Middle Tennesee State University Athletics
Tuesday, April 25
Murfreesboro, Tenn.
4PM
Middle Tennessee
vs
Alabama A&M
Raiders Battle Alabama A&M in Tuesday Contest
4/24/2017 4:30:00 PM | Softball
MURFREESBORO, Tenn. – The Middle Tennessee softball team continues its home stand by hosting Alabama A&M in a doubleheader on Tuesday, April 25 at 4pm. The contest was originally scheduled for Tuesday, April 18 but had to be postponed due to inclement weather.
MT enters the contest on a three game winning streak, the longest since the season began at 5-1. The Raiders have a 16-23 record while AAUM enters with a 13-27 record.
Middle is 5-0 all-time when facing Alabama A&M with the Raiders winning the last meeting 9-4 last season. Prior to that contest the two sides hadn't met since 2001 and 1991 in which MT won all four games of two doubleheaders by a combined score of 50-0.
In the last meeting, MT jumped out to early 4-0 lead with two home runs in the first inning from Danielle Munoz and Payton Grove. The Bulldogs pulled back within a run with a home run of their own from Sierra Smith in the second inning. Kirstyn Cuccia then advanced the Raider lead in the fourth with a single to left that scored two. MT added two more unearned runs in the sixth inning before Cuccia scored off Austyn Whaley's ground out to make it 9-3. The Bulldogs finished with a solo home run in the seventh from Iamni Largin but the effort was not enough as MT won, 9-4. Pattie Ruth Taylor got the win in the circle, going 3.2 innings with two strikeouts.
The Raiders enter this season's doubleheader contest on a three game winning streak, the longest since the season began at 5-1. MT's most recent win came on Saturday as the Raiders topped visiting UAB, 3-1.
In that game, the two sides had to weather an eight and half hour rain delay that turned an afternoon doubleheader into a single night game. The Raiders two of the three runs on sacrifice plays. The first was a fielder's choice sacrifice bunt in the first inning from Austyn Whaley that scored Summer Burgess. Then in the third, Morgan Harris hit a single through the left side to score Burgess again. The third run was a sacrifice fly from Whaley that scored Precious Birdsong, who went 2-for-2 with two singles in the game. Cori Jennings got the complete game win, her 16th of the year. She allowed only two hits and struck out four in her ninth win of the season.
Birdsong continues to have a phenomenal year at the plate. She paces the team with a .455 average, which is third-best in the conference and 11th best in the nation. She also leads the team in slugging percentage (.536), total bases (60), on base percentage (.520) and stolen bases (18). Whaley continues to lead the Raiders in RBI with 25 on the year to go with three doubles and three home runs.
Jennings enter the contests having pitched 138.1 of MT's 264.2 innings. Her season ERA is down to 2.23 with 89 strikeouts. Gretchen Greer has dipped her ERA below two as well with a 2.96, she has 44 strikeouts in 54.1 innings of action.
For Alabama A&M, Eriel Lawson leads the Bulldogs at the plate,having played in about half of the team's games she is hitting .419. Madi Pozzi and Imani Largin come in hitting .305 and .303, respectively. Viridiana Ramos leads the team with four home runs and has 20 RBI while Ariel Smith leads the team in RBI with 21.
Caitlyn Hayden is the Bulldogs top pitcher, logging 115 innings of work for an 8-12 record this season. She has 11 complete games and 52 strikeouts for a 4.62 ERA. Rachel Sanders comes in with a 0-5 record despite 58.1 innings in the circle. She has 23 strikeouts to her name to go with two complete games and a 7.56 ERA.
Live stats will be available for these games and can be found here.
MT enters the contest on a three game winning streak, the longest since the season began at 5-1. The Raiders have a 16-23 record while AAUM enters with a 13-27 record.
Middle is 5-0 all-time when facing Alabama A&M with the Raiders winning the last meeting 9-4 last season. Prior to that contest the two sides hadn't met since 2001 and 1991 in which MT won all four games of two doubleheaders by a combined score of 50-0.
In the last meeting, MT jumped out to early 4-0 lead with two home runs in the first inning from Danielle Munoz and Payton Grove. The Bulldogs pulled back within a run with a home run of their own from Sierra Smith in the second inning. Kirstyn Cuccia then advanced the Raider lead in the fourth with a single to left that scored two. MT added two more unearned runs in the sixth inning before Cuccia scored off Austyn Whaley's ground out to make it 9-3. The Bulldogs finished with a solo home run in the seventh from Iamni Largin but the effort was not enough as MT won, 9-4. Pattie Ruth Taylor got the win in the circle, going 3.2 innings with two strikeouts.
The Raiders enter this season's doubleheader contest on a three game winning streak, the longest since the season began at 5-1. MT's most recent win came on Saturday as the Raiders topped visiting UAB, 3-1.
In that game, the two sides had to weather an eight and half hour rain delay that turned an afternoon doubleheader into a single night game. The Raiders two of the three runs on sacrifice plays. The first was a fielder's choice sacrifice bunt in the first inning from Austyn Whaley that scored Summer Burgess. Then in the third, Morgan Harris hit a single through the left side to score Burgess again. The third run was a sacrifice fly from Whaley that scored Precious Birdsong, who went 2-for-2 with two singles in the game. Cori Jennings got the complete game win, her 16th of the year. She allowed only two hits and struck out four in her ninth win of the season.
Birdsong continues to have a phenomenal year at the plate. She paces the team with a .455 average, which is third-best in the conference and 11th best in the nation. She also leads the team in slugging percentage (.536), total bases (60), on base percentage (.520) and stolen bases (18). Whaley continues to lead the Raiders in RBI with 25 on the year to go with three doubles and three home runs.
Jennings enter the contests having pitched 138.1 of MT's 264.2 innings. Her season ERA is down to 2.23 with 89 strikeouts. Gretchen Greer has dipped her ERA below two as well with a 2.96, she has 44 strikeouts in 54.1 innings of action.
For Alabama A&M, Eriel Lawson leads the Bulldogs at the plate,having played in about half of the team's games she is hitting .419. Madi Pozzi and Imani Largin come in hitting .305 and .303, respectively. Viridiana Ramos leads the team with four home runs and has 20 RBI while Ariel Smith leads the team in RBI with 21.
Caitlyn Hayden is the Bulldogs top pitcher, logging 115 innings of work for an 8-12 record this season. She has 11 complete games and 52 strikeouts for a 4.62 ERA. Rachel Sanders comes in with a 0-5 record despite 58.1 innings in the circle. She has 23 strikeouts to her name to go with two complete games and a 7.56 ERA.
Live stats will be available for these games and can be found here.
Players Mentioned
OF
/ Softball
INF
/ Softball
OF/C
/ Softball
P
/ Softball
SS/UT
/ Softball
C
/ Softball
P
/ Softball
1B
/ Softball
P
/ Softball
INF
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