Middle Tennesee State University Athletics
Tuesday, April 18
Murfreesboro, Tenn.
4:00 PM
Middle Tennessee
vs
Alabama A&M
Raiders Host Alabama A&M and Belmont Midweek
4/17/2017 4:00:00 PM | Softball
UPDATED: THE SCHEDULED GAMES VS. ALABAMA A&M HAVE BEEN POSTPONED TUESDAY AND RESCHEDULED FOR THURSDAY.
MURFREESBORO, Tenn. – The Middle Tennessee softball team jumps right back into more midweek games this week. The Raiders (14-23, 4-11) host Alabama A&M in a doubleheader on Thursday, April 20 starting at 4pm and on Wednesday, April 19, Belmont comes to town for a single game at 6pm.
Middle is 5-0 all-time when facing Alabama A&M with the Raiders winning the last meeting 9-4 last season. Prior to that contest the two sides hadn't met since 2001 and 1991 in which MT won all four games of two doubleheaders by a combined score of 50-0.
In the last meeting, MT jumped out to early 4-0 lead with two home runs in the first inning from Danielle Munoz and Payton Grove. The Bulldogs pulled back within a run with a home run of their own from Sierra Smith in the second inning. Kirstyn Cuccia then advanced the Raider lead in the fourth with a single to left that scored two. MT added two more unearned runs in the sixth inning before Cuccia scored off Austyn Whaley's ground out to make it 9-3. The Bulldogs finished with a solo home run in the seventh from Iamni Largin but the effort was not enough as MT won, 9-4. Pattie Ruth Taylor got the win in the circle, going 3.2 innings with two strikeouts.
The Raiders are 24-6 all-time versus Belmont. The Bruins won this season's earlier contest, 6-1.
In that game, Middle had four costly errors that led to four unearned runs. The Bruins jumped out to a quick 1-0 lead in the first and then a big five-run inning in the sixth to add a bit of cushion. Bailey Sims was 2-for-3 with three RBI while Jordan Spicer went 2-for-3 with one RBI. Brooklin Lee pitched the complete game win, allowing just six MT hits. Kaylyn Slatter and Precious Birdsong accounted for two thirds of those MT hits, with Birdsong recording the lone RBI in the top of the seventh.
The Raiders come into the busy week of games after picking up one win in a three game series at Florida Atlantic. All three games were decided by just one run with two of the contests taking extra innings to determine a winner. The Owls took the doubleheader, 5-4 and 2-3 on Friday before MT won the series finale, 2-1. That win was the first time the Raiders have defeated FAU since joining C-USA.
Precious Birdsong hit .615 (8-for-13) against the Owls with a triple, two runs scored, two RBI and two stolen bases. That pushed her season batting average up to .449 on the year, second-best in the conference and 16th in NCAA DI.
Other offensive threats for the Raiders include Whaley, who leads the team in RBI with 23, she added two in the FAU series. Summer Burgess continues her stellar freshman campaign, as the Raiders' leadoff hitter she is batting .317 with a .378 on base percentage and a team-leading seven doubles.
Cori Jennings pitched two complete games versus FAU last weekend, going 1-1, to move to 8-12 on the year. She struck out 13 over 15.2 innings of work. Her season ERA is now at 2.35 and is up to a team-best 85 in strikeouts.
Alabama A&M enters the doubleheader with a 13-25 record. The Bulldogs are coming off a 1-2 weekend of conference play against Alcorn State. They lost the first game of the series, 10-4, won the second, 6-3 and fell in the rubber match, 3-2.
As a team, the Bulldogs are batting .267 on the year. Ariel Smith leads the team in RBI with 21 to go with her .247 batting average, five doubles, a triple and three home runs. Viridiana Ramos leads the team in homers with four, to go with 19 RBI and her .277 average.
As a pitching staff, the Bulldogs have a 6.64 ERA. Caitlyn Hayden has seen the majority of the time in the circle with 109 innings of work so far this season. She boasts a 4.79 ERA with an 8-11 record. Hayden has pitched 11 complete games and struck out 48. Rachel Sanders has pitched 51.1 innings this season and comes into the doubleheader with an 8.06 ERA and 22 strikeouts.
Belmont enters the second meeting of the year with MT following splitting a conference series with Morehead State last weekend. The Bruins won the first game, 11-1, and dropped the second, 10-7. They are now 29-13 on the year.
Six Bruins are hitting .300 or better, led by Jess Andre's .350 batting average. She has 42 hits to go with a team-high 10 doubles and 31 RBI. Andre also has five home runs. Chelsey Deloney is leading the Bruins in home runs with 12 on the year. She also as 31 RBI and a .297 average.
Lee leads Belmont in the circle, with a 2.19 ERA in 121.1 innings of action. She has 122 strikeouts, a 14-5 record and 13 complete games.
MURFREESBORO, Tenn. – The Middle Tennessee softball team jumps right back into more midweek games this week. The Raiders (14-23, 4-11) host Alabama A&M in a doubleheader on Thursday, April 20 starting at 4pm and on Wednesday, April 19, Belmont comes to town for a single game at 6pm.
Middle is 5-0 all-time when facing Alabama A&M with the Raiders winning the last meeting 9-4 last season. Prior to that contest the two sides hadn't met since 2001 and 1991 in which MT won all four games of two doubleheaders by a combined score of 50-0.
In the last meeting, MT jumped out to early 4-0 lead with two home runs in the first inning from Danielle Munoz and Payton Grove. The Bulldogs pulled back within a run with a home run of their own from Sierra Smith in the second inning. Kirstyn Cuccia then advanced the Raider lead in the fourth with a single to left that scored two. MT added two more unearned runs in the sixth inning before Cuccia scored off Austyn Whaley's ground out to make it 9-3. The Bulldogs finished with a solo home run in the seventh from Iamni Largin but the effort was not enough as MT won, 9-4. Pattie Ruth Taylor got the win in the circle, going 3.2 innings with two strikeouts.
The Raiders are 24-6 all-time versus Belmont. The Bruins won this season's earlier contest, 6-1.
In that game, Middle had four costly errors that led to four unearned runs. The Bruins jumped out to a quick 1-0 lead in the first and then a big five-run inning in the sixth to add a bit of cushion. Bailey Sims was 2-for-3 with three RBI while Jordan Spicer went 2-for-3 with one RBI. Brooklin Lee pitched the complete game win, allowing just six MT hits. Kaylyn Slatter and Precious Birdsong accounted for two thirds of those MT hits, with Birdsong recording the lone RBI in the top of the seventh.
The Raiders come into the busy week of games after picking up one win in a three game series at Florida Atlantic. All three games were decided by just one run with two of the contests taking extra innings to determine a winner. The Owls took the doubleheader, 5-4 and 2-3 on Friday before MT won the series finale, 2-1. That win was the first time the Raiders have defeated FAU since joining C-USA.
Precious Birdsong hit .615 (8-for-13) against the Owls with a triple, two runs scored, two RBI and two stolen bases. That pushed her season batting average up to .449 on the year, second-best in the conference and 16th in NCAA DI.
Other offensive threats for the Raiders include Whaley, who leads the team in RBI with 23, she added two in the FAU series. Summer Burgess continues her stellar freshman campaign, as the Raiders' leadoff hitter she is batting .317 with a .378 on base percentage and a team-leading seven doubles.
Cori Jennings pitched two complete games versus FAU last weekend, going 1-1, to move to 8-12 on the year. She struck out 13 over 15.2 innings of work. Her season ERA is now at 2.35 and is up to a team-best 85 in strikeouts.
Alabama A&M enters the doubleheader with a 13-25 record. The Bulldogs are coming off a 1-2 weekend of conference play against Alcorn State. They lost the first game of the series, 10-4, won the second, 6-3 and fell in the rubber match, 3-2.
As a team, the Bulldogs are batting .267 on the year. Ariel Smith leads the team in RBI with 21 to go with her .247 batting average, five doubles, a triple and three home runs. Viridiana Ramos leads the team in homers with four, to go with 19 RBI and her .277 average.
As a pitching staff, the Bulldogs have a 6.64 ERA. Caitlyn Hayden has seen the majority of the time in the circle with 109 innings of work so far this season. She boasts a 4.79 ERA with an 8-11 record. Hayden has pitched 11 complete games and struck out 48. Rachel Sanders has pitched 51.1 innings this season and comes into the doubleheader with an 8.06 ERA and 22 strikeouts.
Belmont enters the second meeting of the year with MT following splitting a conference series with Morehead State last weekend. The Bruins won the first game, 11-1, and dropped the second, 10-7. They are now 29-13 on the year.
Six Bruins are hitting .300 or better, led by Jess Andre's .350 batting average. She has 42 hits to go with a team-high 10 doubles and 31 RBI. Andre also has five home runs. Chelsey Deloney is leading the Bruins in home runs with 12 on the year. She also as 31 RBI and a .297 average.
Lee leads Belmont in the circle, with a 2.19 ERA in 121.1 innings of action. She has 122 strikeouts, a 14-5 record and 13 complete games.
Players Mentioned
OF
/ Softball
INF
/ Softball
OF/C
/ Softball
SS/UT
/ Softball
P
/ Softball
1B
/ Softball
INF
/ Softball
P
/ Softball
INF
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