Middle Tennesee State University Athletics
Saturday, April 30
Murfreesboro, Tenn.
3 p.m.
Middle Tennessee
21-19, 0
4
vs
12
UTSA
30-13, 0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
R
H
E
UTSA
0
0
5
0
3
0
0
0
4
12
15
0
Middle Tennessee
0
1
0
0
0
1
1
0
1
4
12
1
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Luke Malone (7-1)
L: Wigginton, Peyton (5-4)
Batting:
2B: Sammy Diaz 2 ; Isaiah Walker 2
HR: Ian Bailey 1 ; Josh Killeen 1
RBI: Sammy Diaz 3 ; Ian Bailey 3 ; Josh Killeen 4 ; Chase Keng 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Jonathan Tapia 2 ; Sammy Diaz 1 ; Ian Bailey 2 ; Leyton Barry 1 ; Matt King 1 ; Josh Killeen 2 ; Isaiah Walker 2 ; Chase Keng 1
SB: Josh Killeen 1 ; Chase Keng 1
HBP: Jonathan Tapia 1 ; Matt King 1 ; Isaiah Walker 1
Batting:
2B: Galloway, Jackson 2 ; McLeod, Mason 1
HR: Galloway, Jackson 1 ; Negishi, Tatsunori 1 ; Vinson, Luke 1
RBI: Galloway, Jackson 1 ; Negishi, Tatsunori 1 ; Vinson, Luke 2
Base Running:
RUNS: Galloway, Jackson 1 ; Negishi, Tatsunori 1 ; Coker, Brett 1 ; Vinson, Luke 1
Game Leaders
Hitting
AB
5
R
1
H
5
RBI
1
AB
4
R
1
H
2
RBI
2
AB
5
R
0
H
1
RBI
0
AB
4
R
0
H
1
RBI
0
Players Mentioned
INF
/ BaseballOF
/ Baseball
OF
/ Baseball
OF/LHP
/ Baseball
LHP
/ Baseball
Photo by: Emily Cole/MT Athletic Communications
Two half innings come back to bite MT baseball in Saturday loss to Roadrunners
4/30/2022 6:57:00 PM | Baseball
MURFREESBORO, Tenn. — For six frames on Saturday at Reese Smith Jr. Field, Middle Tennessee baseball kept UTSA under control. Its pitchers stranded eight Roadrunners on base in those six innings, putting up zeros on the scoreboard in every frame. MT even scratched across runs of their own in the bottom half of three of those innings.
Unfortunately for the Blue Raiders, a five-run top of the third, three-run top of the fifth and four-run top of the ninth was all the Roadrunners needed, as UTSA cruised to a 12-3 win to clinch the Conference USA series.
"We had enough hits, but they weren't very timely hits," head coach Jim Toman said. "You've got to hit when runners are on base. We've just got to strap it on tomorrow and avoid the sweep. It's hard after you lose two games like that to come back and win, but that's what we're going to have to do."
Jackson Galloway swung a hot bat, going 5-for-5 at the plate, the first five hit game for a Middle Tennessee player in nearly a decade, when Trent Miller had five hits at South Alabama on May 3, 2013.
"I was just seeing it really well today," Galloway said. "I felt really balanced. In batting practice, I felt loose, stress free, and just felt confident, being confident takes you a long way in this sport. I just put some good swings on some balls and good things happened."
Six other Blue Raiders also had at least one hit on the afternoon, but the UTSA pitching staff scattered 12 MT hits across the afternoon, stranding nine Blue Raiders on base.
"We had them on the ropes a couple of times, we just needed that one hit to spark it and drive in a couple of guys," Galloway said. "Credit to them, they have good pitchers, but at the end of the day, you've got to compete and get them rattled."
Both the Middle Tennessee pitching staff and defense struggled, with Toman highlighting the walks and hit batters from his pitchers and a few missed opportunities on defense as ways UTSA was able to sustain innings beyond the hits he expected their high-powered lineup to get. Starter Peyton Wigginton gave up eight runs (seven earned) in 4.2 innings while hitting three batters, while reliever Eriq Swan walked four en route to giving up three earned runs in 3.2 innings of work.
"When they score runs, they score them in bunches," Toman said. "They're one of them teams where it's hard to turn the faucet off with them, they just keep going and going. But you've got to make good plays defensively to help the pitcher out some. They're going to hit, but we've got to limit the walks, the hit by pitches, and then we've got to make plays if we've got the chance to finish an inning off."
The loss drops MT to 21-19 overall this season, 11-9 in C-USA. UTSA improves to 30-13, 14-6 in C-USA.
Middle Tennessee struck first in the bottom of the second, with a Luke Vinson single to right field plating Brett Coker from third base, after the third baseman singled, advanced on a wild pitch and moved up to third on a ground out.
The Roadrunners then scored eight unanswered, five in the top of the third and three in the top of the fifth, before Tatsunori Negishi connected for his first career home run, driving the first pitch he saw in the bottom of the sixth over the scoreboard in right center field to cut the Blue Raiders' deficit to 8-2.
Vinson then continued his hot day, catching that same jet stream of wind to right-center field to clear the scoreboard for another solo home run, reducing UTSA's lead to 8-3 in the bottom of the seventh. It was the center fielder's third homer of the season, but his first career home run at Reese Smith Jr. Field.
UTSA tacked on four more runs in the top of the ninth to expand their lead to 12-3, but a Galloway solo bomb over the fence in right field gave MT a consolation run late, catapulting Galloway into the Blue Raider single game record books with his fifth hit of the day.
Middle Tennessee will look to avoid the sweep tomorrow morning at the Reese, with first pitch scheduled for 11 a.m.
Unfortunately for the Blue Raiders, a five-run top of the third, three-run top of the fifth and four-run top of the ninth was all the Roadrunners needed, as UTSA cruised to a 12-3 win to clinch the Conference USA series.
"We had enough hits, but they weren't very timely hits," head coach Jim Toman said. "You've got to hit when runners are on base. We've just got to strap it on tomorrow and avoid the sweep. It's hard after you lose two games like that to come back and win, but that's what we're going to have to do."
Jackson Galloway swung a hot bat, going 5-for-5 at the plate, the first five hit game for a Middle Tennessee player in nearly a decade, when Trent Miller had five hits at South Alabama on May 3, 2013.
"I was just seeing it really well today," Galloway said. "I felt really balanced. In batting practice, I felt loose, stress free, and just felt confident, being confident takes you a long way in this sport. I just put some good swings on some balls and good things happened."
Six other Blue Raiders also had at least one hit on the afternoon, but the UTSA pitching staff scattered 12 MT hits across the afternoon, stranding nine Blue Raiders on base.
"We had them on the ropes a couple of times, we just needed that one hit to spark it and drive in a couple of guys," Galloway said. "Credit to them, they have good pitchers, but at the end of the day, you've got to compete and get them rattled."
Both the Middle Tennessee pitching staff and defense struggled, with Toman highlighting the walks and hit batters from his pitchers and a few missed opportunities on defense as ways UTSA was able to sustain innings beyond the hits he expected their high-powered lineup to get. Starter Peyton Wigginton gave up eight runs (seven earned) in 4.2 innings while hitting three batters, while reliever Eriq Swan walked four en route to giving up three earned runs in 3.2 innings of work.
"When they score runs, they score them in bunches," Toman said. "They're one of them teams where it's hard to turn the faucet off with them, they just keep going and going. But you've got to make good plays defensively to help the pitcher out some. They're going to hit, but we've got to limit the walks, the hit by pitches, and then we've got to make plays if we've got the chance to finish an inning off."
The loss drops MT to 21-19 overall this season, 11-9 in C-USA. UTSA improves to 30-13, 14-6 in C-USA.
Middle Tennessee struck first in the bottom of the second, with a Luke Vinson single to right field plating Brett Coker from third base, after the third baseman singled, advanced on a wild pitch and moved up to third on a ground out.
The Roadrunners then scored eight unanswered, five in the top of the third and three in the top of the fifth, before Tatsunori Negishi connected for his first career home run, driving the first pitch he saw in the bottom of the sixth over the scoreboard in right center field to cut the Blue Raiders' deficit to 8-2.
Vinson then continued his hot day, catching that same jet stream of wind to right-center field to clear the scoreboard for another solo home run, reducing UTSA's lead to 8-3 in the bottom of the seventh. It was the center fielder's third homer of the season, but his first career home run at Reese Smith Jr. Field.
UTSA tacked on four more runs in the top of the ninth to expand their lead to 12-3, but a Galloway solo bomb over the fence in right field gave MT a consolation run late, catapulting Galloway into the Blue Raider single game record books with his fifth hit of the day.
Middle Tennessee will look to avoid the sweep tomorrow morning at the Reese, with first pitch scheduled for 11 a.m.
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