Middle Tennessee State University Athletics
Sunday, April 11
Murfreesboro, TN
12:00 PM
Middle Tennessee
18-17, 4-4
6
vs
2
Marshall
12-8, 1-3
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
R
H
E
Marshall
0
0
0
0
2
0
0
2
7
1
Middle Tennessee
1
0
3
1
0
1
X
6
15
0
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Baldwin, Amber (7-6)
L: BLESSIN, Ashley (3-3)
S: Ahlstrom, Kailey (1)
Batting:
2B: HARRELL, Aly 1
RBI: CHELEMEN, Grace 1 ; HARRELL, Aly 1
SF: CHELEMEN, Grace 1
Base Running:
RUNS: BURCH, Blakely 1 ; BROWN, Armani 1
SB: BURCH, Blakely 1
CS: LEE, Chloe 1
HBP: BURCH, Blakely 1
Batting:
2B: Hill, Kelci 1 ; Smith, Claire 1 ; Tath-Slezak, Nahri 1
HR: Hill, Kelci 1
RBI: Hill, Kelci 1 ; Hutchinson, Makenzie 1 ; Smith, Claire 1 ; Rodriguez, Lani 2
SH: Hill, Kelci 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Burgess, Summer 1 ; Hill, Kelci 2 ; Cushing, Lexi 1 ; Smith, Claire 1 ; Tath-Slezak, Nahri 1
SB: Burgess, Summer 1 ; Tath-Slezak, Nahri 1
CS: Herring, Jaya 1
Game Leaders
Hitting
AB
3
R
2
H
3
RBI
1
AB
4
R
0
H
2
RBI
1
AB
4
R
0
H
2
RBI
0
AB
3
R
1
H
2
RBI
1
Players Mentioned
P
/ Softball
P
/ Softball
SS
/ Softball
1B
/ Softball3B
/ SoftballOF
/ SoftballC
/ Softball
2B
/ SoftballOF
/ Softball
SS
/ Softball
Photo by: Emily Cole/MT Athletic Communications
Photo by: Emily Cole/MT Athletic Communications
Photo by: Emily Cole/MT Athletic Communications
Photo by: Emily Cole/MT Athletic Communications
Photo by: Emily Cole/MT Athletic Communications
Photo by: Emily Cole/MT Athletic Communications
Photo by: Emily Cole/MT Athletic Communications
Photo by: Emily Cole/MT Athletic Communications
Photo by: Emily Cole/MT Athletic Communications
Photo by: Emily Cole/MT Athletic Communications
Photo by: Emily Cole/MT Athletic Communications
Photo by: Emily Cole/MT Athletic Communications
Photo by: Emily Cole/MT Athletic Communications
Photo by: Emily Cole/MT Athletic Communications
Photo by: Emily Cole/MT Athletic Communications
Photo by: Emily Cole/MT Athletic Communications
Photo by: Emily Cole/MT Athletic Communications
Photo by: Emily Cole/MT Athletic Communications
Photo by: Emily Cole/MT Athletic Communications
Photo by: Emily Cole/MT Athletic Communications
Photo by: Emily Cole/MT Athletic Communications
Photo by: Emily Cole/MT Athletic Communications
Photo by: Emily Cole/MT Athletic Communications
Photo by: Emily Cole/MT Athletic Communications
Offense stays hot as Blue Raiders win series over Marshall
4/11/2021 3:51:00 PM | Softball
MURFREESBORO, Tenn. — Middle Tennessee (18-17, 4-4) wrapped up a series win over Marshall (12-7, 1-3) on Sunday with key contributions from a plethora of Blue Raiders, including 15 hits on the offensive side and fantastic work in the circle by Amber Baldwin and Kailey Ahlstrom.
MIDDLE TENNESSEE 6, MARSHALL 2
» MT took a two games to one lead in the series over Marshall with a 9-5 win in game three on Saturday.
» Summer Burgess led off MT's first turn at bat with a single, stole second, was moved to third on a Kelci Hill sacrifice bunt and scored when Makenzie Hutchinson hit a single through the left side.
» Two-out hitting was the theme of the third inning for the Blue Raiders. Hill led off MT's half of the frame with a bunt single and was brought around to score on a double down the left field line by Claire Smith.
» Lexi Cushing and Smith then scored as Lani Rodriguez lined a single to center to make it 4-0 after three innings.
» Nahri Tath-Slezak led off MT's fourth inning turn with a single to right field, stole second base and came around to score on a double hit by Hill, her second base knock of the game.
» The Thundering Herd responded in the fifth, scoring two runs on three hits in the frame. Marshall threatened to trim the lead again in the sixth, but Ahlstrom entered in relief with the tying run on deck and kept the Herd from scoring again.
» Hill slugged her second career homer and put another MT run on the board in the sixth inning, leading to a 6-2 final score.
» Ahlstrom got the final three outs, including a diving effort by Burgess for the last out of the series, to record her first save of 2021. Sunday's performance out of the bullpen also marked Ahlstrom's fourth career save, tying her for third all-time in program history.
» Baldwin finished with 5.0 innings pitched on Sunday to earn her team-leading seventh win of the season. She posted a team-best 2.14 ERA in 16.1 innings pitched against the Herd.
» Hill wrapped up the weekend against Marshall with a .643 batting average that included a double, a triple, two homers, eight RBIs and an OPS of 1.974.
» Tath-Slezak posted two hits in the series finale for the fifth time this season.
» Rodriguez's two hits and two RBIs both tie season highs previously set in the second game of the April 2 doubleheader at Charlotte.
» Smith's 2-for-4 day gives her eight multi-hit games this season.
» Burgess has now reached base safely in a team-best 13 consecutive games.
» After a 2-for-4 mark at the dish on Sunday, Jocelynn De La Cruz finished the weekend with a .545 batting average.
» For the third time this season, Hutchinson racked up a multi-hit day, as the freshman was 2-for-4 including that first inning RBI.
QUOTES FROM THE BLUE RAIDERS
» Head Coach Jeff Breeden on his team's series win over Marshall: "I'm so proud of them. Our kids played great, but it wasn't just the nine or 10 kids that were in at any given time, our dugout was tremendous. Every kid we have on our team, they played their guts out in the dugout this weekend."
» Breeden on the pitching performances of Amber Baldwin and Kailey Ahlstrom on Sunday: "Both of those pitchers have worked extremely hard this week getting ready for this weekend because we challenged them. Both worked hard in the bullpen with [Pitching Coach Tony] Foti, and one of them came in our office for a heart-to-heart discussion this week. Both of them are on track now, and I hope we continue doing what we're doing. You can't say enough about the run support they had as well."
» Pitcher Amber Baldwin on her pitching performances this weekend: "I think having my team behind me and scoring the runs to get us ahead helps a lot and makes me more comfortable as a pitcher in the circle."
» Baldwin on her team's support in the dugout: "It makes me feel like they have confidence in me, and I know they're there to support me no matter what, whether I do good or bad. It's nice to have that feeling from them."
NEXT UP
» Middle Tennessee vs. Western Kentucky — April 16-18
» 10% maximum capacity; masks and social distancing required
Follow the Blue Raiders on Twitter (@MT_Softball), Facebook (Blue Raider Softball) and Instagram (@mt_softball).
MIDDLE TENNESSEE 6, MARSHALL 2
» MT took a two games to one lead in the series over Marshall with a 9-5 win in game three on Saturday.
» Summer Burgess led off MT's first turn at bat with a single, stole second, was moved to third on a Kelci Hill sacrifice bunt and scored when Makenzie Hutchinson hit a single through the left side.
» Two-out hitting was the theme of the third inning for the Blue Raiders. Hill led off MT's half of the frame with a bunt single and was brought around to score on a double down the left field line by Claire Smith.
» Lexi Cushing and Smith then scored as Lani Rodriguez lined a single to center to make it 4-0 after three innings.
» Nahri Tath-Slezak led off MT's fourth inning turn with a single to right field, stole second base and came around to score on a double hit by Hill, her second base knock of the game.
» The Thundering Herd responded in the fifth, scoring two runs on three hits in the frame. Marshall threatened to trim the lead again in the sixth, but Ahlstrom entered in relief with the tying run on deck and kept the Herd from scoring again.
» Hill slugged her second career homer and put another MT run on the board in the sixth inning, leading to a 6-2 final score.
» Ahlstrom got the final three outs, including a diving effort by Burgess for the last out of the series, to record her first save of 2021. Sunday's performance out of the bullpen also marked Ahlstrom's fourth career save, tying her for third all-time in program history.
» Baldwin finished with 5.0 innings pitched on Sunday to earn her team-leading seventh win of the season. She posted a team-best 2.14 ERA in 16.1 innings pitched against the Herd.
» Hill wrapped up the weekend against Marshall with a .643 batting average that included a double, a triple, two homers, eight RBIs and an OPS of 1.974.
» Tath-Slezak posted two hits in the series finale for the fifth time this season.
» Rodriguez's two hits and two RBIs both tie season highs previously set in the second game of the April 2 doubleheader at Charlotte.
» Smith's 2-for-4 day gives her eight multi-hit games this season.
» Burgess has now reached base safely in a team-best 13 consecutive games.
» After a 2-for-4 mark at the dish on Sunday, Jocelynn De La Cruz finished the weekend with a .545 batting average.
» For the third time this season, Hutchinson racked up a multi-hit day, as the freshman was 2-for-4 including that first inning RBI.
QUOTES FROM THE BLUE RAIDERS
» Head Coach Jeff Breeden on his team's series win over Marshall: "I'm so proud of them. Our kids played great, but it wasn't just the nine or 10 kids that were in at any given time, our dugout was tremendous. Every kid we have on our team, they played their guts out in the dugout this weekend."
» Breeden on the pitching performances of Amber Baldwin and Kailey Ahlstrom on Sunday: "Both of those pitchers have worked extremely hard this week getting ready for this weekend because we challenged them. Both worked hard in the bullpen with [Pitching Coach Tony] Foti, and one of them came in our office for a heart-to-heart discussion this week. Both of them are on track now, and I hope we continue doing what we're doing. You can't say enough about the run support they had as well."
» Pitcher Amber Baldwin on her pitching performances this weekend: "I think having my team behind me and scoring the runs to get us ahead helps a lot and makes me more comfortable as a pitcher in the circle."
» Baldwin on her team's support in the dugout: "It makes me feel like they have confidence in me, and I know they're there to support me no matter what, whether I do good or bad. It's nice to have that feeling from them."
NEXT UP
» Middle Tennessee vs. Western Kentucky — April 16-18
» 10% maximum capacity; masks and social distancing required
Follow the Blue Raiders on Twitter (@MT_Softball), Facebook (Blue Raider Softball) and Instagram (@mt_softball).
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