Middle Tennessee State University Athletics
Saturday, April 2
Murfreesboro, Tenn.
3 p.m.
Middle Tennessee
12-14, 0
3
vs
7
Western Kentucky University
10-16, 0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
R
H
E
Western Kentucky
0
1
1
2
0
0
0
2
1
7
10
1
Middle Tennessee
0
0
2
0
0
0
0
0
1
3
9
0
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Devyn Terbrak (4-1)
L: Swan, Eriq (1-4)
S: Mason Vinyard (5)
Batting:
HR: Brian McAuliffe 1 ; Ricardo Leonett 1
RBI: Tristin Garcia 1 ; Brian McAuliffe 1 ; Ricardo Leonett 1 ; Ty Crittenberger 2 ; Brodie Mackay 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Tristin Garcia 1 ; Brian McAuliffe 2 ; Ricardo Leonett 2 ; Brett Blomquist 1 ; Ty Crittenberger 1
SB: Ty Crittenberger 1
CS: Brett Blomquist 1
HBP: Brett Blomquist 1
Batting:
2B: Lopez, Fausto 1 ; Mabry, JT 1 ; Galloway, Jackson 1
RBI: Lopez, Fausto 1 ; Mabry, JT 1 ; Coker, Brett 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Lopez, Fausto 1 ; Galloway, Jackson 1 ; Dillingham, Brian 1
CS: Lopez, Fausto 1
Game Leaders
Hitting
AB
4
R
1
H
2
RBI
0
AB
3
R
1
H
1
RBI
1
AB
1
R
0
H
1
RBI
0
Players Mentioned
OF
/ BaseballOF
/ Baseball
RHP
/ Baseball
INF
/ Baseball
Photo by: Matt Posey/MT Athletic Communications
MT Baseball drops Saturday Matinee against WKU
4/2/2022 6:38:00 PM | Baseball
MURFREESBORO, Tenn. — Middle Tennessee baseball had its bats going early on Saturday at Reese Smith Jr. Field. But a cold middle of the day helped make a late rally that occurred in vain, as the Blue Raiders dropped the second game of their series against Western Kentucky 7-3.
After scoring two runs in the bottom of the second, the Blue Raiders (12-14, 4-4 C-USA) failed to score in the next five frames, allowing the Hilltoppers (10-16, 2-6 C-USA) to quickly build on a lead they took in the fourth inning and never relinquished the rest of the way.
"I'll give credit to their pitcher. He only walked one guy and we walked eight, that's the difference in the game," head coach Jim Toman said. "After the third inning, we didn't hit again until the ninth."
Eriq Swan took his fourth loss of the season on Saturday, walking four Hilltoppers and striking out four while giving up four runs, three of them earned, in four innings of work. Jaden Hamm started off solid in relief, tossing three scoreless frames in the fifth, sixth and seventh innings, but lost control of the zone late to give up three earned runs while walking four batters and striking out six in five innings pitched..
JT Mabry and Jackson Galloway kept swinging hot bats at the top of the lineup, combining for five of MT's nine hits. Mabry went 3-for-4 with one RBI, while Galloway scored one run while going 2-for-4. Fausto Lopez scored a run and drove in a run at the top of the Blue Raider lineup, going 1-for-3.
"Kudos to him, he was making pitches when he had to," Lopez said of Hilltopper starter Devyn Terbrak. "Typically, we don't like to miss some of the pitches we missed today, so now it's time to get back to the drawing board and win the game tomorrow."
MT went three innings, the sixth, the seventh and the eighth, without recording a single hit, with Lopez as the team's only base runner during that stretch with a walk.
"(Terbrak) got in a little bit of a rhythm," Toman said. "He'd throw a little breaking ball slow and then he's 88-89, pretty quick fastball and then he'd have a good change up. We had some guys on early and he'd throw that change up and we'd roll over it or pop out."
After the Hilltoppers drew first blood, pushing across one run in the top of the second and top of third, the Blue Raiders got their offense rolling in the bottom of the third. Brian Dillingham smacked a single up the middle, setting up a Lopez double off the left field wall after a seven-pitch at bat, plating Dillingham from first. JT Mabry followed up Lopez with an RBI-double of his own, caroming off the right field wall to tie the game at 2-2.
Western Kentucky tacked on two more runs in the top of the fourth to retake the lead, taking advantage of a leadoff walk and three straight hits, but great Blue Raider defense helped get MT out of the jam and limit WKU to a 4-2 lead. Dillingham, starting in right field, drilled Brett Blomquist trying to go from first to third on a single for the inning's first out. Then, Lopez leaped up into the air to snare a Tristin Garcia line drive at short, doubling off the Hilltopper runner at first to end the scoring threat.
"I had good help from my teammates, I saw it pretty well and a couple of guys were yelling to take a step back, so I was able to time it up pretty good," Lopez said. "I'm glad I caught him off guard a little bit."
WKU added one more to their tally in the top of the eighth, but defense once again saved another run for the Blue Raiders. Mason Spiers popped up to throw out the runner at second on a steal with runners on the corners, but Lopez quickly cut the throw off as he covered the bag and fired it right back, easily nabbing the sprinting Hilltopper at home, keeping the WKU lead at 5-2. The Hilltoppers would get one more RBI-single in the frame, however, to increase their lead to 6-2.
After a top of the ninth bomb from WKU, Middle Tennessee was able to load the bases with no one out down 7-2 in the bottom of the ninth. One run, Galloway, came across to score on a fielder's choice, but Mason Vinyard was able to get out of trouble and end the game at 7-3.
Middle Tennessee will look to take the rubber match of the series tomorrow afternoon at the Reese on Blue Raider Kids Club Day. First pitch is scheduled for 1 p.m.
"There's a very well known saying in college baseball 'Champions win on Sunday,' because that's either a rubber match, you're trying to avoid getting swept or you're trying to take the series," Lopez said. "So at the end of the day, champions win on Sundays and we've just got to find a way to do it, it doesn't matter how."
After scoring two runs in the bottom of the second, the Blue Raiders (12-14, 4-4 C-USA) failed to score in the next five frames, allowing the Hilltoppers (10-16, 2-6 C-USA) to quickly build on a lead they took in the fourth inning and never relinquished the rest of the way.
"I'll give credit to their pitcher. He only walked one guy and we walked eight, that's the difference in the game," head coach Jim Toman said. "After the third inning, we didn't hit again until the ninth."
Eriq Swan took his fourth loss of the season on Saturday, walking four Hilltoppers and striking out four while giving up four runs, three of them earned, in four innings of work. Jaden Hamm started off solid in relief, tossing three scoreless frames in the fifth, sixth and seventh innings, but lost control of the zone late to give up three earned runs while walking four batters and striking out six in five innings pitched..
JT Mabry and Jackson Galloway kept swinging hot bats at the top of the lineup, combining for five of MT's nine hits. Mabry went 3-for-4 with one RBI, while Galloway scored one run while going 2-for-4. Fausto Lopez scored a run and drove in a run at the top of the Blue Raider lineup, going 1-for-3.
"Kudos to him, he was making pitches when he had to," Lopez said of Hilltopper starter Devyn Terbrak. "Typically, we don't like to miss some of the pitches we missed today, so now it's time to get back to the drawing board and win the game tomorrow."
MT went three innings, the sixth, the seventh and the eighth, without recording a single hit, with Lopez as the team's only base runner during that stretch with a walk.
"(Terbrak) got in a little bit of a rhythm," Toman said. "He'd throw a little breaking ball slow and then he's 88-89, pretty quick fastball and then he'd have a good change up. We had some guys on early and he'd throw that change up and we'd roll over it or pop out."
After the Hilltoppers drew first blood, pushing across one run in the top of the second and top of third, the Blue Raiders got their offense rolling in the bottom of the third. Brian Dillingham smacked a single up the middle, setting up a Lopez double off the left field wall after a seven-pitch at bat, plating Dillingham from first. JT Mabry followed up Lopez with an RBI-double of his own, caroming off the right field wall to tie the game at 2-2.
Western Kentucky tacked on two more runs in the top of the fourth to retake the lead, taking advantage of a leadoff walk and three straight hits, but great Blue Raider defense helped get MT out of the jam and limit WKU to a 4-2 lead. Dillingham, starting in right field, drilled Brett Blomquist trying to go from first to third on a single for the inning's first out. Then, Lopez leaped up into the air to snare a Tristin Garcia line drive at short, doubling off the Hilltopper runner at first to end the scoring threat.
"I had good help from my teammates, I saw it pretty well and a couple of guys were yelling to take a step back, so I was able to time it up pretty good," Lopez said. "I'm glad I caught him off guard a little bit."
WKU added one more to their tally in the top of the eighth, but defense once again saved another run for the Blue Raiders. Mason Spiers popped up to throw out the runner at second on a steal with runners on the corners, but Lopez quickly cut the throw off as he covered the bag and fired it right back, easily nabbing the sprinting Hilltopper at home, keeping the WKU lead at 5-2. The Hilltoppers would get one more RBI-single in the frame, however, to increase their lead to 6-2.
After a top of the ninth bomb from WKU, Middle Tennessee was able to load the bases with no one out down 7-2 in the bottom of the ninth. One run, Galloway, came across to score on a fielder's choice, but Mason Vinyard was able to get out of trouble and end the game at 7-3.
Middle Tennessee will look to take the rubber match of the series tomorrow afternoon at the Reese on Blue Raider Kids Club Day. First pitch is scheduled for 1 p.m.
"There's a very well known saying in college baseball 'Champions win on Sunday,' because that's either a rubber match, you're trying to avoid getting swept or you're trying to take the series," Lopez said. "So at the end of the day, champions win on Sundays and we've just got to find a way to do it, it doesn't matter how."
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