Middle Tennesee State University Athletics
Friday, February 28
Madeira Beach, FL
12:30 PM CST
Middle Tennessee
8-10
3
vs
0
South Alabama
4-14
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
R
H
E
Middle Tennessee
0
1
1
0
1
0
0
3
7
0
South Alabama
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
5
2
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Baldwin, Amber (4-2)
L: Hughen, Allie (0-4)
Batting:
2B: Hill, Kelci 1
HR: Cushing, Lexi 1 ; Marinakis, Mia 1
RBI: Cushing, Lexi 1 ; Marinakis, Mia 1
SH: De La Cruz, Jocelynn 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Hill, Kelci 1 ; Cushing, Lexi 1 ; Marinakis, Mia 1
SB: Freeman, Savannah 1 ; Cushing, Lexi 1 ; Heath, Sydney 1
HBP: De La Cruz, Jocelynn 1
Game Leaders
Hitting
AB
3
R
0
H
2
RBI
0
AB
4
R
1
H
1
RBI
0
AB
2
R
0
H
1
RBI
0
AB
3
R
1
H
1
RBI
1
Players Mentioned
P
/ Softball
P
/ Softball1B
/ SoftballOF
/ Softball
UT
/ Softball
P/1B
/ Softball
UT
/ Softball
Two team wins open Madeira Beach Tournament
2/28/2020 7:03:00 PM | Softball
MADEIRA BEACH, Fla. — The second tournament at Madeira Beach got off to a stellar start for Middle Tennessee, as the Blue Raiders pieced together two team wins to open the six-game weekend.
MIDDLE TENNESSEE 3, SOUTH ALABAMA 0
» South Alabama's losing streak stretched to nine games with a pair of losses on Friday, including a 2-0 decision against Middle Tennessee.
» Mia Marinakis was back in the starting lineup for the first time in five games, and the sophomore made a big impact in her first at bat, sending the first pitch she saw over the left field fence for her first career homer.
» The Blue Raiders added their second run with some smart baserunning and a defensive miscue from the Jaguars. With runners on the corners, Lexi Cushing was credited with her first stolen base of the 2020 season, and Kelci Hill scored on an error by South Alabama's second baseman.
» MT added its third run of the game courtesy of Cushing's third leadoff homer this season. Cushing launched a softball to straightaway center field for her sixth home run of the season.
» Amber Baldwin tossed all seven innings in the shutout to finish off her fourth complete game of the season.
MIDDLE TENNESSEE 9, HOUSTON BAPTIST 4
» MT entered Friday looking to even up the season series with the Huskies, who took a 3-2 win last weekend at the Mardi Gras Mambo.
» The Blue Raiders jumped on Houston Baptist early, opening up a 5-0 lead at the end of the first. Cushing singled home Burgess for the first run and was followed by Kaylee Richetto's grand slam.
» The Huskies hit a three-run homer in the third to cut into the Blue Raider lead, but MT manufactured two runs in the fourth to put some distance on the scoreboard.
» Cushing then led off the fifth with a homer, her second leadoff home run of the day and fourth this season, and Ryan King added an RBI later in the inning to give the Blue Raiders nine runs.
» Houston Baptist got a run back in the seventh, but the comeback fell short, as MT won its second game of the day.
» Kailey Ahlstrom faced the minimum in four of her five innings pitched and earned the win over Houston Baptist.
» Sydney Hughes made her Blue Raider debut as a pinch runner in the first inning.
QUOTES FROM THE BLUE RAIDERS
» Head Coach Jeff Breeden on heading into the final non-conference tournament: "This weekend, we have to finalize who we can count on. There were a bunch of substitutions in these two games, and I'm going to continue to do and play with the lineup a bit to see what gives us the best opportunity to win. We need to get our pitchers hot as well as we get into next weekend."
» Breeden on what's changed offensively in the last week: "I think we had a good week of work. Our kids know they're better than what they showed last weekend. Again, our freshmen are hot at the plate right now, so hopefully they'll just continue to be hot."
» First baseman Lexi Cushing on having four leadoff homers already this season: "It's just happening that way. I'm just going out there trying to get a base hit. It's helping me square the ball up a lot better. I've been trying to hit early in the count, and sometimes they leave those first pitches [over the plate], and I like to take advantage of that."
» Cushing on what's changed offensively for the team in the last week: "Our mindset has changed, for sure. We're playing more loose. We got in a couple of good practices throughout the week, and everyone made some adjustments. It's a mindset thing. We were out of it last weekend, and we're getting back in the groove now."
NEXT UP
» Middle Tennessee vs. Miami (OH) — Feb. 29, 10 a.m. CT
» Middle Tennessee vs. Seton Hall — Feb. 29, 3 p.m. CT
Follow the Blue Raiders on Twitter (@MT_Softball), Facebook (Middle Tennessee Blue Raider Softball) and Instagram (@mt_softball).
MIDDLE TENNESSEE 3, SOUTH ALABAMA 0
» South Alabama's losing streak stretched to nine games with a pair of losses on Friday, including a 2-0 decision against Middle Tennessee.
» Mia Marinakis was back in the starting lineup for the first time in five games, and the sophomore made a big impact in her first at bat, sending the first pitch she saw over the left field fence for her first career homer.
» The Blue Raiders added their second run with some smart baserunning and a defensive miscue from the Jaguars. With runners on the corners, Lexi Cushing was credited with her first stolen base of the 2020 season, and Kelci Hill scored on an error by South Alabama's second baseman.
» MT added its third run of the game courtesy of Cushing's third leadoff homer this season. Cushing launched a softball to straightaway center field for her sixth home run of the season.
» Amber Baldwin tossed all seven innings in the shutout to finish off her fourth complete game of the season.
MIDDLE TENNESSEE 9, HOUSTON BAPTIST 4
» MT entered Friday looking to even up the season series with the Huskies, who took a 3-2 win last weekend at the Mardi Gras Mambo.
» The Blue Raiders jumped on Houston Baptist early, opening up a 5-0 lead at the end of the first. Cushing singled home Burgess for the first run and was followed by Kaylee Richetto's grand slam.
» The Huskies hit a three-run homer in the third to cut into the Blue Raider lead, but MT manufactured two runs in the fourth to put some distance on the scoreboard.
» Cushing then led off the fifth with a homer, her second leadoff home run of the day and fourth this season, and Ryan King added an RBI later in the inning to give the Blue Raiders nine runs.
» Houston Baptist got a run back in the seventh, but the comeback fell short, as MT won its second game of the day.
» Kailey Ahlstrom faced the minimum in four of her five innings pitched and earned the win over Houston Baptist.
» Sydney Hughes made her Blue Raider debut as a pinch runner in the first inning.
QUOTES FROM THE BLUE RAIDERS
» Head Coach Jeff Breeden on heading into the final non-conference tournament: "This weekend, we have to finalize who we can count on. There were a bunch of substitutions in these two games, and I'm going to continue to do and play with the lineup a bit to see what gives us the best opportunity to win. We need to get our pitchers hot as well as we get into next weekend."
» Breeden on what's changed offensively in the last week: "I think we had a good week of work. Our kids know they're better than what they showed last weekend. Again, our freshmen are hot at the plate right now, so hopefully they'll just continue to be hot."
» First baseman Lexi Cushing on having four leadoff homers already this season: "It's just happening that way. I'm just going out there trying to get a base hit. It's helping me square the ball up a lot better. I've been trying to hit early in the count, and sometimes they leave those first pitches [over the plate], and I like to take advantage of that."
» Cushing on what's changed offensively for the team in the last week: "Our mindset has changed, for sure. We're playing more loose. We got in a couple of good practices throughout the week, and everyone made some adjustments. It's a mindset thing. We were out of it last weekend, and we're getting back in the groove now."
NEXT UP
» Middle Tennessee vs. Miami (OH) — Feb. 29, 10 a.m. CT
» Middle Tennessee vs. Seton Hall — Feb. 29, 3 p.m. CT
Follow the Blue Raiders on Twitter (@MT_Softball), Facebook (Middle Tennessee Blue Raider Softball) and Instagram (@mt_softball).
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