The stands at Charles Schwab Field were emptying, and Murray State players wanted to savor their program’s first College World Series as long as they could.

Murray State took a chance on a 33-year-old junior college assistant. Seven years later, Skirka has the Racers on the sport's biggest stage.

Murray State and No. 15 UCLA saw their first action of the 2025 Men's College World Series on Saturday, where the former’s ongoing Cinderella story hit a bit of a snag in Game 3 after the Bruins’ 6-4 win.

The Murray State Racers are about to be embraced as the College World Series’ lovable underdogs by local fans looking to adopt a team for the week.

AJ Salgado hits a two-run double and Michael Barnett holds Murray State to three hits and a run in UCLA's 6-4 win at the Men's College World Series.

Six conferences and an independent will be represented at the College World Series, and none of the teams were among the final eight in Omaha a year ago. In 2024, the SEC and ACC had four teams apiece in the CWS and all the talk was that college baseball would forevermore