Murray State is coming off of the best college baseball season in program history. And yet, the Racers are set to play their next midweek game at a local high school baseball field.
It is a hilarious contrast to their most recent trip to Omaha.
Although there is a perfectly reasonable explanation for this latest college baseball oddity, that does not make it any less weird. A College World Series team will host a D2 opponent at a nearby high school.
Murray State was one of the best eight teams in college baseball last season.
Murray State reached the NCAA Tournament as champions of the Missouri Valley Conference. It paired with Ole Miss in the Oxford Regional alongside Georgia Tech and Western Kentucky.
The Racers opened the Regional with back-to-back wins over the Rebels and Yellow Jackets to put themselves in the driver’s seat for the winner’s bracket. They lost the first game of the championship series to set up a winner-take-all matchup against the host program on that next Monday.
It led to a dogpile on Ole Miss’ home field after a 12-11 victory.
MURRAY STATE SURVIVES AND IS ADVANCING TO SUPERS 🔥🔥🔥🔥
— 11Point7 College Baseball (@11point7) June 3, 2025
4 SEEDS FOREVERRRRR pic.twitter.com/EDrNqbc65P
Nobody expected the Cinderella run to continue, especially after Murray State lost the first game of the Super Regional at Duke, but the Racers kept fighting! They defeated the Blue Devils in back-to-back games on Sunday and Monday to punch their ticket to Omaha for the first time.
FOR THE FIRST TIME EVER, MURRAY STATE IS GOING TO THE MEN'S COLLEGE WORLD SERIES‼️🤯 pic.twitter.com/AJyjwpajPT
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) June 10, 2025
A team of this status is not “supposed” to make it to Omaha. Murray State does not have a lot of resources. Head coach Dan Skirka cuts the grass himself before home games. You get the idea.
The Racers are playing at a high school baseball stadium.
The university committed a lot of money to stadium upgrades on the heels of this historic season. A major renovation to the clubhouse was the biggest priority. Additional projects around Johnny Reagan Field that have been completed include a brand-new outfield wall and new drainage throughout the playing surface. One of the largest baseball-specific videoboards in the entire country will also be installed just beyond the outfield.
Murray State intentionally scheduled its first few games of the 2026 season on the road while the construction continues. This was how it looked at the end of February:
The Racers also played a three-game home series at Trevecca Nazarene University in Nashville.
They were supposed to return home this week but the field is not quite finished.
As a result, Murray State will play against Kentucky State on Tuesday at McCracken County High School. A program that made it to Omaha less than 12 months ago will host a Division-II program… here:
This kind of thing does not happen in any other sport. Can you imagine if Michigan State played a home game at a local high school gym after it made the Elite Eight? College baseball is weird. Weird is fun!