Middle Tennessee State University Athletics
Middle Tennessee
#23 Southern Illinois
Blue Raider Softball Faces Sixth Top-25 Team Wednesday
4/3/2006 1:33:00 PM | Softball
This season Middle Tennessee has faced No. 20 Auburn, No. 5 Stanford, No. 20 Louisville, No. 9 Michigan and No. 22 Mississippi State. The Blue Raiders are 0-6 against ranked teams but are looking to break that streak when the team faces SIU.
The Blue Raiders are currently 9-25-1 this season and have a record of 1-9-1 away. Middle Tennessee has played just nine games at home, due to facility upgrades, but does seem to like the confines of home with a record of 4-5. Middle Tennessee will play its first game in its renovated stadium on April 18 when the Blue Raiders host former Ohio Valley Conference rival Tennessee Tech at 4 p.m.
In the last 10 games, Blue Raider junior Shelby Stiner has really shined. The Peoria, Arizona native is hitting .483 with 14 hits, one double, two triples, one homerun and five RBI. She has also scored four runs and is a perfect 3-for-3 in stolen bases. In total, Stiner is 8-for-8 in stolen bases for the season.
For the season, fellow Blue Raider newcomer Katie Mielke leads the club with a .338 batting average which ranks her fifth in the Sun Belt. She has 25 hits, five doubles, two homeruns and nine RBI.
Leading in the extra base and RBI category is redshirt junior Muriel Ledbetter who has blasted a team-best six homeruns, has a team-leading 10 doubles and also leads the squad in RBI with 15. Ledbetter ranks second in the Sun Belt with her 10 doubles this season.
Middle Tennessee opens Sun Belt play on Saturday when the Blue Raiders travel to Bowling Green, Kentucky to take on Western Kentucky. First pitch on Saturday, for the doubleheader, is set for 1 p.m.
