Middle Tennessee State University Athletics
Saturday, March 25
Murfreesboro, Tenn.
12 PM
Middle Tennessee
9-13, 1-4
10
vs
9
WKU
8-16, 2-3
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
R
H
E
Western Kentucky
1
0
1
1
0
2
1
0
3
0
0
9
12
4
Middle Tennessee
0
2
0
1
1
1
1
0
3
0
1
10
12
2
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Huff, Drew (1-0)
L: Conner Boyd (1-2)
Batting:
2B: Kaleb Duckworth 1 ; Steven Kraft 1 ; Leiff Clarkson 1
3B: Hunter Wood 1
HR: Kaleb Duckworth 1 ; Colie Currie 1
RBI: Kaleb Duckworth 2 ; Hunter Wood 1 ; Steven Kraft 1 ; Colie Currie 2 ; Leiff Clarkson 1
SH: Tyler Robertson 2
SF: Colie Currie 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Kaleb Duckworth 2 ; Thomas Peter 2 ; Hunter Wood 1 ; Steven Kraft 2 ; Colie Currie 1 ; Leiff Clarkson 1
SB: Kaleb Duckworth 1 ; Steven Kraft 1
HBP: Kaleb Duckworth 1 ; Thomas Peter 1 ; Hunter Wood 1 ; Steven Kraft 1
Batting:
2B: Delgado, Riley 1 ; Huff, Drew 1 ; King, Kaleb 1
HR: Huff, Drew 1
RBI: Delgado, Riley 2 ; Dennis, Austin 1 ; Huff, Drew 1 ; Conn, Devin 1 ; King, Kaleb 4
SH: Huff, Drew 1
SF: Dennis, Austin 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Delgado, Riley 1 ; Benefield, Blake 2 ; Huff, Drew 3 ; Kemp, Ryan 1 ; Conn, Devin 2 ; King, Kaleb 1
HBP: Delgado, Riley 1 ; Jarreau, Brad 1 ; Conn, Devin 1 ; King, Kaleb 1
Game Leaders
AB
5
R
1
H
4
RBI
2
AB
5
R
1
H
2
RBI
4
AB
6
R
0
H
2
RBI
0
Players Mentioned
OF/IF
/ Baseball
P/OF
/ BaseballSS
/ Baseball
OF/IF
/ Baseball
RHP
/ Baseball
RHP
/ Baseball
OF/1B
/ BaseballC
/ Baseball
Raiders rally to sink Hilltoppers
3/26/2017 12:41:00 PM | Baseball
Even series 1-1
MURFREESBORO, Tenn. – Middle Tennessee baseball players decided enough was enough, and they stepped up to do something about it.
The Blue Raiders overcame a three-run, ninth-inning deficit and came off of the deck for a 10-9 extra-inning win against visiting WKU in a game that was postponed in the bottom of the 10th inning Saturday, and completed with an 11th-inning comeback Sunday afternoon.
Middle Tennessee (9-13, 1-4) won the game when Riley Delgado laced a one-out single up the middle to score Kaleb King, who had reached on a one-out error and moved to second on Chaz Vesser's base knock. It capped a four-hit game for Delgado.
The win also provided relief pitcher Drew Huff with his first career win. Huff came on to pitch in the top of the 11th and retired the Hilltoppers (8-16, 2-3) in order to get the game to the bottom half of the inning.
The win ended a season long seven-game losing streak for Middle Tennessee.
"What a great comeback by our team," Middle Tennessee skipper Jim McGuire said. "We were down in the ninth and really battled. We showed some grit. Some guys had to win some big individual battles, and they did. We had pitchers make big-time pitches in tough situations. It was a good team win, and a good way to even the series."
Things looked bleak for the Blue Raiders as they trailed 9-6 going to the bottom of the ninth.
That is when lightning struck. Not literally. That would come later.
Blake Benefield reached when the third strike got away from the catcher to start the inning. Huff singled for his third hit of the game – a career-high, putting runners at first and second. Ryan Kemp walked to load the boases before Devin Conn coaxed a bases-loaded free pass to plate Benefield and cut the deficit to 9-7.
King followed with his second big hit of the game – a two-run single up the middle to tie the game 9-9. The Blue Raiders missed an opportunity to win the game in the bottom of the ninth, but they did enough to keep it going.
Austin Dennis came on and pitched a scoreless top of the 10th and got a big strikeout with the bases loaded to end the inning.
Remember the lightning? It came in the bottom of the 10th, forcing postponement of the game until Sunday afternoon.
Delgado was 4-for-5 with two RBI, one run scored and a double to lead the Blue Raiders. Huff was 3-for-4 with a double, three runs scored and one RBI. King also had a multi-hit game, going 2-for-5 with a double, four RBI and one run scored. Vesser was 2-for-6.
Middle Tennessee erased an early 1-0 deficit when King came through in the clutch in the bottom of the second. Huff had provided a one-out double and, with two outs, Conn was hit by a pitch to put runners at first and second. King laced a double into left center on a 1-2 count to score Huff and Conn and put the Blue Raiders in front 2-1.
Huff was involved in another Blue Raider score in fourth. WKU scored single runs in the third and fourth innings to take a 3-2 lead, but Huff erased the deficit and evened the score with a massive solo blast to tie the game, 3-3, in the bottom of the fourth.
The Blue Raiders regained the lead in the fifth compliments of a great individual battle won by Delgado. He won an 11-pitch at-bat with a leadoff double into the gap in left center, chasing WKU starter Paul Kirkpatrick. Delgado moved to third on a wild pitch and scored on a Dennis sacrifice fly to provide a 4-3 lead.
The back-and-forth battle continued in the sixth frame. WKU greeted relief pitcher Tyler Holcombe with two runs in the top of the inning to take a 5-4 lead, but the Blue Raiders came back in the bottom of the inning.
Delgado was, once again, in the middle of the action. His opposite-field single scored Conn to even the score, 5-5 in the bottom of the sixth.
The rivals continued the see-saw affair in the seventh. WKU scored one in the top of the inning to regain a 6-5 lead, but Middle Tennessee obliged with a run in the bottom to even the score 6-6 when Conn legged out an infield single with two outs. The throw to first was errant, allowing Benefield to score. Benefield had reached on an error to start the inning.
Middle Tennessee starter Tyler Hasper had a strong start, going five innings, strikeout five and scattering five hits but did not factor in the decision.
The Blue Raiders overcame a three-run, ninth-inning deficit and came off of the deck for a 10-9 extra-inning win against visiting WKU in a game that was postponed in the bottom of the 10th inning Saturday, and completed with an 11th-inning comeback Sunday afternoon.
Middle Tennessee (9-13, 1-4) won the game when Riley Delgado laced a one-out single up the middle to score Kaleb King, who had reached on a one-out error and moved to second on Chaz Vesser's base knock. It capped a four-hit game for Delgado.
The win also provided relief pitcher Drew Huff with his first career win. Huff came on to pitch in the top of the 11th and retired the Hilltoppers (8-16, 2-3) in order to get the game to the bottom half of the inning.
The win ended a season long seven-game losing streak for Middle Tennessee.
"What a great comeback by our team," Middle Tennessee skipper Jim McGuire said. "We were down in the ninth and really battled. We showed some grit. Some guys had to win some big individual battles, and they did. We had pitchers make big-time pitches in tough situations. It was a good team win, and a good way to even the series."
Things looked bleak for the Blue Raiders as they trailed 9-6 going to the bottom of the ninth.
That is when lightning struck. Not literally. That would come later.
Blake Benefield reached when the third strike got away from the catcher to start the inning. Huff singled for his third hit of the game – a career-high, putting runners at first and second. Ryan Kemp walked to load the boases before Devin Conn coaxed a bases-loaded free pass to plate Benefield and cut the deficit to 9-7.
King followed with his second big hit of the game – a two-run single up the middle to tie the game 9-9. The Blue Raiders missed an opportunity to win the game in the bottom of the ninth, but they did enough to keep it going.
Austin Dennis came on and pitched a scoreless top of the 10th and got a big strikeout with the bases loaded to end the inning.
Remember the lightning? It came in the bottom of the 10th, forcing postponement of the game until Sunday afternoon.
Delgado was 4-for-5 with two RBI, one run scored and a double to lead the Blue Raiders. Huff was 3-for-4 with a double, three runs scored and one RBI. King also had a multi-hit game, going 2-for-5 with a double, four RBI and one run scored. Vesser was 2-for-6.
Middle Tennessee erased an early 1-0 deficit when King came through in the clutch in the bottom of the second. Huff had provided a one-out double and, with two outs, Conn was hit by a pitch to put runners at first and second. King laced a double into left center on a 1-2 count to score Huff and Conn and put the Blue Raiders in front 2-1.
Huff was involved in another Blue Raider score in fourth. WKU scored single runs in the third and fourth innings to take a 3-2 lead, but Huff erased the deficit and evened the score with a massive solo blast to tie the game, 3-3, in the bottom of the fourth.
The Blue Raiders regained the lead in the fifth compliments of a great individual battle won by Delgado. He won an 11-pitch at-bat with a leadoff double into the gap in left center, chasing WKU starter Paul Kirkpatrick. Delgado moved to third on a wild pitch and scored on a Dennis sacrifice fly to provide a 4-3 lead.
The back-and-forth battle continued in the sixth frame. WKU greeted relief pitcher Tyler Holcombe with two runs in the top of the inning to take a 5-4 lead, but the Blue Raiders came back in the bottom of the inning.
Delgado was, once again, in the middle of the action. His opposite-field single scored Conn to even the score, 5-5 in the bottom of the sixth.
The rivals continued the see-saw affair in the seventh. WKU scored one in the top of the inning to regain a 6-5 lead, but Middle Tennessee obliged with a run in the bottom to even the score 6-6 when Conn legged out an infield single with two outs. The throw to first was errant, allowing Benefield to score. Benefield had reached on an error to start the inning.
Middle Tennessee starter Tyler Hasper had a strong start, going five innings, strikeout five and scattering five hits but did not factor in the decision.
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