Middle Tennesee State University Athletics
Middle Tennessee
8-9, 0
Florida Atlantic
12-5-1, 0
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Eric Keating (1-0)
L: Lester, Carson (0-4)
S: Cameron Ragsdale (4)
Batting:
2B: Sullivan, Kevin 2 ; Aucker, Aaron 1 ; Benefield, Blake 1 ; Conn, Devin 1
3B: Aucker, Aaron 1
RBI: Delgado, Riley 1 ; Sullivan, Kevin 1 ; Aucker, Aaron 1 ; King, Kaleb 1 ; Benefield, Blake 1 ; Conn, Devin 1
SH: Conn, Devin 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Sullivan, Kevin 1 ; Kemp, Ryan 1 ; King, Kaleb 2 ; Benefield, Blake 1 ; Conn, Devin 1
Batting:
2B: Tyler Frank 1 ; Austin Langham 1
HR: Eric Rivera 1
RBI: Austin Langham 1 ; David Miranda 1 ; Stephen Kerr 3 ; Eric Rivera 2
SF: Stephen Kerr 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Tyler Frank 3 ; Austin Langham 2 ; Kevin Abraham 1 ; Eric Rivera 1
CS: David Miranda 1
HBP: Tyler Frank 1 ; David Miranda 1 ; Gary Mattis 1 ; Pedro Pages 1
Game Leaders
Players Mentioned
Blue Raiders drop heartbreaking C-USA Opener 7-6
3/17/2017 10:23:00 PM | Baseball
MT was one hit away from tying the game in the 9th
With the score 7-5 heading into the ninth, the Blue Raiders got off on the right foot when Aaron Aucker drilled a leadoff triple to right center field. Two batters later, senior Kaleb King ripped an RBI-single, scoring Ryan Kemp who was pinch running for the injured Aucker.
After a fielder's choice to get the runner at second, Blake Benefield came up to hit with a runner on first and two outs. The Murfreesboro native kept the Blue Raiders alive lofting a single to center on an 0-2 count. MT had runners on 2nd and 3rd after a passed ball. Redshirt freshman drew a five-pitch walk to load the bases.
Senior Riley Delgado stepped to the plate with the bases loaded and two outs. The shortstop lined out to the second baseman to end the game.
The Blue Raiders (8-9, 0-1 C-USA) jumped out on the Owls (12-5-1, 1-0 C-USA), leading 4-0 after two frames, before the Owls pounced in the sixth and seventh inning, taking control of the game.
MT began the game with an unheard of five doubles in the first two innings. The Blue Raiders had hot bats early, however, after the second inning, MT did not score again until the eighth.
"We jumped out pretty good," said Head Coach Jim McGuire. "I thought our approach was really good, we had some great at-bats, drove in runs, we were moving guys, so we were feeling good after those first two innings. After that, they shut us down."
Trailing 4-1 into the bottom of the fifth, FAU's powerful offense woke up, putting up two-spots in the next two frames to take the 5-4 lead.
The Blue Raiders responded in the eighth with a Delgado RBI-single, tying the game at 5-5. The Owls responded again in the bottom of the frame, plating two more, to go up 7-5 heading into the ninth.
FAU reliever Eric Keating (1-0) picked up the win, sophomore Carson Lester (0-4) was tagged in the loss in relief.
Second baseman Kevin Sullivan was solid at the plate tonight with a career-high two doubles, going 2-of-4 with a run and RBI. Benefield had his best game of the season, finishing 3-of-5 with a run and RBI.
Six different Blue Raider batters accounted for all 14 hits.
Both Aaron Aucker and Reid Clements left the game with injuries.
Game two of the three-game series will be Saturday at 4 p.m. Junior Tyler Hasper will be back on the mound after suffering a shoulder injury in his second career start against Bowling Green.
The game will be video streamed through CUSA.tv/RaiderVision. Radio coverage provided on 92. 3 FM (WMOT 2). Live tweets are available on Twitter @MT_Baseball.
