Middle Tennessee State University Athletics
Middle Tennessee
McNeese State
Raiders Head to Florida for Five Games
2/22/2018 10:00:00 AM | Softball
Date: Friday, Feb. 23 – Saturday, Feb. 25
Teams: Middle Tennessee vs. McNeese State, Eastern Michigan, Kent State, Marist, and Rhode Island
Location: Roc Park – Madeira Beach, Fla.
MURFREESBORO, Tenn. – Coming off a perfect 5-0 weekend in Alabama last weekend the Middle Tennessee softball team looks to carry that momentum into another weekend tournament. The Blue Raiders are set to square off with five teams in the EMU Madeira Beach Spring Invitational II in Madiera Beach, Fla.
The weekend gets underway with a Friday night contest with McNeese State at 5:30 p.m. Then MT faces the host, Eastern Michigan and Kent State at 10 a.m. and 3 p.m. on Saturday. The Blue Raiders close the weekend with two games Sunday against Marist and Rhode Island at 10:30 a.m. and 1 p.m.
Live Stats will be available for all games this weekend and links can be found on the MT Softball schedule page of GoBlueRaiders.com.
Scouting the Blue Raiders (7-4)
Middle is in the midst of a six game winning streak with the last three wins being consecutive shutouts. One of those shutouts was a 3-0 win over UT-Martin that will go down as a no hitter for senior pitcher Cori Jennings.
Jennings also picked up a win over Fort Wayne on the weekend, earning herself C-USA Co-Pitcher of the Week. She struck out eight in her two outings and had a 1.08 ERA on the weekend.
Sophomore infielder Lexi Cushing also earned herself C-USA Player of the Week honors. Cushing hit 8-for-12 (.667) with a double, two home runs and four RBI in the five game tournament. She also scored six times and recorded a stolen base. Cushing also went a perfect 5-for-5 with two walks through the first two games of the weekend.
Freshman pitcher Amber Baldwin and senior pitcher Gretchen Greer also picked up shutout wins on the weekend. Baldwin allowed just four hits as the Blue Raiders down Akron, 5-0, and Greer recorded 10 strikeouts in a 4-0 win over Nicholls State to close out the tournament.
Scouting McNeese State (7-3)
The Cowgirls come into the weekend having just fallen out of the top 25 rankings. The team still has posted a few impressive wins, including most recently topping No. 9 Florida State, 6-1. The Cowgirls also bested Preseason No. 20 Tulsa in two contests back on Feb. 9th.
Justyce McClain is hitting .515 to lead the team early in the season, she's come up with 17 speedy singles and seven stolen bases. Brenique Wright and Morgan Catron are power threats for the Cowgirls with three and two home runs, respectively. Wright is hitting .417 at the plate and also has a double, two triples and seven RBI. Catron has a .357 batting average and a team-high nine RBI.
Caroline Settle his pitched nearly half of McNeese's innings, posting a 4-1 record and a 2.97 ERA. She has 11 strikeouts and two complete games on the year.
Scouting Eastern Michigan (0-5)
The Eagles are 0-5 to start the year as they began the season at the first weekend of the EMU Madiera Beach Spring Invitational.
Sam Saporito leads EMU at the plate, hitting .500 (4-for-8) in four games played. She also has a double, a stolen base and RBI. Haley Hostetler has picked up two doubles on the year and has scored twice. She also has a RBI.
Nicolle Miranda has appeared in four games for the Eagles, pitching 19.1 innings. She leads the squad in strikeouts with 16 and ERA (1.45), she has also thrown one complete game.
Scouting Kent State (4-1)
Kent State also received two conference Players of the Week as Pitcher Madi Huck and Infielder Holly Speers each were honored by the Mid-American Conference this last week.
Speers hit .643 to open the season, going 9-for-14 at the plate with two doubles, a home run, seven RBI and six runs scored.
Huck went 3-0 in the circle for the Golden Flashes, throwing two complete games and two shutouts. She allowed just two unearned runs for a 0.00 ERA. Huck recorded four strikeouts in the three appearances.
Allie Luther and Emily Dobbin are also players to watch at the plate. Luther is batting .500 with a home run and five RBI while Dobbin is hitting .385 with two doubles.
Scouting Marist (0-0)
Marist saw their season opening weekend get canceled against Coppin State. The Red Foxes will now open the weekend in Madeira Beach, Fla.
Last season Marist went 37-22 in the MAAC. This season the Red Foxes were picked to finish third with senior Kourtney Paul being named to the Preseason All-MAAC team.
Paul hit .366 a season ago, scoring 30 runs. She had nine doubles, a triple and four home runs on the year. She also picked up 22 RBI and 11 stolen bases.
Megan Beiermeister returns as the top threat in the circle for Marist. She had a 2.28 ERA last season, going 11-6 with two complete games and a shutout. Beiermeister also picked up two saves 47 strikeouts in 83 innings of action.
Scouting Rhode Island (1-3)
Rhode Island picked up one win in their season opening tournament last weekend, defeating Mount st. Mary's, 3-2.
Erika Yeager leads Rhody at the plate, hitting .500 with three doubles, a home run and five RBI. She was an All-Rookie Team member a season ago.
Sarah Gunderson was an All-Rookie Team member and she returns in the circle for Rhode Island. She is 0-1 on the year with two appearances. She has a team-low 6.30 ERA in 10 innings of work and has struck out eight.
