Middle Tennessee State University Athletics
Friday, April 8
Miami, FL
5:00 PM
Middle Tennessee
17-21, 0
8
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2
FIU
15-21, 0
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4
5
6
7
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H
E
Middle Tennessee
0
0
0
3
2
3
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8
11
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FIU
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4
1
Blue Raiders score eight over three innings to earn an 8-2 series-opening win at FIU
4/8/2022 9:37:00 PM | Softball
MIAMI – After falling down by one early, Middle Tennessee (17-21, 4-6 C-USA) rallied back to score eight over the fourth, fifth, and sixth innings to capture an 8-2 series-opening win over the FIU Panthers (15-21, 1-9 C-USA) on Friday night at Felsberg Field at FIU Softball Stadium.
"Always feels good to take game number one in a series," expressed head coach Jeff Breeden. "This allows us to try and win a series on Saturday."
"Mealer hit that home run a long way tonight," said Breeden. "She is solid all the way around and is a winner! Mead was strong in the circle for us tonight. She wants the ball, and our kids love playing behind her! With Dodd being out, the complete game tonight is big for our next two outings."
After an opening flyout, FIU's Gallegos drew a four-pitch walk before Whitehead connected on a single to shortstop to put two Panthers on. FIU's Brown then connected on a single to left field to bring across the first run of the contest and give the Panthers the 1-0 lead after one.
The Blue Raiders held the Panthers scoreless over the next two innings to keep the deficit to one entering the fourth before the Blue Raiders really hit their stride.
Sophomore Amaya Harris led off the fourth with a single into right field. Freshman Anyce Harvey then drew a four-pitch walk to put two Blue Raiders on with no one out. After a flyout, freshman Claire Czajkowski hit a one-out two-RBI single up the middle to bring around Harris and Harvey and give the Blue Raiders their first lead of the game, 2-1. Sophomore Shelby Sargent followed Czajkowski, connecting on a back-to-back one-out single into left field to put two on. Freshman Ava Tepe then drew a six-pitch walk following a full count to load the bases. Senior Lani Rodriguez then drew a four-pitch walk to push across Czajkowski and extend the Blue Raiders lead to two, 3-1.
Harris and Harvey connected on back-to-back singles to open the fifth, putting two aboard with no outs. Freshman Claire Woods hit a sacrifice bunt to advance Harris and Harvey to third and second to put two in scoring position with only one down. Junior Kelci Hill then hit a blazing single through the FIU pitcher's legs to score Harris and Harvey and double the Blue Raiders' lead to four after five, 5-1.
The Blue Raiders kept the bats hot in the sixth. Sargent led off the inning with a leadoff bunt to third base. Tepe then followed Sargent with a back-to-back bunt, this time to the FIU catcher to put two on with no one out. Sargent was picked off at second, but Rodriguez then connected on a one-out single to left field to put two back on with only one down. Herring came in to pinch run for Rodriguez, and then freshman Laura Mealer stepped up to the plate. Mealer connected on her second pitch of the at-bat, sending her second three-run bomb and eighth homer of the season over the left-center wall to put the Blue Raiders up by seven, 8-1.
FIU opened the sixth with a leadoff single and then drew a hit by pitch to put two on with no outs. A wild pitch moved the Panthers baserunners to third and second, before FIU's Grossenba knocked a sacrifice fly into right field to plate FIU's second run and bring the game to its eventual 8-2 final.
Mealer led the Blue Raiders in the impressive win, pushing across three RBIs, scoring a run, and finishing 1-for-4 on the day. Harris and Sargent connected on multiple hits in the contest, going 2-for-4 and 3-for-4, respectively. Harris and Harvey both scored a pair of runs, while Czajkowski, Tepe, and Herring scored the Blue Raiders other three runs in the win.
Mead had a great showing in the series opener, pitching her third complete game of the season. She finished the game with a season second-best seven strikeouts over the seven-inning outing and allowed just two runs on four hits in the win.
Up Next
The Blue Raiders will look to capture the series win tomorrow as they take on the FIU Panthers at 3 p.m. CT at Felsberg Field at FIU Softball Stadium.
FOLLOW THE BLUE RAIDERS
Follow Middle Tennessee Softball on social media on Facebook (/BlueRaiderSoftball), Twitter (MT_Softball) and Instagram (MT_Softball).
"Always feels good to take game number one in a series," expressed head coach Jeff Breeden. "This allows us to try and win a series on Saturday."
"Mealer hit that home run a long way tonight," said Breeden. "She is solid all the way around and is a winner! Mead was strong in the circle for us tonight. She wants the ball, and our kids love playing behind her! With Dodd being out, the complete game tonight is big for our next two outings."
After an opening flyout, FIU's Gallegos drew a four-pitch walk before Whitehead connected on a single to shortstop to put two Panthers on. FIU's Brown then connected on a single to left field to bring across the first run of the contest and give the Panthers the 1-0 lead after one.
The Blue Raiders held the Panthers scoreless over the next two innings to keep the deficit to one entering the fourth before the Blue Raiders really hit their stride.
Sophomore Amaya Harris led off the fourth with a single into right field. Freshman Anyce Harvey then drew a four-pitch walk to put two Blue Raiders on with no one out. After a flyout, freshman Claire Czajkowski hit a one-out two-RBI single up the middle to bring around Harris and Harvey and give the Blue Raiders their first lead of the game, 2-1. Sophomore Shelby Sargent followed Czajkowski, connecting on a back-to-back one-out single into left field to put two on. Freshman Ava Tepe then drew a six-pitch walk following a full count to load the bases. Senior Lani Rodriguez then drew a four-pitch walk to push across Czajkowski and extend the Blue Raiders lead to two, 3-1.
Harris and Harvey connected on back-to-back singles to open the fifth, putting two aboard with no outs. Freshman Claire Woods hit a sacrifice bunt to advance Harris and Harvey to third and second to put two in scoring position with only one down. Junior Kelci Hill then hit a blazing single through the FIU pitcher's legs to score Harris and Harvey and double the Blue Raiders' lead to four after five, 5-1.
The Blue Raiders kept the bats hot in the sixth. Sargent led off the inning with a leadoff bunt to third base. Tepe then followed Sargent with a back-to-back bunt, this time to the FIU catcher to put two on with no one out. Sargent was picked off at second, but Rodriguez then connected on a one-out single to left field to put two back on with only one down. Herring came in to pinch run for Rodriguez, and then freshman Laura Mealer stepped up to the plate. Mealer connected on her second pitch of the at-bat, sending her second three-run bomb and eighth homer of the season over the left-center wall to put the Blue Raiders up by seven, 8-1.
FIU opened the sixth with a leadoff single and then drew a hit by pitch to put two on with no outs. A wild pitch moved the Panthers baserunners to third and second, before FIU's Grossenba knocked a sacrifice fly into right field to plate FIU's second run and bring the game to its eventual 8-2 final.
Mealer led the Blue Raiders in the impressive win, pushing across three RBIs, scoring a run, and finishing 1-for-4 on the day. Harris and Sargent connected on multiple hits in the contest, going 2-for-4 and 3-for-4, respectively. Harris and Harvey both scored a pair of runs, while Czajkowski, Tepe, and Herring scored the Blue Raiders other three runs in the win.
Mead had a great showing in the series opener, pitching her third complete game of the season. She finished the game with a season second-best seven strikeouts over the seven-inning outing and allowed just two runs on four hits in the win.
Up Next
The Blue Raiders will look to capture the series win tomorrow as they take on the FIU Panthers at 3 p.m. CT at Felsberg Field at FIU Softball Stadium.
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: Mead, Gretchen (4-5)
L: Kendahl Dunford (5-10)
Batting:
HR: Mealer, Laura 1
RBI: Mealer, Laura 3 ; Hill, Kelci 2 ; Czajkowski, Claire 2 ; Rodriguez, Lani 1
SH: Woods, Claire 2 ; Tepe, Ava 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Mealer, Laura 1 ; Harris, Amaya 2 ; Harvey, Anyce 2 ; Czajkowski, Claire 1 ; Tepe, Ava 1 ; Herring, Jaya 1
HBP: Czajkowski, Claire 1
PO: Sargent, Shelby 1
Batting:
RBI: Bailey Grossenbacher 1 ; Abigail Brown 1
SF: Bailey Grossenbacher 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Venessa Gallegos 2
SB: Bailey Grossenbacher 1
HBP: Kayla Whitehead 1 ; Bailey Grossenbacher 1
Game Leaders
Hitting
AB
4
R
0
H
3
RBI
0
AB
4
R
2
H
2
RBI
0
AB
4
R
1
H
1
RBI
3
AB
3
R
2
H
1
RBI
0
Players Mentioned
IF
/ SoftballOF/INF
/ SoftballOF/UT
/ Softball
OF
/ SoftballSS/2B
/ Softball
2B
/ SoftballOF
/ Softball
P/3B
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