Middle Tennesee State University Athletics
Middle Tennessee
Austin Peay
Raiders Host Austin Peay and UT-Martin Midweek
4/1/2018 5:00:00 PM | Softball
Date: Monday, April 2 and Wednesday, April 4
Teams: Middle Tennessee vs. Austin Peay and UT-Martin
Location: Blue Raider Softball Field – Murfreesboro, Tenn.
Live Stats (MT vs. APSU)
Live Stats (MT vs. UTM)
MURFREESBORO, Tenn. – The Middle Tennessee softball team has a pair of midweek games on their schedule this week. The Blue Raiders host Austin Peay on Monday and return to host UT-Martin on Wednesday. Both games are slated for a 4pm first pitch.
MT holds an all-time record of 32-17 over Austin Peay. After trying to play seven times in the past two seasons, the last complete game came on April 12, 2016. MT won that contest, 3-2 in Murfreesboro. The Raiders have won every contest between the two sides dating back to the 2014 season.
The Blue Raiders and the Skyhawks met once already this season with MT coming out on top. The 3-0 MT win came in the Black and Gold Tournament in Montgomery, Ala. on Feb. 17. Cori Jennings tossed the first no hitter since March of 2010 in the game while Lexi Cushing hit a solo home run. The win was Middle's 28th all-time over the Skyhawks.
Scouting the Blue Raiders (24-12)
Middle enters the midweek matchups coming off a win over UAB in Birmingham. After dropping a doubleheader and the series on Saturday the Raiders came out swinging for a 4-3 win. Cushing had a two-run home run and Kristin Uselton hit a two-run double in the game.
Summer Burgess continues to lead the Raiders with a .410 average, third-highest in the conference. She has propelled the MT offense to a conference-leading .309 average. Burgess has 50 hits on the year with five doubles and 14 stolen bases. Cushing leads the squad in home runs with eight, doubles with nine and RBI with 28. Cushing is slugging .758 on the year. Morgan Harris is hitting .369 this season and has recorded 19 RBI.
Jennings and Amber Baldwin each hold 1.99 ERAs. This has helped the MT pitching staff to a conference-best 2.16 ERA. Jennings has racked up 11 wins on the year while Baldwin was eight. The squad has recorded 147 strikeouts this season with Jennings accounting for 61 of them.
Scouting Austin Peay (20-9)
The Governors are on a three game win streak entering the midweek contest. They most recently swept Tennessee Tech, 7-2 and 2-1 last weekend. APSU has played several of the same teams as the Blue Raiders, posting wins over Alabama A&M, WKU, and Rutgers.
Danielle Liermann leads the Govs at the plate with a .419 batting average and team-high 13 home runs and 36 RBI. She also holds an impressive .953 slugging percentage and .500 on base percentage. Liermann has earned one OVC Player of the Week award on the year. Kacy Acree leads the squad in doubles with eight. She also has 20 RBI on the year. Natalie Schilling is a threat on the base path for APSU with 22 stolen bases this season.
The Governors has several pitchers whom the Blue Raiders may see. Kelly Mardones and Morgan Rackel have seen the majority of the innings with 60.1 and 92.1 innings, respectively. Mardones has a 1.86 ERA while Rackel holds a 1.97. Rackel leads the team in strikeouts with 105 on the year.
Scouting UT-Martin (16-20)
The Skyhawks have lost six of their last eight games, most recently falling to SIUE (1-4, 1-2). Like the Raiders, UTM has defeated Akron and Holy Cross on the year. The Skyhawks did fall to Fort Wayne, who MT defeated in the Black and Gold Tournament.
Jodie Duncan and Aeron Smith lead UT-Martin at the dish with averages over .300. Duncan has a .343 average with a team-high 37 hits. Smith holds a .322 average with a team-leading 10 RBI to go with 18 RBI. Alli Fulcher leads the squad in RBI with 19, home runs with five and walks with 15.
Caitlin Karo and Hannah Ridolfi have both thrown over 100 innings on the year. Karo holds a 2.29 ERA and Ridolfi a 2.45 ERA. Ridolfi leads the Skyhawks with 38 strikeouts. Sara Hooten, who was thrown just 13.2 innings on the year is who the Raiders faced back in February. She holds a 6.66 ERA and two strikeouts.
