Middle Tennessee State University Athletics
Middle Tennessee
0-1
Indiana
1-0
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Hart,Kyle (1-0)
L: Hoffmann, Nate (0-1)
Batting:
2B: Bradley, Scotty 1 ; Wilhite,Brian 1
HR: Dedelow,Craig 1 ; Sowers,Logan 1
RBI: Dedelow,Craig 3 ; Sowers,Logan 2 ; Cangelosi,Austin 1 ; Bradley, Scotty 2 ; Pasteur, Isaiah 1 ; Fineman, Ryan 1 ; Wilhite,Brian 3
Base Running:
RUNS: Eustace, Laren 1 ; Butler, Tony 1 ; Dedelow,Craig 4 ; Sowers,Logan 3 ; Cangelosi,Austin 1 ; Miller, Luke 1 ; Pasteur, Isaiah 2 ; Wilhite,Brian 1
SB: Eustace, Laren 1 ; Butler, Tony 1 ; Dedelow,Craig 1 ; Pasteur, Isaiah 1
HBP: Eustace, Laren 1 ; Butler, Tony 1 ; Dedelow,Craig 1 ; Sowers,Logan 1 ; Miller, Luke 1 ; Webb,Demetrius 1 ; Wilhite,Brian 1
Batting:
3B: Dupree, Kevin 1 ; Dennis, Austin 1
RBI: Norrell, Austin 1 ; Dennis, Austin 2 ; Aucker, Aaron 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Jarreau, Brad 1 ; Dupree, Kevin 1 ; Norrell, Austin 1 ; Dennis, Austin 1
HBP: Delgado, Riley 1
Game Leaders
Players Mentioned
Blue Raiders drop season opener vs. Indiana
2/19/2016 9:45:00 PM | Baseball
Teams will play doubleheader Saturday
MURFREESBORO, Tenn. – Middle Tennessee's season opener did not go as hoped against a strong Indiana team but there were bright spots to be found in the 14-4 setback in front of a 1,626 at Reese Smith Jr., Field.
The Blue Raiders still have a chance to win the series but it will take a doubleheader sweep on the second day of the season. Due to impending weather Sunday, the teams will play two games Saturday. Game one begins at 2 p.m., with the nightcap to follow 45 minutes following the completion of the first.
Senior lefty Tyler Troutt will toe the mound for Middle Tennessee in the first game. Redshirt sophomore Reid Clements gets the call for the series finale.
Indiana jumped to an early lead and pounded out 16 hits against five Blue Raider hurlers. The Blue Raiders were handcuffed and limited to one hit through the first six innings before finishing with seven.
Freshman right fielder Austin Dennis was a bright spot. He was the only Blue Raider with a multi-hit performance, going 2-for-4 with one triple, two RBI and one run scored. Austin Norrell and Aaron Aucker also had RBI hits for the Blue Raiders. Brad Jarreau and Kaleb King had one hit each.
Another bright spot was the pitching performances of freshmen Carson Lester and Frank Reeves out of the pen. Lester came on in the fourth and provided 2-2/3 innings of strong relief, allowing just one earned run. Reeves came on to finish and provided a hitless ninth.
That was the extent of the bright spots.
Indiana jumped on ace Nate Hoffmann for seven runs, all earned, in three innings of work. Hoffmann allowed eight hits, struck out four and walked one.
"That was just a very uncharacteristic performance by Hoffmann," Middle Tennessee Head Coach Jim McGuire said. "Nate is an outstanding pitcher and he will be fine. Maybe he was too amped up on Opening Day in front of a big crowd. He just couldn't settle into a rhythm."
The Hoosiers got to Hoffmann for four in the top of the first but the Blue Raiders came back in the bottom half of the frame and put themselves in position to erase the damage.
The first three Blue Raiders reached as Riley Delgado was hit by a pitch and Kevin Sullivan walked. Jarreau followed with an infield hit to load the bases but the middle of the order came up empty and failed to get one run home.
"That was a tough swing right there," McGuire said. "We came back and gave ourselves a chance to get some of those runs back. When we had the bases loaded, none out, and didn't score that was deflating against a very good pitcher (Kyle Hart) who was really tough once he got out of that jam."
Hart retired 15 straight at one point, striking out seven, to keep the Blue Raiders at bay in the early innings.
Middle Tennessee did get to Indiana's bullpen for four runs in the late innings. McGuire is hoping some of the momentum can carry over into Saturday's doubleheader.
