Middle Tennessee State University Athletics
Blue Raiders power past Volunteer State Pioneers
9/23/2021 9:32:00 PM | Softball
MURFREESBORO, Tenn. – Middle Tennessee softball kicked off its 2021 fall slate on Thursday, posting a staggering 22 hits in a dominant 17-0 win over Volunteer State Community College Thursday afternoon at Blue Raider Softball Field.
A full-team effort helped lead the Blue Raiders to an impressive hitting and pitching performance to open the fall schedule. Seven Blue Raiders posted multiple hits in the contest and five MT pitchers took the mound to hold the Pioneers scoreless over nine and a half innings.
Freshman Claire Woods got the start on the mound for the Blue Raiders, pitching three innings and allowing only two hits. Kailey Ahlstrom pitched two innings, allowing a pair of hits and walking one Pioneer. Gretchen Mead put in two innings of work. Keri Munn pitched 1.2 innings, allowing a hit, and walking one batter. Danielle Taitt rounded out the contest for the Blue Raiders on the mound, throwing 1.1 innings and tallying the Blue Raiders one strikeout in the contest.
Freshman Claire Czajkowski led the Blue Raiders with a team-high three RBIs, going 3-for-5 in the contest. Four Blue Raiders tallied a pair of RBIs, with freshman Laura Mealer going 4-for-5, sophomore Amaya Harris going 2-for-3, sophomore Danielle Taitt going 2-for-4, and freshman Abby Shoulders going 1-for-2 over the nine-inning contest.
In the second inning, Czajkowski knocked a lead-off double to get the Blue Raiders aboard with no outs. Senior Lani Rodriguez singled to advance Czajkowski and stole second to put two Blue Raiders in scoring position. Harris brought Czajkowski home and moved Rodriguez to third for the Blue Raiders first RBI of the contest. Taitt followed with a sacrifice ground out to push Rodriguez across and put Middle Tennessee up by two. Freshman Ava Tepe followed with a followed with a sacrifice ground out of her own to bring home Harris and give the Blue Raiders a 3-0 advantage to close the second.
Following a lead-off ground out, sophomore Shelby Sargent knocked a single and stole second and third to put the Blue Raiders in scoring position yet again. Freshman Laura Mealer tallied an RBI-single to bring Sargent home, 4-0. Mealer stole second, just before Czajkowski singled down the right field line into shallow right field to plate Mealer and push the Blue Raiders lead to 5-0.
Harris led MT off in the fourth with a walk. After stealing second and getting moved to third on a single, Harris stole home to push the Blue Raiders lead to four, 4-0. With two outs, Woods doubled to right center to score Taitt and push Middle Tennessee's lead to seven through four, 7-0.
Junior Kelci Hill led things off with a double to left field to put MT in scoring position in the seventh. Following an error, Mealer connected on an RBI-single for her second RBI of the contest. Czajkowski grounded out to plate Sargent. Abby Shoulders singled to right field, platting Mealer. Taitt doubled to center field to bring across Harris, and Jaya Herring singled to center field to bring across the Blue Raiders fifth run of the inning and extend MT's lead to 12.
Sargent hit a one-out single to get aboard for the Blue Raiders in the eighth. Czajkowski knocked an RBI-double to bring Sargent around following a Mealer single. Mealer eventually touched home after an error on the Pioneer's catcher, 14-0. Harris followed it up with a double to right field to bring across the Blue Raiders third run of the inning and push the lead to 15.
Following a lead-off walk and a single, senior Savannah Freeman connected on an RBI-single to plate Herring. Redshirt junior Gracie Kirby sent a sacrifice fly into left field to bring Sargent across and extend the Blue Raiders lead to its final, 17-0.
Up Next
Middle Tennessee Softball hits the road for the first time this fall on Sunday as the team heads to Boone, N.C. to take on the Appalachian State Mountaineers for a noon first pitch from Sywassink/Lloyd Family Stadium
FOLLOW THE BLUE RAIDERS
Follow Middle Tennessee Softball on social media on Facebook (/BlueRaiderSoftball), Twitter (MT_Softball) and Instagram (MT_Softball).
A full-team effort helped lead the Blue Raiders to an impressive hitting and pitching performance to open the fall schedule. Seven Blue Raiders posted multiple hits in the contest and five MT pitchers took the mound to hold the Pioneers scoreless over nine and a half innings.
Freshman Claire Woods got the start on the mound for the Blue Raiders, pitching three innings and allowing only two hits. Kailey Ahlstrom pitched two innings, allowing a pair of hits and walking one Pioneer. Gretchen Mead put in two innings of work. Keri Munn pitched 1.2 innings, allowing a hit, and walking one batter. Danielle Taitt rounded out the contest for the Blue Raiders on the mound, throwing 1.1 innings and tallying the Blue Raiders one strikeout in the contest.
Freshman Claire Czajkowski led the Blue Raiders with a team-high three RBIs, going 3-for-5 in the contest. Four Blue Raiders tallied a pair of RBIs, with freshman Laura Mealer going 4-for-5, sophomore Amaya Harris going 2-for-3, sophomore Danielle Taitt going 2-for-4, and freshman Abby Shoulders going 1-for-2 over the nine-inning contest.
In the second inning, Czajkowski knocked a lead-off double to get the Blue Raiders aboard with no outs. Senior Lani Rodriguez singled to advance Czajkowski and stole second to put two Blue Raiders in scoring position. Harris brought Czajkowski home and moved Rodriguez to third for the Blue Raiders first RBI of the contest. Taitt followed with a sacrifice ground out to push Rodriguez across and put Middle Tennessee up by two. Freshman Ava Tepe followed with a followed with a sacrifice ground out of her own to bring home Harris and give the Blue Raiders a 3-0 advantage to close the second.
Following a lead-off ground out, sophomore Shelby Sargent knocked a single and stole second and third to put the Blue Raiders in scoring position yet again. Freshman Laura Mealer tallied an RBI-single to bring Sargent home, 4-0. Mealer stole second, just before Czajkowski singled down the right field line into shallow right field to plate Mealer and push the Blue Raiders lead to 5-0.
Harris led MT off in the fourth with a walk. After stealing second and getting moved to third on a single, Harris stole home to push the Blue Raiders lead to four, 4-0. With two outs, Woods doubled to right center to score Taitt and push Middle Tennessee's lead to seven through four, 7-0.
Junior Kelci Hill led things off with a double to left field to put MT in scoring position in the seventh. Following an error, Mealer connected on an RBI-single for her second RBI of the contest. Czajkowski grounded out to plate Sargent. Abby Shoulders singled to right field, platting Mealer. Taitt doubled to center field to bring across Harris, and Jaya Herring singled to center field to bring across the Blue Raiders fifth run of the inning and extend MT's lead to 12.
Sargent hit a one-out single to get aboard for the Blue Raiders in the eighth. Czajkowski knocked an RBI-double to bring Sargent around following a Mealer single. Mealer eventually touched home after an error on the Pioneer's catcher, 14-0. Harris followed it up with a double to right field to bring across the Blue Raiders third run of the inning and push the lead to 15.
Following a lead-off walk and a single, senior Savannah Freeman connected on an RBI-single to plate Herring. Redshirt junior Gracie Kirby sent a sacrifice fly into left field to bring Sargent across and extend the Blue Raiders lead to its final, 17-0.
Up Next
Middle Tennessee Softball hits the road for the first time this fall on Sunday as the team heads to Boone, N.C. to take on the Appalachian State Mountaineers for a noon first pitch from Sywassink/Lloyd Family Stadium
FOLLOW THE BLUE RAIDERS
Follow Middle Tennessee Softball on social media on Facebook (/BlueRaiderSoftball), Twitter (MT_Softball) and Instagram (MT_Softball).
Players Mentioned
P
/ Softball
OF
/ Softball
SS/2B
/ Softball
OF
/ Softball
OF
/ Softball
3B/1B
/ Softball
P
/ Softball
2B
/ Softball
OF
/ Softball
P/1B
/ SoftballTuesday, February 24
Thursday, February 05
Monday, April 14
Thursday, April 03
