Blue Raiders Split Opening Day Doubleheader

Friday, February 8

Starkville, Miss.

12:30 PM

Middle Tennessee

1-0

Valparaiso

0-2

Middle Tennessee

Valparaiso

2/8/2019 6:52:00 PM | Softball

Box Score 1 Box Score 2

STARKVILLE, Miss. - Middle Tennessee Softball began their season with a doubleheader at the Bulldog Kickoff Classic in Starkville on Friday. The Blue Raiders took the first game over Valparaiso 4-1 in extra innings before falling to Mississippi State 8-2.

Game One: Middle Tennessee 4, Valparaiso 1

Kirstyn Cuccia drove in the game-winning run in the top of the eighth as the Blue Raiders topped Valparaiso 4-1.

Cuccia drove in the game's first run with a double in the second inning that scored Claire Smith. The RBI gave MT a 1-0 lead early in the game.

Valparaiso responded in the fifth inning when they had runners at second and third. An infield grounder turned into a double play, but the tying run came across in the process.

The game went to extra innings as the teams remained tied at one through the seventh inning, but the Blue Raiders quickly jumped on the Crusaders in the eighth. After Cuccia's RBI single gave Middle the lead, Sydney Heath's bases loaded base hit brought home two runs to add some insurance for MT.

Sarah Pinkston (1-0) got the win for Middle Tennessee. She came in relief of Amber Baldwin and pitched four scoreless innings with one hit and two strikeouts.

Kelsie Packard (0-1) took the loss for Valparaiso, pitching all eight innings and allowing four runs on ten hits, three walks, and nine strikeouts.

Game Two: Mississippi State 8, Middle Tennessee 2

Mississippi State made the most of their opportunities in their 8-2 win over Middle Tennessee.

The Bulldogs got out to an early lead with three runs off of two home runs in the first inning, but in the end, only outhit the Blue Raiders 13-11.

Summer Burgess led her team and finished 4-for-4 with an RBI that was the first run of the game for Middle. Lani Rodriguez had the second of MT's two runs when she drove home Savannah Freeman in the sixth.

For Mississippi State, it was Fa Leilua who did most of the damage as she finished 2-for-3 with four RBI.

Grace Fagan (1-0) was the winning pitcher for Mississippi State, pitching four innings and allowing a run on six hits with a walk and seven strikeouts.

Kailey Ahlstrom (0-1) took the loss for MT. She went three innings and allowed five runs, four earned, on eight hits and one walk.

News & Notes

Middle Tennessee now leads 2-0 in the all-time series with Valparaiso. The first and only other meeting between the two schools came in 1996.
Summer Burgess finished the day 7-for-8 with a walk and a RBI
Sarah Pinkston returned from injury to make her first pitching appearance since March 10th of 2018.

Up Next

Middle Tennessee will continue play in the Bulldog Kickoff Classic on Saturday. Their game will be against Stephen F. Austin, each team's last game in the round-robin phase of the tournament. The winner of the game will secure the two-seed in the bracket phase of the tournament and get home field advantage for the rematch tomorrow night at 5:30.