Blue Raiders Set for Second Weekend of Season

Thursday, February 14

San Diego, Calif.

8 PM

Middle Tennessee

San Diego State

2/13/2019 11:00:00 AM | Softball

MURFREESBORO, Tenn. – The Middle Tennessee Softball team set out Wednesday for their second tournament of the young 2019 season. This weekend, the Blue Raiders travel to San Diego, California, for the Campbell/Cartier Classic hosted by San Diego State.

Live Stats video links for the weekend can be found at the Tournament Page and at GoBlueRaiders.com. The schedule will be as follows:

Thursday, 8 p.m. CT – vs. San Diego State
Friday, 1:30 p.m. CT – vs. Grand Canyon
Friday, 6:30 p.m. CT – vs. San Diego State
Saturday, 1:30 p.m. CT – vs. UC Santa Barbara
Saturday, 4 p.m. CT – vs. Northern Illinois
Sunday, 11 a.m. CT – vs. Northern Illinois

LEADING OFF

In her first collegiate weekend, Lani Rodriguez played in all five games and had a hit in every one. She had an RBI against ranked Mississippi State in game two, reached base three times in game four against Stephen F. Austin, and had the go-ahead RBI double in the game against Valparaiso. With a full count and two outs, Rodriguez doubled to left center to bring home both runners and give MT a 3-2 lead.
The freshman Rodriguez leads the team in batting average (.538), on-base percentage (.600), and runs batted in (3).
The Blue Raiders have seven players returning to their home state of California this weekend. Five players (Amber Baldwin, Deja Portillo, Hailey Bosley, Lani Rodriguez, and Ryan King) are from the Greater Los Angeles Area, Jocelynn De La Cruz is from nearby Lake Elsinore, and Kaylyn Slatter is from Roseville in the northern part of the state.
Last weekend, Sarah Pinkston made her first career start in this game and allowed just one run through five and two thirds innings and struck out three.

RAIDERS FACE NEW OPPONENTS

MT has never faced any of the teams in the Campbell/Cartier Classic in the history of the program. In the case of NIU, the Blue Raiders have played games against Illinois, Illinois State, Eastern Illinois, Western Illinois, and Southern Illinois, but have never faced Northern Illinois.

ABOUT THE AZTECS

San Diego State started their season at the Grand Canyon Tournament in in Phoenix. They went 3-2 on the weekend, but lost their last two by the run rule. Molly Sturdivant reached base safely in all five games and is the team's leading hitter at .385, but Kelsey Munoz has provided the power so far. She drove in six runs in a win over Charlotte and is slugging a team best .714.

ABOUT THE LOPES

After hosting their own tournament, Grand Canyon enters the weekend 2-3 on the season with wins coming over Charlotte and San Diego State. Errors plagued the Lopes in their first weekend of play. Of the 19 runs allowed, only eight were earned. Kaileigh Holland was the top hitter over the weekend as she hit two doubles in the game against SDSU and is hitting a team high .583.

ABOUT THE GAUCHOS

It didn't happen in the first game, but UC Santa Barbara has their powerful hitting to thank for their 2-1 record. After dropping the first game 4-3, the Gauchos won their next two games 12-6 and 11-6. They have 10 extra base hits in the first three games and five players hitting .300 or better. Sophomores Sammy Fabian and Rayna Cohen are each hitting above .450 and have each scored four times.

ABOUT THE HUSKIES

NIU competed in the Lion Classic hosted by Southeastern Louisiana in their first weekend of action and finished 3-2. They relied on Mackenzi Bryan to pitch in some tough spots, but she was up to the task as she struck out
18 and finished 2-1 on the weekend. She also held Mississippi Valley State to just two hits in a five inning shutout.

SOCIAL MEDIA

For live, in-game updates, follow the Blue Raiders on Twitter @MT_Softball. To see behind the scenes footage and travel updates, follow @MT_Softball on Instagram. You can also keep up with the team on Facebook