MT Improves to 4-0 in the USF Invitational

Saturday, March 2

Clearwater, Fla.

11:30 AM

Middle Tennessee

10-9

Iowa

10-7

Middle Tennessee

Iowa Hawkeyes

3/2/2019 4:13:00 PM | Softball

Box Score 1 Box Score 2

By: @MTAthletics

CLEARWATER, Fla.– After pitching carried Middle Tennessee (11-9) in yesterday's wins over Penn and Bethune-Cookman, the Blue Raider bats led the way in a pair of wins on the second day of the USF-Clearwater Parks & Recreation Invitational.

Game One: Middle Tennessee 8, Iowa 6

A monster third inning opened the scoring in the first game of the day. The Blue Raiders struck first with six runs in the top half of the inning, starting with a triple from Lani Rodriguez, which scored Summer Burgess and Deja Portillo. Jocelynn De La Cruz singled home Rodriguez on the next at-bat, then Lexi Cushing brought home De La Cruz with a double. Cushing and Claire Smith were the other two Blue Raiders to score in the inning.

Iowa (10-7) answered with five runs of their own in the bottom half of the third to close the gap back to one run. MT's offense started clicking again in the top of the fourth, though the Hawkeyes escaped another potentially dangerous inning. Iowa walked home a run and hit the following batter to allow only two runs.

The Hawkeyes tacked on a sixth run on the board in the sixth inning, but it wasn't enough, as the Blue Raiders earned their third win of the weekend.

Kailey Ahlstrom started the game for the Blue Raiders and went five innings, struck out four batters, and claimed the win. Corrina Dodd took the save after two innings of work and clutch pitching in the final frame as the go-ahead run for the Hawkeyes came to the plate.

Game Two: Middle Tennessee 2, USF 1

The Blue Raiders scored in only one inning against USF (10-9), but it proved to be enough run support for Corrina Dodd, who tossed another gem. The freshman struck out three and held the Bulls scoreless until the final frame, making this her third complete game of the season and second this weekend.

At the plate, five different Blue Raiders recorded hits in Saturday afternoon's game against the Bulls, with Claire Smith posting the only multi-hit game. After Rodriguez singled to open the fourth inning, De La Cruz launched her second home run of the 2019 campaign to put the Blue Raiders out in front for good.

News and Notes

The win over Iowa on Saturday is the first Blue Raider victory over a Big Ten school since March 5, 2010.
Lani Rodriguez's triple against the Hawkeyes was the first triple this season for a Blue Raider.
Corrina Dodd recorded her second complete game in as many days in the 2-1 win over USF.
Jocelynn De La Cruz reached base safely in both games today, extending her streak to nine consecutive games.

Up Next and Live Stats

The Blue Raiders will wrap up the USF-Clearwater Parks & Recreation Invitational tomorrow with a pair of games, beginning at 8 a.m. South Carolina will enter play on Sunday with a 16-2 record in 2019. Furman took a 3-10 record into a doubleheader on Saturday.

Sunday, March 3
MT vs. South Carolina – 8 a.m. (Live Stats)
MT vs. Furman – 10:15 a.m. (Live Stats)

Social Media

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