Middle Tennessee State University Athletics
Sunday, April 18
Murfreesboro, TN
12:00 PM
Middle Tennessee
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vs
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Western Kentucky
Players Mentioned
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Cushing homers, Rodriguez walks it off as MT earns series win over WKU
4/18/2021 2:55:00 PM | Softball
MURFREESBORO, Tenn. — In the midst of a storm, an old power source is something that you turn to to get you through it. It's reliable, durable and proven. Middle Tennessee (21-18, 7-5) turned to a couple of its most reliable sources of power, both literally and figuratively, to weather the storm on Sunday against rival Western Kentucky (16-9, 1-3).
With the game tied at two-all in the bottom of the seventh inning, graduate student Lexi Cushing came to the plate. She's the oldest power source the Blue Raiders have. After fouling off a couple of tough pitches from WKU starter Kelsey Aikey, Cushing took a deep breath, a practice swing and stepped back into the box to see another pitch. A surely-frustrated Aikey overthrew a fastball and left it high and outside to Cushing, who drew a leadoff walk to start MT's seventh inning turn at the plate.
It may not have been the prettiest way to provide a source of power, but after Amaya Harris pinch ran for her, it proved to be the at-bat that started the rally to win the game and the series for the Blue Raiders, as Lani Rodriguez's sacrifice fly to right field scored Harris from third to give MTSU a 3-2 win over the Hilltoppers on Sunday.
"We've done a good job building up a home field advantage that has intimidated other teams," Cushing said. "We've been hitting well, we've been pitching well and everything has been working for us. We had a lot of confidence coming into [the series against Western Kentucky]."
Though her at-bat in the bottom of the seventh was more of a figurative source of power, Cushing provided a more literal source of it in her first at-bat of the afternoon when she broke a 1-1 tie in the bottom of the second with a towering home run over the fence in left field, the 48th of her illustrious career. The Middle Tennessee first baseman finished the game 1-for-1 with an RBI, a run and a pair of walks.
"I was looking to hit the first-pitch strike, and I knew they were trying to get that first-pitch strike over on me," Cushing said. "[Aikey] left it over the middle so I just took a hack at it and it went far."
Her classmate, Summer Burgess, was another steady source of power for Middle Tennessee, going 3-for-3 with a run scored and two spectacular, game-changing plays defensively.
Doing it in front of the hometown fans against your biggest rival made it all the more sweet for the Blue Raiders, who find themselves just a couple games short of the lead in Conference USA's east division.
"We have resiliency because we can bounce back from adversity," said Middle Tennessee Head Coach Jeff Breeden. "We stayed the course and we had effort from all 23 kids. Everybody contributed and that's what made [the series win] fun."
In the circle, Corrina Dodd had a strong outing, lasting five innings and surrendering just two runs to Western Kentucky via a pair of solo home runs from Hilltopper leadoff hitter Paige Carter.
Dodd was relieved in the sixth inning by Amber Baldwin, who shut the door over the final two frames to earn her eighth win of the season.
Every game in the four-game series was decided by just one run, and it was the eighth total walk-off victory of the season for Middle Tennessee.
What's next?
Middle Tennessee travels to Boca Raton, Florida, next weekend for a series with the FAU Owls. First pitch Friday is scheduled for 5:00 p.m. CST.
Anthony Fiorella is a writer for goblueraiders.com. Follow him on Twitter @a_fiorella74 and also follow @MT_Softball on Twitter and @mt_softball on Instagram for more on the Blue Raiders.
With the game tied at two-all in the bottom of the seventh inning, graduate student Lexi Cushing came to the plate. She's the oldest power source the Blue Raiders have. After fouling off a couple of tough pitches from WKU starter Kelsey Aikey, Cushing took a deep breath, a practice swing and stepped back into the box to see another pitch. A surely-frustrated Aikey overthrew a fastball and left it high and outside to Cushing, who drew a leadoff walk to start MT's seventh inning turn at the plate.
It may not have been the prettiest way to provide a source of power, but after Amaya Harris pinch ran for her, it proved to be the at-bat that started the rally to win the game and the series for the Blue Raiders, as Lani Rodriguez's sacrifice fly to right field scored Harris from third to give MTSU a 3-2 win over the Hilltoppers on Sunday.
"We've done a good job building up a home field advantage that has intimidated other teams," Cushing said. "We've been hitting well, we've been pitching well and everything has been working for us. We had a lot of confidence coming into [the series against Western Kentucky]."
Though her at-bat in the bottom of the seventh was more of a figurative source of power, Cushing provided a more literal source of it in her first at-bat of the afternoon when she broke a 1-1 tie in the bottom of the second with a towering home run over the fence in left field, the 48th of her illustrious career. The Middle Tennessee first baseman finished the game 1-for-1 with an RBI, a run and a pair of walks.
"I was looking to hit the first-pitch strike, and I knew they were trying to get that first-pitch strike over on me," Cushing said. "[Aikey] left it over the middle so I just took a hack at it and it went far."
Her classmate, Summer Burgess, was another steady source of power for Middle Tennessee, going 3-for-3 with a run scored and two spectacular, game-changing plays defensively.
Doing it in front of the hometown fans against your biggest rival made it all the more sweet for the Blue Raiders, who find themselves just a couple games short of the lead in Conference USA's east division.
"We have resiliency because we can bounce back from adversity," said Middle Tennessee Head Coach Jeff Breeden. "We stayed the course and we had effort from all 23 kids. Everybody contributed and that's what made [the series win] fun."
In the circle, Corrina Dodd had a strong outing, lasting five innings and surrendering just two runs to Western Kentucky via a pair of solo home runs from Hilltopper leadoff hitter Paige Carter.
Dodd was relieved in the sixth inning by Amber Baldwin, who shut the door over the final two frames to earn her eighth win of the season.
Every game in the four-game series was decided by just one run, and it was the eighth total walk-off victory of the season for Middle Tennessee.
What's next?
Middle Tennessee travels to Boca Raton, Florida, next weekend for a series with the FAU Owls. First pitch Friday is scheduled for 5:00 p.m. CST.
Anthony Fiorella is a writer for goblueraiders.com. Follow him on Twitter @a_fiorella74 and also follow @MT_Softball on Twitter and @mt_softball on Instagram for more on the Blue Raiders.
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