Middle Tennesee State University Athletics
Middle Tennessee
WKU
MT Heads to WKU
3/16/2018 12:25:00 PM | Softball
Date: Saturday, March 17 – Sunday, March 18
Teams: Middle Tennessee vs. WKU
Location: WKU Softball Complex – Bowling Green, Ky.
Live Video - Live Stats
MURFREESBORO, Tenn. – The Middle Tennessee softball team heads to Bowling Green, Ky. for a pivotal conference series this weekend against rival WKU. Both sides enter the three-game stand with the most wins in C-USA. MT is 18-8, 1-2 while the Lady Toppers are 17-9, 2-1.
Last season, in Murfreesboro, WKU swept the Blue Raiders in the 2017 conference opening series.
Two of the Lady Toppers win were shutouts and luckily for the Blue Raiders, WKU pitcher Kathryn Downing has graduated. The other game was a 6-4 game in favor of WKU. In that contest, Precious Birdsong went 4-for-4 with two RBI. Kaylyn Slatter accounted for the other two RBI.
Scouting the Blue Raiders (18-8, 1-2)
Middle enters the three-game series coming off a big 10-1 win over Rhode Island. Summer Burgess had three RBI on two doubles in the contest while Gretchen Greer earned the complete game victory in the circle.
The Blue Raiders currently boast the two reigning C-USA Player of the Week athletes. Lexi Cushing and Amber Baldwin were honored by the conference earlier this week. Cushing's second honor of the season came as she went 7-for-12 with three doubles and two home runs on the weekend. Baldwin tossed 12 innings while giving up only one earned run for a 0.58 ERA.
Nationally and amongst the conference, the Blue Raiders have started strong offensively and in their pitching core. As a team, MT is batting .323, which is good for 24th in the nation and first in C-USA. In the circle, MT's boasts the 43rd best ERA, 2.10, which also leads C-USA.
Individually, Summer Burgess is topping the charts for MT. She is 21st in the nation in hits (37), leading the conference in the category as well as in batting average (.435).
Scouting WKU (17-9, 2-1)
The Lady Toppers are coming off two midweek losses to LSU (3-7) and South Alabama (0-8). Prior to that though, WKU opened conference play against Southern Miss, besting the Golden Eagles in the doubleheader on Saturday by scores of 11-3 and 4-1.
On the season, Paige Carter is leading the Lady Toppers at the plate with a .417 clip. Of her 30 hits, five are doubles, two are triples and three are home runs. She also has a team-high 26 RBI, .667 slugging percentage and .500 on base percentage.
Kelsey Aikey leads WKU in the circle with a 2.62 ERA in 50.2 innings. She earned a save against MT last season and has one C-USA Pitcher of the Week honor. She earned the award after tossing a no-hitter in a 1-0 win over Sacred Heart. Shelby Nunn is the Lady Toppers other main pitcher. She has an 11-6 record in 83.2 innings and a team-best 63 strikeouts.
