Middle Tennessee State University Athletics
Friday, February 15
Murfreesboro, TN.
10:00 AM
Middle Tennessee
0-1
7
vs
0
Bowling Green
1-0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
R
H
E
Bowling Green
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
2
0
Middle Tennessee
2
0
0
3
1
1
0
0
X
7
12
0
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Zach Keenan (1-0)
L: ANTLE, Chase (0-1)
Base Running:
CS: Parker, Tanner 1
Batting:
2B: Brett Stratinsky 1
RBI: Darien Prewett 2 ; Drew Huff 1 ; Brycen Thomas 1 ; Blake Benefield 2 ; Brett Stratinsky 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Darien Prewett 2 ; Myles Christian 1 ; Brycen Thomas 2 ; Blake Benefield 1 ; Brett Stratinsky 1
SB: Darien Prewett 1 ; Myles Christian 1
HBP: Myles Christian 1 ; Brycen Thomas 1 ; Blake Benefield 1
Game Leaders
AB
3
R
0
H
1
RBI
0
AB
2
R
0
H
1
RBI
0
AB
3
R
0
H
0
RBI
0
AB
0
R
0
H
0
RBI
0
Players Mentioned
OF
/ Baseball
RHP
/ Baseball
OF
/ Baseball
IF
/ Baseball
LHP
/ Baseball
Blue Raiders open Toman era with win
2/15/2019 1:26:00 PM | Baseball
MUFREESBORO, Tenn. – The Jim Toman era started with a bang Friday for Middle Tennessee.
With Bowling Green (0-1) visiting Reese Smith Jr. Field for opening day, the Blue Raiders (1-0) cruised to a smooth 7-0 victory.
"We played pretty well," Toman said. "The main thing is throwing strikes, and we didn't have any errors and we had timely hits … that's a pretty good recipe."
Despite having to move the game from 3 p.m. up to an early 10 a.m. start, Middle Tennessee was granted with both a dominant pitching performance and terrific day at the plate.
Sophomore right-hander Zach Keenan had the best start of his young Blue Raider career, tossing a personal-best seven innings and giving up two hits while striking out four and walking none. He faced the 21-batter minimum after wiping out the two hits with a double play and caught steal.
"[Pitching coach Kyle Bunn] said to just go in and fastball attack, get ahead of hitters and throw strikes," Keenan said. "If you look at our stats from last year, we walked a lot of people. Coach Bunn told us Day 1 that we can't walk people. Especially leadoff walks and two-out walks, they can't happen."
The start was blessing for Toman, who said this offseason the pitching staff was his biggest project after MT finished last in Conference USA in earned run average the last two years.
"Zach was excellent," he said. "He threw strikes and Coach Bunn called a great game … it was a very, very good effort from the pitching staff."
While Keenan cruised through the Falcons' lineup, the Blue Raider hitters did the rest.
They benefited from a shaky start from Bowling Green's Chase Antle by plating four runs against the righty, then finished things off with three more against the BGSU bullpen.
The onslaught started in the first inning, when MT capitalized on two two-out walks and a hit batter with a two-run single from senior Blake Benefield. It came a pitch after he sailed a foul ball over the left field fence.
The Murfreesboro native's RBIs were key to starting things off on the right foot.
"When you go up 2-0, it kind of relaxes the dugout," Toman said. "It was our first time we've been in the dugout together, and you're usually a little uptight and usually have some butterflies in the first day until you're relaxed."
Three innings later, Benefield singled again to lead off the fourth and later advanced to second and third on a passed ball and wild pitch. A walk set up senior Darien Prewett with two runners in scoring position, and he delivered with a two-out single to drive in a pair.
Drew Huff followed with a single to score Prewett, giving Middle Tennessee a 5-0 lead that was plenty enough. Huff now has a six-game hitting streak dating back to last season.
The Blue Raiders scored single runs in the fifth and sixth to put the icing on the cake, finishing with 12 hits, seven walks and three hit batters.
Benefield was 2-for-3 with two RBIs and a run scored, while Prewett added two more hits, two RBIs, two runs and a stolen base. Huff had a 3-for-5 day with an RBI, and Thomas had an RBI and two runs. Brett Stratinsky also had an RBI and run and smashed MT's first extra-base hit of the season, a double.
Junior David Zoz, a transfer from Illinois Central Community College, polished off the win with two strong innings in his Blue Raider debut. He sat down all six batters he faced with three strikeouts.
Toman's bunch will hope to continue the strong start on Saturday in the second game of the weekend series. Sophomore lefty Peyton Wigginton will take the bump for the 2 p.m. start, but it could get moved to incorporate a doubleheader because of impending Sunday weather.
"It's the same mentality from the pitching side," Keenan said. "If we do like we did today, we should have the same result."
Josh Vardaman is the staff writer for goblueraiders.com. Follow him on Twitter @J_Vardaman and also follow @MTAthletics for more on the Blue Raiders.
With Bowling Green (0-1) visiting Reese Smith Jr. Field for opening day, the Blue Raiders (1-0) cruised to a smooth 7-0 victory.
"We played pretty well," Toman said. "The main thing is throwing strikes, and we didn't have any errors and we had timely hits … that's a pretty good recipe."
Despite having to move the game from 3 p.m. up to an early 10 a.m. start, Middle Tennessee was granted with both a dominant pitching performance and terrific day at the plate.
Sophomore right-hander Zach Keenan had the best start of his young Blue Raider career, tossing a personal-best seven innings and giving up two hits while striking out four and walking none. He faced the 21-batter minimum after wiping out the two hits with a double play and caught steal.
"[Pitching coach Kyle Bunn] said to just go in and fastball attack, get ahead of hitters and throw strikes," Keenan said. "If you look at our stats from last year, we walked a lot of people. Coach Bunn told us Day 1 that we can't walk people. Especially leadoff walks and two-out walks, they can't happen."
The start was blessing for Toman, who said this offseason the pitching staff was his biggest project after MT finished last in Conference USA in earned run average the last two years.
"Zach was excellent," he said. "He threw strikes and Coach Bunn called a great game … it was a very, very good effort from the pitching staff."
While Keenan cruised through the Falcons' lineup, the Blue Raider hitters did the rest.
They benefited from a shaky start from Bowling Green's Chase Antle by plating four runs against the righty, then finished things off with three more against the BGSU bullpen.
The onslaught started in the first inning, when MT capitalized on two two-out walks and a hit batter with a two-run single from senior Blake Benefield. It came a pitch after he sailed a foul ball over the left field fence.
The Murfreesboro native's RBIs were key to starting things off on the right foot.
"When you go up 2-0, it kind of relaxes the dugout," Toman said. "It was our first time we've been in the dugout together, and you're usually a little uptight and usually have some butterflies in the first day until you're relaxed."
Three innings later, Benefield singled again to lead off the fourth and later advanced to second and third on a passed ball and wild pitch. A walk set up senior Darien Prewett with two runners in scoring position, and he delivered with a two-out single to drive in a pair.
Drew Huff followed with a single to score Prewett, giving Middle Tennessee a 5-0 lead that was plenty enough. Huff now has a six-game hitting streak dating back to last season.
The Blue Raiders scored single runs in the fifth and sixth to put the icing on the cake, finishing with 12 hits, seven walks and three hit batters.
Benefield was 2-for-3 with two RBIs and a run scored, while Prewett added two more hits, two RBIs, two runs and a stolen base. Huff had a 3-for-5 day with an RBI, and Thomas had an RBI and two runs. Brett Stratinsky also had an RBI and run and smashed MT's first extra-base hit of the season, a double.
Junior David Zoz, a transfer from Illinois Central Community College, polished off the win with two strong innings in his Blue Raider debut. He sat down all six batters he faced with three strikeouts.
Toman's bunch will hope to continue the strong start on Saturday in the second game of the weekend series. Sophomore lefty Peyton Wigginton will take the bump for the 2 p.m. start, but it could get moved to incorporate a doubleheader because of impending Sunday weather.
"It's the same mentality from the pitching side," Keenan said. "If we do like we did today, we should have the same result."
Josh Vardaman is the staff writer for goblueraiders.com. Follow him on Twitter @J_Vardaman and also follow @MTAthletics for more on the Blue Raiders.
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