Blue Raiders Drop Series Finale To Coastal Carolina

Sunday, March 8

Conway, SC

12 PM

Middle Tennessee

5-10

Coastal Carolina

10-5

Middle Tennessee

Coastal Carolina

3/8/2020 4:12:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score

By: Brady McBride

Conway, S.C. – The Middle Tennessee baseball team dropped the series clenching game three to Coastal Carolina, 8-1. The series finale was relatively quiet offensively as both teams combined for 36 runs in games one and two.

A Fausto Lopez walk and stolen base got the Blue Raiders started in the third inning. Brycen Thomas brought Lopez around to score on an RBI single to short right field and gave the Raiders a 1-0 lead.

Blue Raider starting pitcher Justin Medlin had a bounce-back performance on the mound. After walking the first four batters of the game last week against Tulane, the Mississippi native pitched 4.2 innings, struck out four, and allowed only two walks on the afternoon.

After allowing a single run through four innings, Medlin allowed four runs including a two-run home run to Coastal Carolina catcher BT Riopelle that stretched the Chanticleer lead to 5-1.

"I thought Justin Medlin pitched really well," said Head Coach Jim Toman. "His line score might not look that great, but he was dominant through five innings… He out pitched [Nick Parker] early, but [Parker] kept getting outs and double play balls and Medlin didn't."

Grad-transfer Walker Armstrong came in relief of Medlin and struck out four of the first five batters he faced. Armstrong pitched two innings, allowed one run on two hits, and punched out four. MT pitchers combined for a total of 11 strikeouts in the series finale.

Blue Raider catcher Mason Speirs continues to play well on both sides of the ball. Speirs finished the game 2-for-4 with a pair of singles and threw out his fourth base runner of the season.

"He's been pretty steady," said Toman. "He's a good college catcher… he's been getting his hits and when teams run he's been throwing some guys out"

Coastal Carolina tacked on three runs in the seventh and eighth innings to push the Chanticleer lead to 8-1 and that's where it would stay the rest of the game.

The Blue Raiders will return home for a pair of mid-week games against Memphis on Tuesday and Wednesday, both games are scheduled to begin at 3 p.m.