From 800 fans to 24,000: Murray State's Cinderella run to Omaha

OMAHA, Neb. -- Dan Tauken doesn't person immoderate NIL deals, and didn't expect galore perks playing shot for Murray State. The Racers outfielder yearned for conscionable 1 thing: cupful holders.

Murray State bused everyplace from its field successful Kentucky during the 2025 regular season, including a astir seven-hour one-way travel to Valparaiso successful Indiana. The squad is perpetually connected the go, eating a batch of Jimmy John's and Panda Express successful the autobus with obscurity to enactment their drinks.

Until now. On Wednesday, Tauken and his teammates awoke to a astonishment -- a backstage pitchy was whisking them to Omaha for the mid-major program's archetypal travel to the Men's College World Series. The players had their ain aisles to dispersed retired on, Tauken said, and snacks were doled retired each 30 minutes. Best of all, each spot had a cupful holder.

"It was awesome," Tauken said. "We yet felt similar radical are acknowledging the enactment we've been putting in, and it feels good."

Murray State's improbable postseason tally continues erstwhile it plays No. 15 UCLA connected Saturday astatine 2 p.m. ET (ESPN) successful the archetypal circular of the MCWS. The Racers are conscionable the 4th determination 4-seed to marque it to Omaha since the postseason tract expanded successful 1999 -- it's the equivalent of a 13-to-16-seed reaching the Elite Eight of the NCAA hoops tournament.

The Racers are the epitome of the have-nots of assemblage baseball. Murray State plays successful an 800-seat stadium with elephantine holes successful the outfield walls and a washed-out aged scoreboard, and there's a Lowe's sitting successful the backdrop.

The players are successful complaint of tarp duty. Some days, they person to laic the tarp down and rotation it up aggregate times.

"When we instrumentality the tarp off, it's ever a stream successful close field," Tauken said. "And during the play against Southern Illinois, the outfield was fundamentally a excavation and we had to play due to the fact that it was a league series.

"So each measurement you took, the h2o would splash up and it was benignant of fun. I mean, it was a small spot dangerous, but it was fun."

So however person the Racers been capable to spell wherever galore overmuch larger-budgeted programs haven't?

Baseball is each astir momentum, manager Dan Skirka said. The Racers won the Missouri Valley Conference tourney -- the MVC is simply a bully league, helium insists, contempt its lone NCAA determination bid -- and past received what they saw arsenic a favorable gully astatine No. 10 Ole Miss.

They'd beaten the Rebels past twelvemonth successful 15 innings and played them adjacent this play successful a 10-inning nonaccomplishment successful Oxford, Mississippi. The familiarity allowed the Racers to debar being intimidated by the 11,000-plus Ole Miss fans and to rally aft getting hammered by the Rebels 19-8 successful the double-elimination regional.

Baseball, Skirka said, is besides astir radical and relationships.

"They're conscionable large kids," helium said. "They don't absorption connected what we don't have. They conscionable get to work. They emotion to play, they emotion to vie with each other, and it conscionable goes a agelong way.

"Just getting to enactment and processing and getting better. And erstwhile we got a accidental to compete, they competed, and sometimes you win, and sometimes you lose. But they kept developing, and evidently they've gotten blistery present successful the postseason, and they rode it."

The Racers ended up beating Ole Miss 12-11 to beforehand to the supers, past took down Duke successful the Durham Super Regional.

Outfielder Jonathan Hogart stood successful a hallway astatine Charles Schwab Field connected Thursday arsenic players and coaches of immoderate of the powerhouses successful assemblage shot passed by, and successful immoderate ways it inactive didn't look real. Hogart is grounded capable to accidental that helium doesn't wage attraction to the logos connected the uniforms, and assured capable to accidental that helium believes his squad tin bash anything.

But he'll besides concede that if idiosyncratic told him successful January that this is wherever they'd beryllium successful mid-June, helium wouldn't person believed it.

"Absolutely not," helium said. "It's ever a dream."

He has sat connected his sofa this clip of year, watching the MCWS, and thought the players "looked similar celebrities connected TV."

"It takes a batch of luck and a batch of grit," helium said. "And besides a truly talented team, which we have."

After the Racers landed astatine Eppley Airfield, Skirka took them to Charles Schwab Field. Skirka said walking into the 24,000-seat stadium was an "out-of-body experience" -- that's 23,200 much seats than he's utilized to.

He didn't accidental thing erstwhile they walked done the stadium Wednesday. Skirka conscionable wanted the players to spot the Murray State banner and soak everything in. His 9-year-old son, Keegan, was lasting beside him.

"This is beauteous cool, Dad," Keegan told him.

Tauken walked disconnected the tract Thursday and was stopped successful the passageway by autograph seekers. He caught himself looking astir the stadium a fewer times, but marque nary mistake -- Tauken's feet volition beryllium connected the crushed Saturday, and notably dry.

"They bash instrumentality attraction of the puddles," helium said.