Middle Tennesee State University Athletics
Friday, April 29
Murfreesboro, Tenn.
6 p.m.
Middle Tennessee
vs
UTSA
Photo by: Matt Posey/MT Athletic Communications
Blue Raiders Host Roadrunners This Weekend
4/28/2022 9:36:00 AM | Baseball
MURFREESBORO, Tenn. – The Blue Raiders are hot. After taking two of three on the road against La Tech, who sits in second place in the Conference USA standings, Middle Tennessee baseball is trending upward.
Eight wins in their last 10 games, five straight conference series wins and 14-5 since March 20, MT sits tied for fourth place in the league standings with less than a month remaining in the regular season. This weekend's opponent, UTSA, is tied for second in the conference.
WEEKEND SCHEDULE
Fri., April 29 - 6 p.m.
Sat., April 30 - 3 p.m.
Sun., May 1 - 11 a.m.
Winning their last five Conference USA series, MT's last four vs. WKU, at Marshall, vs. Charlotte and at La Tech have been decided by the rubber match while the Blue Raiders won their first two games against UAB.
Middle Tennessee is playing its best baseball of the season in the month of April. 10-4 since the start of the month, the Blue Raiders are batting .285 as a team, slugging .402 and have seven batters hitting over .280 in the month.
Peyton Wigginton is 3-1 with a 2.96 ERA and 20 strikeouts to lead a pitching staff that has a 3.38 team ERA, .233 opponent batting average and 112 strikeouts. In 16.1 innings pitched, Trent Seibert is 1-0 while posting a 2.20 ERA and holding opponents to a .190 batting average in 16.1 innings pitched in April.
MT hasn't lost a series nor a midweek game heading into the final week of the month.
Several Blue Raiders are putting up impressive numbers at Reese Smith Jr. Field this season. JT Mabry has 18 hits in 46 at-bats (.391) while recording three doubles and five RBI. Wyatt Morgan is batting .406, including eight RBI, a home run and a double. Jackson Galloway is slashing .400 with three home runs, 14 RBI, two triples, two doubles and 10 runs scored.
In smaller sample sizes, Both Briggs Rutter and Mason McLeod are 4-for-7 with a combined five RBI and two doubles.
Blue Raider head coach Jim Toman is one win away from 400 career wins. Toman, the 22nd head coach of the program, is in his fourth season with the Blue Raiders and has 70 wins over that span. Toman won 329 games in his nine seasons as head coach at Liberty.
Peyton Wigginton and Zach Keenan both sit in the top 10 in the program's career strikeout list. Wigginton, who has served in a swing role this season on the pitching staff, is up to 245 career strikeouts and is now the fifth place. Wigginton is nine strikeouts away from passing Dave Richardson for fourth place. With 48 games started, the left-handed pitcher out of Franklin, Tenn., also is fifth on the program's list of most games started in a career and seventh in innings pitched (301.2).
Keenan is eighth on the all-time list with 228 career strikeouts. Keenan, a right-hander from Suwanee, Ga., has pitched 248 innings over his five collegiate seasons, moving him into 10th on the career innings pitched list.
Sixteen members of the 2022 Blue Raider roster came to Murfreesboro through the junior college level. Ten of them are playing in their first seasons wearing blue, black and white. After standout seasons at Johnson County CC, Jackson Galloway and Wyatt Morgan are teammates once again in the 'Boro. Both student-athletes are contributing to this season's Blue Raider team. Galloway is first on the team in batting average (.327), RBI (23) and slugging percentage (.558). Galloway has hit five home runs, two of which were grand slams. Wyatt Morgan is batting .315 with two home runs, 13 RBI and has an on-base percentage of .436.
MT's bats have scored 10-or-more runs in a game six times this season, including a 10-run performance most recently against Charlotte. The Blue Raiders have scored in bunches in those games, scoring 11 runs in their final two innings vs. Old Dominion March 20, nine runs in the sixth inning vs. Charlotte, eight runs in the first two innings at Auburn March 11, seven runs in the final two innings vs. Western Carolina March 2 and an 11-run seventh inning vs. Illinois Feb. 26. All of those games have resulted in Blue Raider wins.
STRETCHING FOR THE ROADRUNNERS UTSA is on pace for its best record since 2018 as it currently stands in third place in Conference USA. The Roadrunners won 10 of their first 12, including a win over then-No. 2 Stanford 6-5 in 10 innings Feb. 28.
The run ended right before conference play when UTSA was swept by Oklahoma in Norman and opened C-USA play dropping two of three to Louisiana Tech.
The Roadrunners won six straight, including sweeping then-No. 23 Charlotte and defeating then-No. 11 TCU. Since then, UTSA has gone on a five-game win streak and swept FIU last weekend at home.
UTSA ranks second in the conference in batting average (.308), runs scored (335) and leads the league in doubles (91) and triples (13). Opponents are hitting .246 off UTSA pitchers while the Roadrunner staff has a 5.24 ERA.
Shane Sirdashney leads the team in average (.357) and OPS (1.001) in 32 games played. Jonathan Tapia is batting .323 with 15 doubles, five home runs and 36 RBI in addition to a .513 slugging percentage and .419 on-base percentage. Ian Bailey is hitting .313 with a .996 OPS as well as 10 home runs and 38 RBI.
Luke Malone has been the best Roadrunner pitcher this season. With six wins and an ERA of 1.78, he ranks in the top five in the conference in both categories. Hunter Mayo, Daniel Shafer and John Chomko each have a sub-three ERA and have combined for a 5-1 record out of the bullpen.
PROMOTIONS
It's a busy weekend for promotions at Reese Smith Jr. Field.
Students can take a study break ahead of finals week at MTSU and enjoy Blue Raider baseball Friday night. The first 100 fans will receive bluelight glasses.
Saturday is another Salute Saturday, honoring current and former military members.
The weekend ends with Superhero Sunday. The first 200 fans at the ballpark will receive superhero themed t-shirts. Inflatables will also be set up behind the third base dugout and fans are invited to participate in Baseball BINGO throughout the game.
Eight wins in their last 10 games, five straight conference series wins and 14-5 since March 20, MT sits tied for fourth place in the league standings with less than a month remaining in the regular season. This weekend's opponent, UTSA, is tied for second in the conference.
WEEKEND SCHEDULE
Fri., April 29 - 6 p.m.
Sat., April 30 - 3 p.m.
Sun., May 1 - 11 a.m.
Winning their last five Conference USA series, MT's last four vs. WKU, at Marshall, vs. Charlotte and at La Tech have been decided by the rubber match while the Blue Raiders won their first two games against UAB.
Middle Tennessee is playing its best baseball of the season in the month of April. 10-4 since the start of the month, the Blue Raiders are batting .285 as a team, slugging .402 and have seven batters hitting over .280 in the month.
Peyton Wigginton is 3-1 with a 2.96 ERA and 20 strikeouts to lead a pitching staff that has a 3.38 team ERA, .233 opponent batting average and 112 strikeouts. In 16.1 innings pitched, Trent Seibert is 1-0 while posting a 2.20 ERA and holding opponents to a .190 batting average in 16.1 innings pitched in April.
MT hasn't lost a series nor a midweek game heading into the final week of the month.
Several Blue Raiders are putting up impressive numbers at Reese Smith Jr. Field this season. JT Mabry has 18 hits in 46 at-bats (.391) while recording three doubles and five RBI. Wyatt Morgan is batting .406, including eight RBI, a home run and a double. Jackson Galloway is slashing .400 with three home runs, 14 RBI, two triples, two doubles and 10 runs scored.
In smaller sample sizes, Both Briggs Rutter and Mason McLeod are 4-for-7 with a combined five RBI and two doubles.
Blue Raider head coach Jim Toman is one win away from 400 career wins. Toman, the 22nd head coach of the program, is in his fourth season with the Blue Raiders and has 70 wins over that span. Toman won 329 games in his nine seasons as head coach at Liberty.
Peyton Wigginton and Zach Keenan both sit in the top 10 in the program's career strikeout list. Wigginton, who has served in a swing role this season on the pitching staff, is up to 245 career strikeouts and is now the fifth place. Wigginton is nine strikeouts away from passing Dave Richardson for fourth place. With 48 games started, the left-handed pitcher out of Franklin, Tenn., also is fifth on the program's list of most games started in a career and seventh in innings pitched (301.2).
Keenan is eighth on the all-time list with 228 career strikeouts. Keenan, a right-hander from Suwanee, Ga., has pitched 248 innings over his five collegiate seasons, moving him into 10th on the career innings pitched list.
Sixteen members of the 2022 Blue Raider roster came to Murfreesboro through the junior college level. Ten of them are playing in their first seasons wearing blue, black and white. After standout seasons at Johnson County CC, Jackson Galloway and Wyatt Morgan are teammates once again in the 'Boro. Both student-athletes are contributing to this season's Blue Raider team. Galloway is first on the team in batting average (.327), RBI (23) and slugging percentage (.558). Galloway has hit five home runs, two of which were grand slams. Wyatt Morgan is batting .315 with two home runs, 13 RBI and has an on-base percentage of .436.
MT's bats have scored 10-or-more runs in a game six times this season, including a 10-run performance most recently against Charlotte. The Blue Raiders have scored in bunches in those games, scoring 11 runs in their final two innings vs. Old Dominion March 20, nine runs in the sixth inning vs. Charlotte, eight runs in the first two innings at Auburn March 11, seven runs in the final two innings vs. Western Carolina March 2 and an 11-run seventh inning vs. Illinois Feb. 26. All of those games have resulted in Blue Raider wins.
STRETCHING FOR THE ROADRUNNERS UTSA is on pace for its best record since 2018 as it currently stands in third place in Conference USA. The Roadrunners won 10 of their first 12, including a win over then-No. 2 Stanford 6-5 in 10 innings Feb. 28.
The run ended right before conference play when UTSA was swept by Oklahoma in Norman and opened C-USA play dropping two of three to Louisiana Tech.
The Roadrunners won six straight, including sweeping then-No. 23 Charlotte and defeating then-No. 11 TCU. Since then, UTSA has gone on a five-game win streak and swept FIU last weekend at home.
UTSA ranks second in the conference in batting average (.308), runs scored (335) and leads the league in doubles (91) and triples (13). Opponents are hitting .246 off UTSA pitchers while the Roadrunner staff has a 5.24 ERA.
Shane Sirdashney leads the team in average (.357) and OPS (1.001) in 32 games played. Jonathan Tapia is batting .323 with 15 doubles, five home runs and 36 RBI in addition to a .513 slugging percentage and .419 on-base percentage. Ian Bailey is hitting .313 with a .996 OPS as well as 10 home runs and 38 RBI.
Luke Malone has been the best Roadrunner pitcher this season. With six wins and an ERA of 1.78, he ranks in the top five in the conference in both categories. Hunter Mayo, Daniel Shafer and John Chomko each have a sub-three ERA and have combined for a 5-1 record out of the bullpen.
PROMOTIONS
It's a busy weekend for promotions at Reese Smith Jr. Field.
Students can take a study break ahead of finals week at MTSU and enjoy Blue Raider baseball Friday night. The first 100 fans will receive bluelight glasses.
Saturday is another Salute Saturday, honoring current and former military members.
The weekend ends with Superhero Sunday. The first 200 fans at the ballpark will receive superhero themed t-shirts. Inflatables will also be set up behind the third base dugout and fans are invited to participate in Baseball BINGO throughout the game.
Players Mentioned
OF
/ Baseball
RHP
/ Baseball
C
/ Baseball
1B
/ Baseball
C
/ Baseball
LHP
/ Baseball
LHP
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