories since Coastal Carolina’s dream run nearly a decade ago. Murray State, led by Dan Skirka and a school that plays at a 800-capacity field, stormed through the MVC and took down college powers Georgia Tech, Ole Miss, and Duke en route to a berth in the 2025 College World Series. Now, the question is how can Murray State capitalize off that success?

The Returnees

As you’ll see n the next section, there are not a lot of returning players.

However, the Racers are getting back Luke Mistone, the senior infielder. Mistone, a former Cal State Fullerton player, hit .335 for the Racers last year with four home runs and 24 extra-base hits. His 83 total hits were third-most on the team last year.

As for the pitching staff, the Racers got back two of their most prolific arms from last season.

Nic Schutte struck out 97 over a team-high 96 games for the Racers last season. He gave the Racers length in key situations last spring, including in the MVC tournament and against Ole Miss in the Regionals. Schutte gave up five earned runs in Murray State’s lone loss in the Supers against Duke.

Senior Dylan Zentko is also back for 2026. Zentko struck out 54 over 52 innings last season.

Aside from those two, junior Jacob Hustedde, redshirt junior Jack Wajda, and sophomore Reese Oakley are among the other returning pitchers who logged hefty innings last season.

The Newcomers

Look, Murray State lost a lot of players after their run to the College World Series.

Some went to the pros. Will Vierling, a transfer from Louisville, was taken in the 11th round by the Phillies last July. Jonathan Hogart, who hit 22 home runs for the Racers last year, joined Vierling in the Philadelphia organization as an undrafted free agent.

Isaac Silva, one of the Racers’ top-two arms alongside Schutte, signed with the Orioles.

As for other departures, Dom Decker is now an Ole Miss Rebel. Decker, one of the younger players on the 2025 team, hit .351 last season and will now get a look at how his skillset will work in the SEC.

Carson Garner, Dan Tauken, and Dustin Mercer, three regulars, have also departed. Thus, expect a different-looking team for 2025.

The Racers only have one true freshman on their roster: Mississippi high school catching product Walker Robey. The other freshman is Anthony Perritano, a transfer from USC who played two games last year for the Trojans.

Mostly, it’s a mix of juniors, seniors, and grad transfers on the Murray State baseball team.

Kris Hokenson hit six home runs in 2024 for the Minnesota Golden Gophers, the team he spent four seasons with, from 2022 through 2025. Hokenson is also a two-way player; he struck out 35 over 23 frames two summers ago in the Northwoods League. He’s only worked in seven games at the D1 level.

Grad student Connor Chisolm only played in 14 games across two seasons with Ole Miss after transferring over from community college.

Catcher Parker Airhart hit a career-high 11 home runs two seasons ago with UT-Arlington. Last season, Airhart hit .275 with 10 extra-base hits.

Daylan Pena, who did not play last season, was a three-year starter with Texas State. Pena hit .275 in the MLB Draft League back in 2024.

Pitcher Carter Boyd struck out 15 but walked 17 over 17.2 IP with Appalachian State last year. He’s one of several players, alongside Ben Rosin (Kansas State) and Colby Ott (Eastern Kentucky) after sparse action at their former schools.

Summary

It certainly won’t be easy to repeat what the program did in 2025. That much is true, especially when taking into account how much talent was lost over the summer.

But if there’s one thing that’s true, it’s that a season like the one Murray State had last season can go a long way towards building a perenniel power. That will be the task that Dan Skirka and his group will have moving forward.