Middle Tennessee State University Athletics
Middle Tennessee
Florida Atlantic
Softball set for important home-stand
3/28/2011 1:28:00 PM | Softball
MURFREESBORO, Tenn. - The Middle Tennessee softball team is set to embark on one of the most important stretches of their 2011 schedule, as they will play host to six conference games over six days at Blue Raider Field.
The home-stand begins with a mid-week doubleheader against FAU on Tuesday at 4 p.m. They will then play a Wednesday finale with the Owls at 1 p.m., before taking on South Alabama in a doubleheader on Saturday at 1 p.m. The Blue Raiders will wrap-up the weekend on Sunday with a noon game against the Jaguars.
"This week is very important for us," head coach Sue Nevar said. "This league is very competitive and we sit right in the thick of a tight race. Four wins is what we need, five or six is even better."
Middle Tennessee currently sits at 9-19 overall on the season, including a 3-6 record in the Sun Belt. They are coming off an intense series at ULM in which MT dropped all three games. The Blue Raiders played hard with the pesky Warhawks, exchanging leads with ULM 12 times over the series.
"I don't feel like we have not been playing well, but it is essential we start finishing games. Our focus entering the week is playing through all 21 outs of the game. If we do not play hard the entire game, we will not succeed."
The Blue Raider bats have been working in the conference as the team is combining for a .285 average and a .365 on-base percentage. Middle Tennessee is averaging over five runs scored a game and just under five RBIs a contest.
"The bats have been there. Offensively, we are so much stronger than we were last year and it shows. We are getting the clutch hits, now it is up to the defense to help us out."
Middle Tennessee has done a spectacular job defending their home turf in 2011 going 6-1, including a three-game sweep of SBC foe North Texas two weeks ago. All-time, MT is 180-155 when playing at Blue Raider field and holds a 46-52 record in Sun Belt home games. The program's best record at home saw the 2000 squad post a mark of 20-4.
"We are a young team. It should not matter where you play, but our ladies are responding better at home right now and we must use that to our advantage. The support we get at home is outstanding and I hope a large crowd will be on-hand for all six contests this week."
Live statistics and audio for all games will be available on GoBlueRaiders.com as well as post-game results and interviews on Twitter.com/MT_Softball.
