Middle Tennessee State University Athletics
Middle Tennessee
Florida International
Blue Raiders Head to Miami to Face FIU
4/27/2006 11:01:00 PM | Softball
The Blue Raiders are currently third, with a 5-4 record, in the Sun Belt Conference race and will face a Golden Panther team who is currently second with a mark of 6-3. Overall, Middle Tennessee is 18-35-1 and FIU carries a record of 23-24.
Middle Tennessee halted a three-game losing streak with an 8-6 win over Austin Peay in the final game of the doubleheader between the two teams on Wednesday. The Blue Raiders are 6-4 in their last 10 games.
Junior Muriel Ledbetter has really stepped it up in the last 10 games for the Blue Raiders. She is hitting .424 with 14 hits, four homeruns, three doubles and 12 RBI. Against Austin Peay, Ledbetter broke the school record for most homeruns in a season as she has logged 11 this season. For her career, Ledbetter has 13 homeruns ranking her fourth in the Blue Raider record books. Overall, Ledbetter is second on the team in batting average with a .331.
Currently, junior college transfer Shelby Stiner leads the team in batting average with .351 and also ranks second in the Sun Belt Conference. The junior short stop from Peoria, Arizona had her 13-game hitting streak snapped in the loss to Austin Peay on Wednesday. However, it was the second-longest hitting streak in Blue Raider history with the longest being 19 in 2004 by former Middle Tennessee player Cortney Mitchell. Stiner currently ranks ninth in the Blue Raider record books for homeruns in a season with five. She has also stolen 15 bases this season, the most by a Middle Tennessee player in two years.
The junior explosion for the Blue Raiders continues with Melissa Weiland. The Murfreesboro, Tennessee third baseman is hitting a scorching .412 in Sun Belt Conference games. She hit two homeruns against Troy last weekend, including the game-winner in the first game with the Trojans. Overall, Weiland is hitting .271 and has six homeruns which ties her for sixth place in the Blue Raider record books. In her career, Weiland has 15 homeruns and is in third place in the Middle Tennessee record books.
As a team, Middle Tennessee has hit 32 homeruns this season. The Blue Raiders are just four homeruns shy of breaking the all-time homerun tally at Middle Tennessee.
Middle Tennessee faces a Florida International team that has also won six of their last 10 games. The Golden Panthers have won two of their three Sun Belt series and so have the Blue Raiders. FIU has a record of 10-13 at home and Middle Tennessee is currently 5-17-1 in away games. In Sun Belt away games, Middle Tennessee is 3-3.
Middle Tennessee needs to take at least one game against Florida International this weekend to have a chance to finish in the top three in the Sun Belt race. A sweep by FIU will put the Blue Raiders in a serious hole in the Sun Belt as the team closes out the season by hosting 12th ranked Louisiana-Lafayette on May 6-7.
Florida International swept Middle Tennessee in the regular season in 2005 and defeated the Blue Raiders 2-1 in the first round of the Sun Belt Tournament.
