Middle Tennessee State University Athletics
Friday, April 2
Murfreesboro, TN
1:00 PM
Middle Tennessee
15-10, 0
4
vs
3
Rice
12-14, 0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
R
H
E
Rice
0
0
0
0
1
0
2
0
0
3
8
1
Middle Tennessee
0
2
0
0
0
1
0
0
1
4
5
2
MT Splits Conference Doubleheader With Rice
4/2/2021 8:53:00 PM | Baseball
MURFREESBORO, Tenn. – The Middle Tennessee baseball team split Friday's doubleheader with Rice, one game a piece. The Blue Raiders (15-11, C-USA 4-3) took the first game on a walk-off bunt single from Luke Vinson in their sixth extra inning game this season. Rice (13-14, C-USA 2-5) came back and snatched game-two powered by six hits in the top of the fifth inning.
Sophomore JT Mabry had a great day at the plate for the Blue Raiders. The Chesterfield, Missouri native finished the day 4-for-7 with a pair of home runs and two singles including four RBI.
"[Mabry] had a really good fall and we expected him to hit like this all year," said Head Coach Jim Toman. "We've needed a someone to step up offensively and he was our guy today, hopefully he can continue that tomorrow."
To go along with Mabry's offense, the Raider second baseman also had a good day in the field making diving stops and recording four assists and seven putouts with a 1.000 fielding percentage in today's doubleheader.
GAME 1: MT 4, Rice 3
The Blue Raiders jumped out to an early, 2-0, lead in the bottom of the second inning with a home run off the bat of JT Mabry that also scored Brett Coker.
Mabry finished the first game of the doubleheader 1-for-4 with three RBI and a run scored.
MT starting pitcher Peyton Wigginton pitched four clean innings before allowing an unearned run in the top of the fifth. The southpaw left the game after 4.1 innings, struck out four, and walked three.
Wigginton was relieved by Austin Cheeley with MT holding onto a 3-1 lead.
After a fielding error in the top of seventh inning, Rice hit a two-run home run to lock the game at 3-3 and push MT into their sixth extra inning game of the season.
Cheeley took the Raiders through the seventh inning struck out a pair and walked none before handing the ball over to Adam Link.
Link pitched an inning for the Raiders, but left the game before his second inning of work due to shoulder pain in his throwing arm.
David Zoz came in to replace Link in the ninth and struck out a pair.
In the bottom of the ninth Daniel Freeman was hit by a pitch and Fausto Lopez walked to start the inning. Both Raider runners advanced on a fielder's choice by the Rice first baseman, giving MT two runners in scoring position with two outs.
Freshman Luke Vinson pushed across Freeman from on a bunt single and gave the Raiders a 4-3 victory.
GAME 2: Rice 4, MT 1
In the second game Mabry once again gave the Blue Raiders and early lead with a long ball, this time a solo shot to left field making it 1-0 MT.
Mabry finished game-two 3-for-3 at the plate with a home run and three singles.
Junior pitcher Zach Keenan gave the Raiders allowed just one hit through the first four innings, but in the fifth the Owl offense struck for six straight single and racked up four runs.
Keenan left the game after 4.1 innings pitched, allowed four runs on seven hits, and struck out a pair.
Drew Vaden made his first appearance of the season in relief of Keenan. Vaden held Rice scoreless through two innings and struck out two.
The Raiders attempted a comeback in the bottom of the seventh, by getting two runners in scoring position. However the MT rally was snuffed out and the Owls took game-two, 4-1.
"We have the opportunity to win three-out-of-four against Rice," said Toman. "They've been to the College World Series and have a really good program, so we have a chance tomorrow to make a statement… that puts us in a good position for the conference tournament."
The final game of the series will be tomorrow at 1 p.m. inside Reese Smith Jr. Field.
Follow the Blue Raiders on Twitter (@MT_Baseball), Facebook (Blue Raider Baseball) and Instagram (@MT_Baseball).
Sophomore JT Mabry had a great day at the plate for the Blue Raiders. The Chesterfield, Missouri native finished the day 4-for-7 with a pair of home runs and two singles including four RBI.
"[Mabry] had a really good fall and we expected him to hit like this all year," said Head Coach Jim Toman. "We've needed a someone to step up offensively and he was our guy today, hopefully he can continue that tomorrow."
To go along with Mabry's offense, the Raider second baseman also had a good day in the field making diving stops and recording four assists and seven putouts with a 1.000 fielding percentage in today's doubleheader.
GAME 1: MT 4, Rice 3
The Blue Raiders jumped out to an early, 2-0, lead in the bottom of the second inning with a home run off the bat of JT Mabry that also scored Brett Coker.
Mabry finished the first game of the doubleheader 1-for-4 with three RBI and a run scored.
MT starting pitcher Peyton Wigginton pitched four clean innings before allowing an unearned run in the top of the fifth. The southpaw left the game after 4.1 innings, struck out four, and walked three.
Wigginton was relieved by Austin Cheeley with MT holding onto a 3-1 lead.
After a fielding error in the top of seventh inning, Rice hit a two-run home run to lock the game at 3-3 and push MT into their sixth extra inning game of the season.
Cheeley took the Raiders through the seventh inning struck out a pair and walked none before handing the ball over to Adam Link.
Link pitched an inning for the Raiders, but left the game before his second inning of work due to shoulder pain in his throwing arm.
David Zoz came in to replace Link in the ninth and struck out a pair.
In the bottom of the ninth Daniel Freeman was hit by a pitch and Fausto Lopez walked to start the inning. Both Raider runners advanced on a fielder's choice by the Rice first baseman, giving MT two runners in scoring position with two outs.
Freshman Luke Vinson pushed across Freeman from on a bunt single and gave the Raiders a 4-3 victory.
GAME 2: Rice 4, MT 1
In the second game Mabry once again gave the Blue Raiders and early lead with a long ball, this time a solo shot to left field making it 1-0 MT.
Mabry finished game-two 3-for-3 at the plate with a home run and three singles.
Junior pitcher Zach Keenan gave the Raiders allowed just one hit through the first four innings, but in the fifth the Owl offense struck for six straight single and racked up four runs.
Keenan left the game after 4.1 innings pitched, allowed four runs on seven hits, and struck out a pair.
Drew Vaden made his first appearance of the season in relief of Keenan. Vaden held Rice scoreless through two innings and struck out two.
The Raiders attempted a comeback in the bottom of the seventh, by getting two runners in scoring position. However the MT rally was snuffed out and the Owls took game-two, 4-1.
"We have the opportunity to win three-out-of-four against Rice," said Toman. "They've been to the College World Series and have a really good program, so we have a chance tomorrow to make a statement… that puts us in a good position for the conference tournament."
The final game of the series will be tomorrow at 1 p.m. inside Reese Smith Jr. Field.
Follow the Blue Raiders on Twitter (@MT_Baseball), Facebook (Blue Raider Baseball) and Instagram (@MT_Baseball).
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Zoz, David (3-0)
L: Dalton Wood (1-1)
Batting:
2B: Guy Garibay 1
HR: Cade Edwards 1
RBI: Cade Edwards 2
Base Running:
RUNS: Cade Edwards 1 ; Justin Long 2
HBP: Cade Edwards 1
Batting:
2B: Sanders, Nathan 1
HR: Mabry, JT 1
RBI: Vinson, Luke 1 ; Mabry, JT 3
SH: Coker, Brett 1 ; Symlar, Bryce 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Sanders, Nathan 1 ; Coker, Brett 1 ; Mabry, JT 1 ; Freeman, Daniel 1
SB: Escher, Cole 1 ; Hagenow, Jake 1
CS: Sullivan, Hunter 1 ; Mabry, JT 1 ; Hagenow, Jake 1
HBP: Thomas, Brycen 1 ; Freeman, Daniel 1
Game Leaders
AB
4
R
0
H
1
RBI
0
AB
3
R
0
H
1
RBI
0
ph/rf
AB
2
R
0
H
1
RBI
1
AB
3
R
1
H
1
RBI
0
Players Mentioned
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RHP
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INF
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LHP
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LHP
/ Baseball
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