Blue Raiders Throw Eighth One-Hitter Since 1976 in Walk-Off Win Over UAB

Sunday, April 25

Murfreesboro, TN

1:00 PM

Middle Tennessee

21-17-1, 0

UAB

13-27, 0

UAB

Middle Tennessee

4/25/2021 4:51:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score @MT_Baseball vs UAB Series Highlights

By: Anthony Fiorella

MURFREESBORO, Tenn.—Sunday afternoon at Reese Smith Field was the exact opposite of Saturday afternoon's high-scoring affair in which the Middle Tennessee baseball team put up their highest offensive output of the year. The game went all the way into the eighth inning with just two runs on the board and three hits between both the Blue Raiders (21-17-1, C-USA 10-9-1) and UAB (13-27, CUSA 6-14) combined.

That all changed in the bottom of the ninth inning with MT leadoff man Fausto Lopez at the plate and the winning run in Nathan Sanders standing on second base.

Lopez, who is no stranger to this situation, got his hands around quickly on an inside fastball and drove it into left field. Sanders threw his arms up and met his teammates at home plate to score MT's third run of the ballgame and followed his teammates to go mob Lopez at first base to celebrate the Blue Raiders 3-2 series-clinching walk-off.

"Lopez did a great job today at shortstop and the big walk off by him was tremendous," said Blue Raider Head Coach Jim Toman. "We finally won a big game on a Sunday, which gets us over the hump a little bit."

After giving up a pair of runs in the fifth, MT battled back to tie it in the bottom of the eighth inning. With runners on second and third and just one man out, MT left fielder Hunter Sullivan, who was 0-for-2 with a walk coming into the late-game at-bat, dug in to face UAB reliever Colin Taylor. It was just the second hitter Taylor was facing after UAB starter Austin Bohannon after Bohannon had thrown seven shutout innings. Sullivan muscled a ball into left field, dropping it just to the left of the UAB outfielder to score Fausto Lopez and JT Mabry for a two-RBI double. With just one out in the inning, it was the start of a desperately-needed late rally for the Blue Raiders.

"Sullivan did a great job against one of their key pitchers, doubling to the backside to tie it up," Toman said. "We had some key hits and our pitching was really good."

The Blue Raiders had a big day on the mound from a pair of left-handers in Trent Seibert and David Zoz. Seibert, who started the game for the Blue Raiders, lasted for 4.0-plus innings and allowed just two earned runs on one hit. Zoz, who came into the game during the fifth inning with the bases loaded and nobody out, limited the Blazers to just two runs (that were charged to Seibert) and cruised through the rest of the game to keep the Blue Raiders afloat headed into their final at-bats of the afternoon.

The senior had an impressive line, tossing five no-hit innings out of the bullpen to pick up his second win of the weekend and improve his season record to 6-0, good enough for the most wins on the team to this point of the year.

The Blue Raider pitching staff's combined one-hitter was the first one-hitter since last season when Middle Tennessee tossed a one-hitter in a win against Bradley. It was also the Blue Raiders eighth one-hitter since 1976.

]Though it was a slower afternoon at the plate, The Blue Raiders were led offensively by the late-game heroes Fausto Lopez and Hunter Sullivan, who combined to go 3-for-8 with three RBIs, a stolen base and a run scored.

Middle Tennessee welcomes national power Louisiana Tech to Reese Smith Field next weekend. First pitch Friday is set for 6:00 p.m.

Anthony Fiorella is a writer for goblueraiders.com. Follow him on Twitter @a_fiorella74 and also follow @mt_baseball on Twitter, @mt_baseball on Instagram and Blue Raider Baseball on Facebook for more on the Blue Raiders.