Middle Tennessee State University Athletics
Sunday, March 1
Madeira Beach, FL
7:30 AM CT
Middle Tennessee
12-10
17
vs
2
Sacred Heart
2-6
1
2
3
4
5
6
R
H
E
Middle Tennessee
0
2
0
2
4
9
17
15
1
Sacred Heart
0
0
0
2
0
0
2
5
1
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Baldwin, Amber (5-2)
L: Hoffman, Renee (3-2)
Batting:
RBI: McGary, Kendall 1
SH: Behabetz, Savannah 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Alvarez-Lopez, Tori 1
Batting:
2B: Smith, Claire 1
HR: De La Cruz, Jocelynn 1 ; Cushing, Lexi 1
RBI: De La Cruz, Jocelynn 3 ; Cushing, Lexi 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Burgess, Summer 1 ; De La Cruz, Jocelynn 1 ; Cushing, Lexi 1 ; Smith, Claire 1
HBP: Hill, Kelci 1 ; King, Ryan 1 ; Smith, Claire 1
Game Leaders
Hitting
AB
3
R
1
H
2
RBI
3
AB
4
R
1
H
1
RBI
0
AB
2
R
1
H
1
RBI
1
dp/p
AB
3
R
0
H
1
RBI
0
Players Mentioned
P
/ Softball
P
/ SoftballSS
/ Softball1B
/ Softball3B
/ Softball
3B
/ SoftballP/1B
/ Softball
C/DP
/ Softball
UT
/ Softball
2B/3B
/ Softball
Blue Raiders complete program’s first 6-0 weekend
3/1/2020 1:21:00 PM | Softball
MADEIRA BEACH, Fla. — The perfect weekend was completed for Middle Tennessee's softball team on Sunday, as the Blue Raiders won two games to secure the program's first weekend with a 6-0 record.
The only other unbeaten non-conference tournament weekends were the 2003 SEMO Classic (4-0) and the 2018 Black & Gold Tournament (5-0).
MIDDLE TENNESSEE 17, SACRED HEART 2
» A Lani Rodriguez sacrifice fly in the second inning put the Blue Raiders on the board, and Summer Burgess followed that with an RBI single scoring Mia Marinakis a few batters later.
» Burgess collected her second and third RBIs of the morning with a two out single that scored Brooke McClure and Rodriguez in the fourth inning.
» The Pioneers' only scoring play came in the fourth, and it was a two-run homer to left field.
» Jocelynn De La Cruz and Kaylee Richetto both had two-run homers in the fifth inning to extend MT's lead.
» Then, the Blue Raider offense overpowered Sacred Heart, as each of the first nine batters scored in the sixth inning to put the game out of reach.
» Gracie Kirby earned her first career base hit, a two-run double scoring Sidney Heath and Lexi Cushing.
» Kailey Ahlstrom tossed five innings and only gave up two hits in order to get the win, her fourth of the season.
» The 17 runs scored is the most scored by an MT team since March 25, 2016 at UTSA.
MIDDLE TENNESSEE 4, INCARNATE WORD 1
» Incarnate Word was the visiting team for MT's final game of the second Madeira Beach Tournament, and the Cardinals struck first by manufacturing a run in the third inning.
» The Blue Raiders answered quickly, however, as Cushing launched her fourth home run of the weekend.
» With that third inning homer, Cushing became the program's all-time leader in RBIs, previously held by former teammate Morgan Harris (2015-18).
» De La Cruz then homered for the second time in one day, and it scored three Blue Raiders, making the score 4-1.
» The game was shortened due to the tournament's time constraints, so the score held at 4-1, and MT finished off the perfect weekend.
» Amber Baldwin got the start in the circle and earned her fifth win of the season. She allowed just one hit in four innings pitched.
» Marinakis came on in relief and got out the only four batters she faced.
QUOTES FROM THE BLUE RAIDERS
» Head Coach Jeff Breeden on the program's first 6-0 weekend: "This whole preseason has been about getting us ready for conference play. We chose a tough schedule. Could we have chosen to play a little easier schedule and get a little better record? We probably could've, but we wanted to play good teams. I'm really pleased with our team, and I'm pleased that we hit our stride this weekend. I'm pleased that we used a lot of players this weekend. We're not a nine person show. We've got some good depth."
» Breeden on the team's leadership this weekend: "It seems like we've gotten really focused since last weekend and cleaned up some details. I like the way we're carrying ourselves, and I'm pleased with our older kids. Summer [Burgess] and Lexi [Cushing] have played a lot of games, and I thought Amber [Baldwin] is hitting her stride and was really good today. I thought [Kailey] Ahlstrom pitched well and did her thing. Everybody's doing their part right now. One of the things Coach [Chelsea] Hawkins brought up this past week is just be yourself. If we'll all just be ourselves individually, it'll take care of itself."
» Breeden on Lexi Cushing's RBI record: "Lexi's a good hitter. She's a much more mature hitter now than she has been. Pitchers always have to worry about her because she can hit it out of the yard easily, but she's hitting ground balls now, and she's hitting balls up the middle and doing things that she used to not do. It's not just always a fly ball with her anymore. She's doing a good job of doing what we ask her to do."
» First baseman Lexi Cushing on becoming the program's RBI leader: "It's awesome that I was able to play with the former record holder and that she was such a big part of our championship team as a leader. It's great for our program as well because it really shows the growth of the team as all of our numbers continue to rise. This team is full of amazing hitters that have the ability to get on base, which obviously helps me and Jocelynn [De La Cruz] out a lot. I'm extremely happy with this because it shows I can do my part on the field other than just hit home runs."
NEXT UP
» Middle Tennessee at Alabama State — March 3, 1 & 3 p.m. CT
Follow the Blue Raiders on Twitter (@MT_Softball), Facebook (Middle Tennessee Blue Raider Softball) and Instagram (@mt_softball).
The only other unbeaten non-conference tournament weekends were the 2003 SEMO Classic (4-0) and the 2018 Black & Gold Tournament (5-0).
MIDDLE TENNESSEE 17, SACRED HEART 2
» A Lani Rodriguez sacrifice fly in the second inning put the Blue Raiders on the board, and Summer Burgess followed that with an RBI single scoring Mia Marinakis a few batters later.
» Burgess collected her second and third RBIs of the morning with a two out single that scored Brooke McClure and Rodriguez in the fourth inning.
» The Pioneers' only scoring play came in the fourth, and it was a two-run homer to left field.
» Jocelynn De La Cruz and Kaylee Richetto both had two-run homers in the fifth inning to extend MT's lead.
» Then, the Blue Raider offense overpowered Sacred Heart, as each of the first nine batters scored in the sixth inning to put the game out of reach.
» Gracie Kirby earned her first career base hit, a two-run double scoring Sidney Heath and Lexi Cushing.
» Kailey Ahlstrom tossed five innings and only gave up two hits in order to get the win, her fourth of the season.
» The 17 runs scored is the most scored by an MT team since March 25, 2016 at UTSA.
MIDDLE TENNESSEE 4, INCARNATE WORD 1
» Incarnate Word was the visiting team for MT's final game of the second Madeira Beach Tournament, and the Cardinals struck first by manufacturing a run in the third inning.
» The Blue Raiders answered quickly, however, as Cushing launched her fourth home run of the weekend.
» With that third inning homer, Cushing became the program's all-time leader in RBIs, previously held by former teammate Morgan Harris (2015-18).
» De La Cruz then homered for the second time in one day, and it scored three Blue Raiders, making the score 4-1.
» The game was shortened due to the tournament's time constraints, so the score held at 4-1, and MT finished off the perfect weekend.
» Amber Baldwin got the start in the circle and earned her fifth win of the season. She allowed just one hit in four innings pitched.
» Marinakis came on in relief and got out the only four batters she faced.
QUOTES FROM THE BLUE RAIDERS
» Head Coach Jeff Breeden on the program's first 6-0 weekend: "This whole preseason has been about getting us ready for conference play. We chose a tough schedule. Could we have chosen to play a little easier schedule and get a little better record? We probably could've, but we wanted to play good teams. I'm really pleased with our team, and I'm pleased that we hit our stride this weekend. I'm pleased that we used a lot of players this weekend. We're not a nine person show. We've got some good depth."
» Breeden on the team's leadership this weekend: "It seems like we've gotten really focused since last weekend and cleaned up some details. I like the way we're carrying ourselves, and I'm pleased with our older kids. Summer [Burgess] and Lexi [Cushing] have played a lot of games, and I thought Amber [Baldwin] is hitting her stride and was really good today. I thought [Kailey] Ahlstrom pitched well and did her thing. Everybody's doing their part right now. One of the things Coach [Chelsea] Hawkins brought up this past week is just be yourself. If we'll all just be ourselves individually, it'll take care of itself."
» Breeden on Lexi Cushing's RBI record: "Lexi's a good hitter. She's a much more mature hitter now than she has been. Pitchers always have to worry about her because she can hit it out of the yard easily, but she's hitting ground balls now, and she's hitting balls up the middle and doing things that she used to not do. It's not just always a fly ball with her anymore. She's doing a good job of doing what we ask her to do."
» First baseman Lexi Cushing on becoming the program's RBI leader: "It's awesome that I was able to play with the former record holder and that she was such a big part of our championship team as a leader. It's great for our program as well because it really shows the growth of the team as all of our numbers continue to rise. This team is full of amazing hitters that have the ability to get on base, which obviously helps me and Jocelynn [De La Cruz] out a lot. I'm extremely happy with this because it shows I can do my part on the field other than just hit home runs."
NEXT UP
» Middle Tennessee at Alabama State — March 3, 1 & 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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