Middle Tennesee State University Athletics
Wednesday, March 30
Murfreesboro, TN
4:00 PM
Middle Tennessee
15-19
14
vs
19
.png&width=60&height=60&type=webp)
Mississippi State
23-10
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
R
H
E
Mississippi State
3
4
0
2
0
3
7
19
17
5
Middle Tennessee
0
1
6
1
2
3
1
14
10
3
Blue Raiders fight back, but fall short in midweek slugfest
3/30/2022 9:35:00 PM | Softball
The 33 combined runs in the 19-14 shootout were the most combined runs in a game in MT history
MURFREESBORO, Tenn. — Things looked dire early at Blue Raider Softball Field on Wednesday afternoon, with Middle Tennessee trailing Mississippi State by seven runs after the top of the second. But a one-run second and six-run third quickly got the Blue Raiders back in the game.
But the 20-30 mph Murfreesboro wind ultimately helped give Bulldogs the advantage, as MSU smacked six home runs to edge the Blue Raiders 19-14 at the end of the slugfest.
The 33 runs between the two teams are the most combined runs ever in any Middle Tennessee softball game in program history.
"I was pleased with the way we kept bouncing back and counter punching," head coach Jeff Breeden said. "I've not been in one where the wind has done what it did tonight. Some of those balls that they hit I thought were routine outs and they're in the parking lot."
"This whole game tonight is going to get us ready to go for this weekend. We brought an SEC team in here to experience that with our kids at home, which doesn't happen much. It also let our fans see an SEC opponent at our place, I think it was a win-win for everybody."
Freshman Claire Czajkowski was huge for the Blue Raiders (15-19, 2-4 C-USA), going 3-for-5 at the plate while scoring a career-high four runs. Freshman catcher Ava Tepe drove in three runs for a career-high in RBIs, walking twice in addition to going 1-for-2 at the dish. Fellow freshman Laura Mealer went a perfect 2-for-2 at the plate, knocking in a career-high three RBIs with her three-run bomb, the fifth home run of her career, and tying her career high in runs, scoring two in the contest. In all, eight MT players scored at least one run, while six Blue Raiders drove in at least one RBI.
"I really couldn't do it without my teammates in the dugout," Tepe said. "The whole game, it was energy the whole time. And then people got on base before me. I couldn't ask for anything better."
Claire Woods had her moments in relief for Middle Tennessee, including two scoreless frames, highlighted by stranding the based loaded in the fifth inning, but ultimately earned the loss after giving up two solo shots to open the top of the seventh to the Bulldogs (23-10, 4-2 SEC), relinquishing the lead MT earned on Mealer's three-run homer in the bottom of the sixth. Pitching was tough for both staffs, in part due to the sustained winds blowing directly out to center field most of the afternoon, sometimes gusting over 40 mph.
"I saw some weird spins, it was crazy," Tepe said of catching her pitching staff with the wind. "It was fun though, it made it more intense. I was like 'I've got to catch the ball for sure.'"
After Mississippi State scored seven runs in the game's first two innings, Middle Tennessee finally put a run of their own on the scoreboard in the bottom of the second, when Tepe's flair to center field scored Czajkowski from second, cutting MSU's lead to 7-1.
Czajkowski would get an RBI of her own in the bottom of the third, scoring Kelci Hill from third on a single to center field. Hill reached third on a pair of Bulldog wild pitches after reaching on an error. Middle Tennessee would then load the bases on a single from Kaylee Richetto and a walk from Abby Shoulders.
A walk from Tepe forced home MT's third run of the game, keeping the rally going with one down. Shelby Sargent came through with two strikes, punching a single up the middle to score Richetto and Shoulders to cut MT's deficit to 7-5, with Tepe moving up to third base on the cut off throw at home. Amaya Harris then hit a deep single to right field, caroming off the wall to hold the Blue Raider runners to just one base advanced, but scoring Tepe from third to pull the Blue Raiders within one, 7-6.
Anyce Harvey drove home the tying run with a sacrifice fly to left field, batting the lineup around as MT scored six runs in the bottom of the third to knot the game at seven.
The Bulldogs struck back for two more runs in the top of the fourth, but MT kept battling once again with Tepe, who earned her third RBI of the game to score Czajkowski from third on a sacrifice fly to right field, cutting the deficit to 9-8.
After Claire Woods stranded the bases loaded in the top of the fifth, MT took advantage of a Bulldog error to score two runs in the bottom half of the inning. After Mealer singled to start the frame, Amaya Harris' sacrifice bunt saw the MSU third baseman's throw sail over the first baseman's head, scoring Mealer from first and allowing Harris to move up to third. Harris then scored on a sacrifice fly from Harvey to give MT the 10-9 lead, their first of the game.
Mississippi State retook the lead in the top of the sixth with three runs on two hits, but Middle Tennessee continued to fight in the bottom half. Tepe walked and Sargent singled with two outs, setting up a full-count bomb to left field to give the Blue Raiders a 13-12 lead. But seven Bulldogs came across to score in the top of the seventh to give MSU the lead at 19-13.
MT pushed across one run in the bottom of the seventh, but ultimately could not sustain enough of a rally to come away with the victory.
Up Next
Middle Tennessee will host Florida Atlantic at home this week in their third C-USA series of 2022. The Owls recently lost their long-time head coach Joan Joyce, who passed away on March 26 at the age of 81.
"We've known Joan for a long time," Breeden said. "(Assistant Coach) Tony (Foti) is really really close with her and her family and her brother-in-law. So, it was hard when we heard that. We're going to do a memorial sticker for our helmet and we're going to read something out in pregame to make their team feel good about us honoring their coach. And then we're going to try and win three ball games."
FOLLOW THE BLUE RAIDERS
Follow Middle Tennessee Softball on social media on Facebook (/BlueRaiderSoftball), Twitter (MT_Softball) and Instagram (MT_Softball).
But the 20-30 mph Murfreesboro wind ultimately helped give Bulldogs the advantage, as MSU smacked six home runs to edge the Blue Raiders 19-14 at the end of the slugfest.
The 33 runs between the two teams are the most combined runs ever in any Middle Tennessee softball game in program history.
"I was pleased with the way we kept bouncing back and counter punching," head coach Jeff Breeden said. "I've not been in one where the wind has done what it did tonight. Some of those balls that they hit I thought were routine outs and they're in the parking lot."
"This whole game tonight is going to get us ready to go for this weekend. We brought an SEC team in here to experience that with our kids at home, which doesn't happen much. It also let our fans see an SEC opponent at our place, I think it was a win-win for everybody."
Freshman Claire Czajkowski was huge for the Blue Raiders (15-19, 2-4 C-USA), going 3-for-5 at the plate while scoring a career-high four runs. Freshman catcher Ava Tepe drove in three runs for a career-high in RBIs, walking twice in addition to going 1-for-2 at the dish. Fellow freshman Laura Mealer went a perfect 2-for-2 at the plate, knocking in a career-high three RBIs with her three-run bomb, the fifth home run of her career, and tying her career high in runs, scoring two in the contest. In all, eight MT players scored at least one run, while six Blue Raiders drove in at least one RBI.
"I really couldn't do it without my teammates in the dugout," Tepe said. "The whole game, it was energy the whole time. And then people got on base before me. I couldn't ask for anything better."
Claire Woods had her moments in relief for Middle Tennessee, including two scoreless frames, highlighted by stranding the based loaded in the fifth inning, but ultimately earned the loss after giving up two solo shots to open the top of the seventh to the Bulldogs (23-10, 4-2 SEC), relinquishing the lead MT earned on Mealer's three-run homer in the bottom of the sixth. Pitching was tough for both staffs, in part due to the sustained winds blowing directly out to center field most of the afternoon, sometimes gusting over 40 mph.
"I saw some weird spins, it was crazy," Tepe said of catching her pitching staff with the wind. "It was fun though, it made it more intense. I was like 'I've got to catch the ball for sure.'"
After Mississippi State scored seven runs in the game's first two innings, Middle Tennessee finally put a run of their own on the scoreboard in the bottom of the second, when Tepe's flair to center field scored Czajkowski from second, cutting MSU's lead to 7-1.
Czajkowski would get an RBI of her own in the bottom of the third, scoring Kelci Hill from third on a single to center field. Hill reached third on a pair of Bulldog wild pitches after reaching on an error. Middle Tennessee would then load the bases on a single from Kaylee Richetto and a walk from Abby Shoulders.
A walk from Tepe forced home MT's third run of the game, keeping the rally going with one down. Shelby Sargent came through with two strikes, punching a single up the middle to score Richetto and Shoulders to cut MT's deficit to 7-5, with Tepe moving up to third base on the cut off throw at home. Amaya Harris then hit a deep single to right field, caroming off the wall to hold the Blue Raider runners to just one base advanced, but scoring Tepe from third to pull the Blue Raiders within one, 7-6.
Anyce Harvey drove home the tying run with a sacrifice fly to left field, batting the lineup around as MT scored six runs in the bottom of the third to knot the game at seven.
The Bulldogs struck back for two more runs in the top of the fourth, but MT kept battling once again with Tepe, who earned her third RBI of the game to score Czajkowski from third on a sacrifice fly to right field, cutting the deficit to 9-8.
After Claire Woods stranded the bases loaded in the top of the fifth, MT took advantage of a Bulldog error to score two runs in the bottom half of the inning. After Mealer singled to start the frame, Amaya Harris' sacrifice bunt saw the MSU third baseman's throw sail over the first baseman's head, scoring Mealer from first and allowing Harris to move up to third. Harris then scored on a sacrifice fly from Harvey to give MT the 10-9 lead, their first of the game.
Mississippi State retook the lead in the top of the sixth with three runs on two hits, but Middle Tennessee continued to fight in the bottom half. Tepe walked and Sargent singled with two outs, setting up a full-count bomb to left field to give the Blue Raiders a 13-12 lead. But seven Bulldogs came across to score in the top of the seventh to give MSU the lead at 19-13.
MT pushed across one run in the bottom of the seventh, but ultimately could not sustain enough of a rally to come away with the victory.
Up Next
Middle Tennessee will host Florida Atlantic at home this week in their third C-USA series of 2022. The Owls recently lost their long-time head coach Joan Joyce, who passed away on March 26 at the age of 81.
"We've known Joan for a long time," Breeden said. "(Assistant Coach) Tony (Foti) is really really close with her and her family and her brother-in-law. So, it was hard when we heard that. We're going to do a memorial sticker for our helmet and we're going to read something out in pregame to make their team feel good about us honoring their coach. And then we're going to try and win three ball games."
FOLLOW THE BLUE RAIDERS
Follow Middle Tennessee Softball on social media on Facebook (/BlueRaiderSoftball), Twitter (MT_Softball) and Instagram (MT_Softball).
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Kenley Hawk (9-2)
L: Woods, Claire (1-5)
.png&width=32&height=32&type=webp)
Batting:
HR: Mia Davidson 1 ; Chloe Malau'ulu 1 ; Paige Cook 2 ; Madisyn Kennedy 1 ; Jackie McKenna 1
RBI: Riley Hull 1 ; Mia Davidson 1 ; Chloe Malau'ulu 1 ; Paige Cook 7 ; Madisyn Kennedy 3 ; Jackie McKenna 2 ; Montana Davidson 2
SH: Shea Moreno 1
SF: Madisyn Kennedy 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Riley Hull 1 ; Mia Davidson 3 ; Chloe Malau'ulu 3 ; Addison Purvis 1 ; Allison Florian 1 ; Phoebe Florian 1 ; Paige Cook 4 ; Shea Moreno 1 ; Madisyn Kennedy 2 ; Jackie McKenna 2
SB: Shea Moreno 1
HBP: Mia Davidson 1 ; Paige Cook 1
Batting:
HR: Mealer, Laura 1
RBI: Mealer, Laura 3 ; Harris, Amaya 1 ; Harvey, Anyce 2 ; Czajkowski, Claire 1 ; Tepe, Ava 3 ; Sargent, Shelby 2
SH: Harris, Amaya 1 ; Shoulders, Abby 1 ; Sargent, Shelby 1
SF: Harvey, Anyce 2 ; Tepe, Ava 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Mealer, Laura 2 ; Harris, Amaya 1 ; Hill, Kelci 1 ; Czajkowski, Claire 4 ; Richetto, Kaylee 1 ; Shoulders, Abby 1 ; Tepe, Ava 2 ; Sargent, Shelby 2
SB: Mealer, Laura 1 ; Harris, Amaya 1
HBP: Mealer, Laura 2
Game Leaders
Hitting
AB
5
R
4
H
3
RBI
1
AB
2
R
2
H
2
RBI
3
AB
4
R
2
H
2
RBI
2
AB
3
R
1
H
1
RBI
1
Players Mentioned
IF
/ SoftballOF/INF
/ Softball
OF/UT
/ Softball
OF
/ SoftballSS/2B
/ Softball
UT
/ SoftballOF
/ Softball
IF/UT
/ Softball
P/3B
/ SoftballFacility tour – Stephen and Denise Smith Student-Athlete Performance Center
Wednesday, July 30
Spring Sports Show hosted by The Boulevard – April 21, 2025: Softball and Baseball
Monday, April 21
MTSU Softball vs WKU Recap 4/11-13/25
Monday, April 14
MTSU Softball vs WKU Recap 4/11-13/25 2025
Monday, April 14
