Middle Tennessee State University Athletics
Friday, April 8
Miami, FL
5:00 PM
Middle Tennessee
at
FIU
Softball continues C-USA play this weekend, heading to the Sunshine State to take on FIU
4/7/2022 11:00:00 AM | Softball
MURFREESBORO, Tenn. – Middle Tennessee Softball (16-21, 3-6 C-USA) heads on its second C-USA road trip of the season this weekend as the Blue Raiders travel to Miami, Florida to take on the FIU Panthers (15-20, 1-8 C-USA) on April 8-10 at Felsberg Field at FIU Softball Stadium.
The Blue Raiders will take on the Panthers in their series opener on Friday, April 8 at 5 p.m., before playing game two at 3 p.m. on Saturday, and then will close out the series on Sunday at 11 a.m. against the Panthers. Friday's game will be the only one broadcast on C-USA.TV, however all three games will be available through live stats here.
Quick Hits
Blue Raiders
Middle Tennessee enters this weekend's series with a 16-21 overall record and a 3-6 mark in C-USA play. The Blue Raiders are just coming off a 2-1 series loss against the FAU Owls. The Owls took a 5-2 victory in the series opener, before the Blue Raiders earned a 4-3 walk-off win on Saturday to even the series at one apiece. The Blue Raiders battled the Owls on Sunday in the series finale, eventually going into extra innings before FAU would take the rubber match 8-2 in nine innings.
Freshmen Mealer and Anyce Harvey, and sophomore Amaya Harris lead the Blue Raiders this season. Mealer is batting a team-leading .364 with a team-best 40 hits, including a team-high seven home runs, two home runs, and a team second-best six doubles, and has scored a team-best 26 runs. Mealer also ranks second on the team with 22 RBIs in 37 games this season. Harvey is batting a team-second best .337 and leads the Blue Raiders with 27 RBIs. She ranks third on the team with 29 hits, including a team-best 10 doubles, ties for second with two home runs, and one triple in 27 games this season. Harris is batting .318 this season and ranks second on the Blue Raiders with 35 hits, tying for second on the team with two home runs and has connected on three doubles. She has also scored a team second-best 18 runs and knocked in 11 RBIs this season.
Senior Dodd has led the Blue Raiders in the circle with a team-best 6-4 record and holds a team-low 2.76 ERA in 14 appearances this season. Dodd has pitched a team-leading 71 innings, over five complete games, including one complete-game shutout. Dodd has allowed 29 runs, 28 of which were earned, on 52 hits and has struck out a team-best 51 batters during the Blue Raiders' 2022 campaign.
Scouting the Panthers
FIU is in its first season under head coach Mike Larabee, who has helped lead the Panthers to a 15-20 overall record and a 1-8 record in conference play.
The Panthers are led by seniors Kayla Whitehead and Venessa Gallegos and junior Madison Lewis. Whitehead leads FIU with a .298 batting average and leads the Panthers with 31 hits, including a team-leading three home runs and a team-best two triples and is third on the team with four doubles through 35 games. Whitehead also leads the Panthers with 11 RBIs and has scored six runs. Lewis has pushed across a team-leading 15 RBIs and ranks second on FIU with 24 hits, tying for the team-lead with five doubles, two triples, and one home run.
The Panthers are led in the circle by senior Kendahl Dunford and sophomore Brooklyn Linneman. Dunford holds a team-low 4.04 ERA and a 5-9 record in 21 appearances. She has pitched nine complete games and posted a shutout and a save in 105.2 innings of work. Dunford also leads the Panthers with 81 strikeouts, and has allowed 70 runs, 61 of which were earned, on 100 hits. Linneman leads the Panthers with a team-best 6-3 record and a second-best 4.59 ERA in 17 appearances.
Series History
FIU leads the all-time series between the Panthers and the Blue Raiders, 49-23. The Blue Raiders also trail 22-7 in games played in Miami. Last season, The Blue Raiders earned the series win over the Panthers, taking a 1-0 win in 13 innings and a 5-2 win in game two, but dropped the series finale to the Panthers, 8-4, in nine innings on May 8, 2021.
Up Next
The Blue Raiders return to the 'Boro next weekend as they host the Charlotte 49ers for Easter weekend on Thursday, April 14 through Saturday, April 16.
FOLLOW THE BLUE RAIDERS
Follow Middle Tennessee Softball on social media on Facebook (/BlueRaiderSoftball), Twitter (MT_Softball) and Instagram (MT_Softball).
The Blue Raiders will take on the Panthers in their series opener on Friday, April 8 at 5 p.m., before playing game two at 3 p.m. on Saturday, and then will close out the series on Sunday at 11 a.m. against the Panthers. Friday's game will be the only one broadcast on C-USA.TV, however all three games will be available through live stats here.
Quick Hits
- Middle Tennessee Softball is coming off its second home C-USA series of the season, which the Blue Raiders fell 2-1 against the FAU Owls. The Owls took a 5-2 victory in the series opener, before the Blue Raiders earned a 4-3 walk-off win on Saturday to even the series at one apiece. The Blue Raiders battled the Owls on Sunday in the series finale, eventually going into extra innings before FAU would take the rubber match 8-2 in nine innings.
- Freshman Laura Mealer connected on her fourth multi-RBI and sixth career home run to walk if off 4-3 on Saturday against FAU, evening the series at 1-1.
- Freshman Claire Woods is tied for third in C-USA and tied for 27th nationally in saves, throwing a pair so far this season.
- Sophomore Shelby Sargent had a tremendous day in the Blue Raiders series finale against FAU, posting a new career-high two assists on a pair of throw downs at home that saved a pair of FAU runs from scoring.
- Head coach Jeff Breeden holds an all-time record of 206-290 and won his 200th career game as a head coach this season against UT Martin during the Blue Raiders' MTSU Invitational on March 10. Coach Breeden is in his 10th season as the head coach of the Blue Raiders.
- Senior Corrina Dodd and junior Kelci Hill were named to the preseason C-USA All-Conference Team prior to the season beginning 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 were selected first through fifth, respectively.
- The Blue Raiders return 13 starters and add seven impressive freshmen for the Blue Raiders' 2022 campaign.
- Despite losing seven starters, the Blue Raiders added plenty of talent in the offseason, bringing in a solid seven-player freshman class to build a solid lineup for the 2022 season.
Blue Raiders
Middle Tennessee enters this weekend's series with a 16-21 overall record and a 3-6 mark in C-USA play. The Blue Raiders are just coming off a 2-1 series loss against the FAU Owls. The Owls took a 5-2 victory in the series opener, before the Blue Raiders earned a 4-3 walk-off win on Saturday to even the series at one apiece. The Blue Raiders battled the Owls on Sunday in the series finale, eventually going into extra innings before FAU would take the rubber match 8-2 in nine innings.
Freshmen Mealer and Anyce Harvey, and sophomore Amaya Harris lead the Blue Raiders this season. Mealer is batting a team-leading .364 with a team-best 40 hits, including a team-high seven home runs, two home runs, and a team second-best six doubles, and has scored a team-best 26 runs. Mealer also ranks second on the team with 22 RBIs in 37 games this season. Harvey is batting a team-second best .337 and leads the Blue Raiders with 27 RBIs. She ranks third on the team with 29 hits, including a team-best 10 doubles, ties for second with two home runs, and one triple in 27 games this season. Harris is batting .318 this season and ranks second on the Blue Raiders with 35 hits, tying for second on the team with two home runs and has connected on three doubles. She has also scored a team second-best 18 runs and knocked in 11 RBIs this season.
Senior Dodd has led the Blue Raiders in the circle with a team-best 6-4 record and holds a team-low 2.76 ERA in 14 appearances this season. Dodd has pitched a team-leading 71 innings, over five complete games, including one complete-game shutout. Dodd has allowed 29 runs, 28 of which were earned, on 52 hits and has struck out a team-best 51 batters during the Blue Raiders' 2022 campaign.
Scouting the Panthers
FIU is in its first season under head coach Mike Larabee, who has helped lead the Panthers to a 15-20 overall record and a 1-8 record in conference play.
The Panthers are led by seniors Kayla Whitehead and Venessa Gallegos and junior Madison Lewis. Whitehead leads FIU with a .298 batting average and leads the Panthers with 31 hits, including a team-leading three home runs and a team-best two triples and is third on the team with four doubles through 35 games. Whitehead also leads the Panthers with 11 RBIs and has scored six runs. Lewis has pushed across a team-leading 15 RBIs and ranks second on FIU with 24 hits, tying for the team-lead with five doubles, two triples, and one home run.
The Panthers are led in the circle by senior Kendahl Dunford and sophomore Brooklyn Linneman. Dunford holds a team-low 4.04 ERA and a 5-9 record in 21 appearances. She has pitched nine complete games and posted a shutout and a save in 105.2 innings of work. Dunford also leads the Panthers with 81 strikeouts, and has allowed 70 runs, 61 of which were earned, on 100 hits. Linneman leads the Panthers with a team-best 6-3 record and a second-best 4.59 ERA in 17 appearances.
Series History
FIU leads the all-time series between the Panthers and the Blue Raiders, 49-23. The Blue Raiders also trail 22-7 in games played in Miami. Last season, The Blue Raiders earned the series win over the Panthers, taking a 1-0 win in 13 innings and a 5-2 win in game two, but dropped the series finale to the Panthers, 8-4, in nine innings on May 8, 2021.
Up Next
The Blue Raiders return to the 'Boro next weekend as they host the Charlotte 49ers for Easter weekend on Thursday, April 14 through Saturday, April 16.
FOLLOW THE BLUE RAIDERS
Follow Middle Tennessee Softball on social media on Facebook (/BlueRaiderSoftball), Twitter (MT_Softball) and Instagram (MT_Softball).
Players Mentioned
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