Blue Raiders head to Easton Bama Bash

MURFREESBORO, Tenn. – Middle Tennessee Softball heads to Tuscaloosa, Alabama this weekend to compete in the Easton Bama Bash, hosted by the University of Alabama, on Feb. 18-20 at Rhoads Stadium.

The Blue Raiders open the weekend with a doubleheader on Friday, facing the Evansville Purple Aces for an 11 a.m. first pitch, before closing the day against No. 8 Virginia Tech at 6:30 p.m. Middle Tennessee continues play on Saturday as they take on host No. 2 Alabama at 4 p.m., followed immediately by the Blue Raiders second matchup against Evansville at 6:30 p.m. The Blue Raiders close out the weekend on Sunday as they rematch No. 2 Alabama at 1:30 p.m.

The Blue Raiders contests against Alabama on Saturday at 4 p.m. and Sunday at 1:30 p.m. will be broadcast on SEC Network+. Live stats will be available for all five games on the weekend.

Quick Hits

The 2022 season marks the 30th season of Blue Raider Softball, as well as the 10th season for head coach Jeff Breeden.
Freshman Laura Mealer had a fantastic weekend for the Blue Raiders, batting a .333 and tallying two RBIs on five hits, including the Blue Raiders first home run of the season. She also scored three runs and drew three walks over the weekend.
Sophomore Amaya Harris holds the longest streaks for the Blue Raiders entering the Easton Bama Bash, carrying a six-game on-base streak and a three-game hitting streak into this weekend's competition.
Senior Corrina Dodd and junior Kelci Hill were named to the C-USA All-Conference Team on Tuesday, February 8.
The Blue Raiders were selected sixth in the C-USA preseason coaches' poll, behind Charlotte, North Texas, WKU, UAB, and Marshall, which placed first through fifth, respectively.
The Blue Raiders return 13 starters, while adding seven impressive freshmen to pad the Blue Raiders 2022 lineup.
Despite losing seven starters, the Blue Raiders add plenty of talent, from a solid seven-player freshman class, to build a solid lineup for the 2022 season.

Series History
The Blue Raiders hold an 11-9 all-time record over the Evansville Purple Aces. In their last matchup, the Purple Aces earned a 7-0 win over the Blue Raiders in Evansville on April 10, 2013. At neutral sites, Evansville owns the sole win between the two programs as the Purple Aces won a close 2-1 game on March 28, 1999. Virginia Tech and Middle Tennessee are tied 1-1 in their all-time matchups, with both games being played at neutral sites. The last meeting between the two programs was on February 26, 2012, in which the Blue Raiders earned an impressive 7-4 win over the Hokies. Middle Tennessee trails 0-8 all-time against the Alabama Crimson Tide, including a 0-5 record against Alabama in Tuscaloosa.

Scouting the Competition

Evansville enters its eighth season under head coach Mat Mundell, who has led the Purple Aces to a 128-201 record and four Missouri Valley Conference Championship appearances during his time in Evansville.

Evansville opened its season this past weekend at the Best on the Bayou Classic in Monroe, Louisiana. The Purple Aces kicked off the season with a doubleheader on Friday, Feb. 11, earning a 5-0 shutout against Stephen F. Austin, before earning the team's first extra innings win over the season in a 4-0 nine-inning shutout win against the Morehead State Eagles. On Saturday, Evansville battled Southern to a high-scoring 9-8 win and then followed it up with their third shutout win of the season, securing a five-inning 14-0 win over Mississippi Valley State. The Purple Aces closed their opening weekend on Sunday, Feb. 13 against SIUE, earning an 11-3 win over the Cougars.

At the plate, the Cougars are led by Sydney Weatherford who batted .400 for the Purple Aces over the weekend, knocking in a team-high 10 RBIs on eight hits and scoring four runs. Alexa Davis batted a team-leading .750 with six hits, five runs, and four RBIs, while Hannah Hood led the team in hits with nine and added six runs scored and five RBIs.

Evansville split time in the circle this past weekend between Izzy Vetter and Weatherford, both of which enter this weekend's contests with a 0.00 ERA. Vetter pitched a team-high 17 innings, racking up 30 strikeouts and allowing only three runs on six hits, and recording a pair of shutouts. Weatherford threw 10.2 innings, allowing three runs on nine hits and dealing nine strikeouts.

The No. 8 Virginia Tech Hokies are in their fourth season under head coach Pete D'Amour, who has led the Hokies to a 110-30 record over his four seasons in Blacksburg.

The Hokies competed in the inaugural Northern Lights/Southern Nights Tournament in Leesburg, Florida, and enter this weekend with a perfect 5-0 record. The Hokies kicked off their season with a doubleheader on Friday, Feb. 11, earning a pair of close victories over Wisconsin, 5-4, and RV Northwestern, 3-2. VT continued play on Saturday defeating the Michigan State Spartans 5-1 before upsetting then-No. 11 Missouri 4-3. The Hokies closed out their first weekend of competition earning a six-inning run-rule over then-No. 19 Kentucky, 6-1.

Entering this weekend, Kelsey Bennett leads the Hokies, batting a .615 with eight hits, two RBIs, and two runs scored. Cameron Fagan leads the team in hits with nine, while batting a .474 and scoring three runs and recording one RBI. Mackenzie Lawter and Meredith Slaw tie for the team-lead in RBIs with four apiece, while Lawter hit a .400 with four hits and two runs, and Slaw batted a .286 with two hits and one run scored.

Keely Rochard leads Virginia Tech in the circle, pitching a team-high 20.1 innings last weekend and recording three complete games. Rochard leads the Hokies with 34 strikeouts this season, while allowing only six runs on 13 hits. Emma Lemley has pitched 10.2 innings for VT, dealing 23 strikeouts and allowing four runs on three hits.

Alabama is in its 24^th season under head coach Patrick Murphy, who has amassed an impressive 1150-319-4 record in Tuscaloosa, including 20 seasons with 40 or more wins.

The Tide opened the season 4-0 at the Candrea Classic in Tucson, Arizona. Alabama kicked things off with an 11-0 five-inning shutout win over Southern Utah. The Tide then faced a pair of Pac 12 opponents on Saturday, defeating Oregon State, 5-1, before earning an impressive 11-0 five-inning victory against then-No. 9 Arizona. Alabama closed out its opening weekend on Sunday defeating the New Mexico Lobos 8-3.

Alabama is led by Megan Bloodworth, who batted a .600 over their four-game opening weekend, recording a team-leading seven RBIs on six hits and scoring four runs. Ally Shipman tallied six RBIs for the Tide, while batting a .364 with four hits and four runs scored, and Ashley Prange batted .583 and pushed across five RBIs on seven hits and five runs scored.

Montana Fouts pitched a team-high seven innings for Alabama last weekend, leading the team with 14 strikeouts and allowing just one run on three hits. Lexi Kilfoyl and Jaala Torrence pitched 5.2 and 5 innings, both recording a shutout on the year. Kilfoyl stuckout four batters and allowed only three hits, while Torrence tossed out nine strikeouts and only allowed one hit over her five innings of play.

Last Time Out: SDSU Season Kickoff
The Blue Raiders faced tough competition to open the season as they competed against Stanford, SDSU, Boise State, Cal Poly, and UIC to open the season. On their first day of competition, the Blue Raiders battled the Stanford Cardinal into extra innings at a 1-1 stalemate, however a two-run home run in the eighth inning claimed the win for Stanford. Middle Tennessee then played against host SDSU in a nightcap, falling 3-1. On Friday, the Blue Raiders faced Boise State, dropping a 4-0 contest against the Broncos. The Blue Raiders then remated Boise State on Saturday, dropping an 8-1 contest before earning the team's first win of the season in a 4-3 victory over Cal Poly. The Blue Raiders then closed out the weekend on Sunday in an early morning matchup against the UIC Flames, falling in a tightly contested 2-1 game against the Flames.

Up Next
The Blue Raiders will continue their non-conference tournament play on Feb. 25-26 as they head to Macon, Georgia for the Mercer Invitational at Sikes Field.

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Players Mentioned

Corrina Dodd

Amaya Harris

Kelci Hill

Laura Mealer

Middle Tennesee State University Athletics