Middle Tennessee State University Athletics
Middle Tennessee
4-3
Kent State
4-2
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Skolnicki (1-0)
L: Wigginton, Peyton (1-1)
Batting:
2B: Kanavas 1 ; Parks 1 ; O'Brien 1
HR: Dalporto 1 ; Hamilton 1
RBI: Mamarella 1 ; Kanavas 2 ; Parks 2 ; Dalporto 6 ; Hamilton 1 ; Ferguson 1
SF: Dalporto 1 ; Ferguson 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Hawkins 1 ; Mamarella 4 ; Kanavas 2 ; Parks 1 ; Dalporto 1 ; Hamilton 1 ; Smetana 1 ; O'Brien 1 ; Turner 1 ; Lewandoski 1
SB: Kanavas 1
CS: Hawkins 1
HBP: Mamarella 1 ; Hamilton 1
Batting:
HR: Dennis, Austin 1 ; Kemp, Ryan 1 ; Antonini, Aaron 1
RBI: Dennis, Austin 1 ; Kemp, Ryan 1 ; Aucker, Aaron 1 ; Huff, Drew 1 ; Antonini, Aaron 1
SF: Aucker, Aaron 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Woodard, LA 1 ; Dennis, Austin 2 ; Kemp, Ryan 1 ; Antonini, Aaron 1
SB: Dennis, Austin 1
Game Leaders
Players Mentioned
Blue Raiders come up short in final game of Mule Mix
2/25/2018 4:23:00 PM | Baseball
Antonini, Dennis and Kemp each hit solo HR
After the Golden Flashes (4-2) took care of business against Lipcomb and Belmont the previous two days, their hot bats carried over against Blue Raiders. They plated runs in each of the first four innings and seven of nine innings overall.
"They just executed on everything," said Head Coach Jim McGuire. "You have to tip your cap to them, they got it done when it counted and we paid the price for it."
Freshman southpaw Peyton Wigginton got the nod on the mound for the second consecutive Sunday, but could not deliver the same results as last week. He allowed four earned runs and five runs while striking out three in three innings pitched before being relieved of his duty.
Junior Carson Lester was brought in to slow down the Golden Flashes offense. He finished the day hurling five innings, giving up nine hits but only allowing two earned runs and striking out two as well.
The Blue Raider offense showed some fight in the bottom of the fourth when Austin Dennis and Ryan Kemp hit back-to-back solo homeruns to left field to close the gap to 6-2.
Catcher Aaron Antonini hit another solo home run in the bottom of the eighth. That was the start of a three run rally that tightened the gap to 8-5.
However, a ninth inning grand slam from the Golden Flashes shut the door.
That was the first home run for Antonini, Dennis and Kemp in the 2018 season. Both Antonini and Dennis finished the day 2-for-3 with an RBI.
Errors on defense plagued the Blue Raiders as they tallied three in total on the day.
Middle Tennessee has multiple chances to bounce back this week as they travel to Knoxville to face the Tennessee Volunteers on Tuesday and host Tennessee Tech on Wednesday. The Blue Raiders also travel to Kodak, Tenn. this weekend for the inaugural Tri-Star Classic to face Memphis, ETSU and Tennessee.
