Middle Tennesee State University Athletics
Middle Tennessee
35-20
North Texas
25-27
MT Advances to C-USA Tournament Quarterfinals
5/9/2018 9:57:00 PM | Softball
The Raiders posted wins over North Texas and FIU
CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Underestimated in the preseason poll, the Middle Tennessee Softball team proved doubters wrong by winning their first two games in the C-USA Championship Tournament on Wednesday to advance to the quarterfinals.
Middle recorded their first ever C-USA Championship Tournament victory in the first round of the postseason event. Facing off with No. 7 North Texas, the No. 6 seeded Raiders won in thrilling 1-0 fashion thanks to a couple of clutch sacrifices from Kristin Uselton and Morgan Harris.
MT then advanced to face No. 3 FIU in the second round. The Raiders dominated the game, winning 4-0. Cori Jennings tossed her second no hitter of the season and struck out four. The win was her second of the day and second complete game shutout. The no hitter was just the third in C-USA Tournament history.
Game One: MT 1, NT 0
The Raiders opened the tournament in a pitcher's duel with Cori Jennings striking out four of the first eight batters. To counter, Mean Green starting pitcher Hope Trautwein also recorded four strikeouts through the first eight MT batters.
The game remained a scoreless battle through the first five and half innings with just a sprinkling of hits. Both teams had just two up to that point. MT's hits came in the first inning off the bat of Summer Burgess and Precious Birdsong. North Texas also had a hit in the first inning.
The Mean Green's other hit was in the fourth as Lindsay Gregory leadoff with a single to right. A sacrifice bunt moved her to second and in a great defensive showing the Raiders were able to retire her. Uselton fielded a ground ball and sent it to Claire Smith at second. Smith then sent it Burgess, covering third who chased down Gregory midway between third and second. Harris then retired the other runner by throwing her out as she tried to steal second.
North Texas threatened again in the top of the sixth as the leadoff batter got aboard on an error. A sacrifice bunt moved her forward but it was Uselton coming up big again to snag the final out. She used a quick reflex to grab a hard hit line drive near third to get MT out of the inning.
The out light a fire for the Raiders as Burgess and Birdsong both got aboard to start the bottom of the sixth. Uselton then laid down a sacrifice bunt to move the pair to second and third. Another Blue Raider sacrifice finally broke the scoreless tie. Harris lifted a ball to deep center and Burgess tagged up to score, giving MT the 1-0 lead.
The run ended up being the difference as the Mean Green were retired in order in the top of the seventh to give MT their first ever C-USA Championship Tournament victory.
Jennings earned her 19th victory of the year in the win. She went the complete game, striking out four and giving up just two hits on the afternoon.
Game Two: MT 4, FIU 0
Jennings picked up right where she left off in game two, getting two strikeouts in the first three innings of action.
The game remained in a scoreless draw until the top of the fourth, when MT started to get a handle on FIU starting pitcher, Shannon Saile. Lexi Cushing started off the inning with a single to left. Then with two outs, Kirstyn Cuccia got hit by a pitch. The pair advanced to second and third on a wild pitch and then both scored as Keely McGee connected on a single to left field.
MT struck again in the fifth as Danielle Munoz hit a solo home run deep over the left center field fence. Her fifth homer of the year and second of the season off Saile put MT up, 3-0.
The Raiders added one more insurance run in the top of the seventh. Birdsong smacked a triple and Uselton picked up the RBI on a ground out to third.
FIU was held to just two base runners all game. The first was in the second off an error and the second was a walk in the bottom of the seventh. The walk came with two outs but Burgess fielded the ball at short for the 4-0 win.
Up Next
The Raiders advance to the quarterfinals to face No. 2 UAB tomorrow, Thursday, May 10. First pitch from Charlotte, N.C. is slated for 3:30pm.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Jennings, Cori (19-9)
L: TRAUTWEIN, Hope (15-12)
Batting:
SH: GREGORY, Lindsay 1 ; GREGORY, Lacy 1 ; GRAHMANN, Camille 1
Base Running:
CS: MAKAWE, Rhylie 1
Batting:
RBI: Harris, Morgan 1
SH: Uselton, Kristin 1
SF: Harris, Morgan 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Burgess, Summer 1
SB: Birdsong, Precious 1
