Middle Tennessee State University Athletics
NOTEBOOK: Baseball sweeps Owls in Houston
5/16/2022 4:30:00 PM | Baseball, General, Men's Golf, Men's Tennis, Men's Cross Country and Track & Field, Softball, Women's Cross Country and Track & Field, BRAA, Track & Field/Cross Country
Do you prefer pitching, with performances like seeing an ace dominate a lineup for a complete game shutout? Friday's 5-0 win over Rice, with Peyton Wigginton going the distance on the mound, was your cup of tea. Wigginton earned Conference USA Pitcher of the Week for his performance.
.@pwigg28 was good tonight. Plain and simple. pic.twitter.com/IvpI0oI6fh
— MT Baseball (@MT_Baseball) May 14, 2022
E8 | No one can touch @pwigg28 tonight.
— MT Baseball (@MT_Baseball) May 14, 2022
8 Ks through 8 innings. pic.twitter.com/kLgNHT7OKO
📢: Congratulations to @MT_Baseball's Peyton Wiggington (@pwigg28), #CUSABASE Pitcher of the Week presented by @surfandturfgolf! ⚾️
— Conference USA (@ConferenceUSA) May 16, 2022
🏅1️⃣ | #TheCUSAWay pic.twitter.com/cO4EJ6Rqw6
The respect he deserves. @pwigg28 is your @ConferenceUSA Pitcher of the Week after his complete-game shutout Friday at Rice!
— MT Baseball (@MT_Baseball) May 16, 2022
📰 https://t.co/SKMaHcmHRn pic.twitter.com/shpRCOElTZ
Do you have a flair for the dramatic, tight ball games that come down to one clutch play? To each their own, but MT Baseball had that for you on Sunday, with an extra innings win 5-4 over the Owls, thanks to some tenth inning heroics from Mason Spiers.
T10 | MT retakes the lead on @mspeirs99's RBI single!
— MT Baseball (@MT_Baseball) May 14, 2022
MT - 5
RU - 4 pic.twitter.com/UYg0CM9xoU
And if you like offense, the powerful slugfests reminiscent of 1990s baseball? Well, the Blue Raiders can deliver on that front too, to the tune of 21 runs on Sunday to sweep Rice, the Blue Raiders first C-USA sweep of the season, putting them at fourth place in the conference standings entering the final weekend of the regular season.
T2 | @dillinghamb10 belts one down the line to drive in the second Blue Raider run of the day!
— MT Baseball (@MT_Baseball) May 15, 2022
MT - 2
RU - 0 pic.twitter.com/kfqTd9mQtA
M3 | Inning summary:
— MT Baseball (@MT_Baseball) May 15, 2022
11 runs. 9 hits. 1 error.
It's the second time MT has scored 11 runs in an inning this season (Feb. 26 vs. Illinois).
Yes, we played baseball today. 👀💥 pic.twitter.com/KqQ61yN5UY
— MT Baseball (@MT_Baseball) May 15, 2022
With the perfect 4-0 week (dating back to Tuesday night's win over Tennessee Tech), the Blue Raiders have climbed their way into the top 50 of RPI ahead of perhaps their toughest week of the season, starting tomorrow with a game at Vanderbilt, and following it up with a three-game series at the Reese with conference-leading Southern Miss.
Track and Field tops the podium nine times at C-USA Championships
It was another championship weekend for Middle Tennessee Track and Field, as the Blue Raiders took home a conference leading nine gold medals at the 2022 Conference USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships, with six different Blue Raiders earning first place in at least one event during the meet.
Alaba Akintola (100m, 200m), Esther Isa (Long Jump, Triple Jump), and Eusila Chepkemei (800m, 1500m) led the way for MT with two first place finishes each, while Abigail Kwarteng (High Jump), Benjamin Onyekwelu (Long Jump) and Stephen Eloji (400m Hurdles) each placed first once during the weekend.
There goes ANOTHER Park West Stadium record... @alabaman__ takes 🥇 in the men's 200m with a time of 20.36 seconds! 👀#BlueRaiders | #CUSATF pic.twitter.com/Arl2OzfHnx
— MT XC/Track & Field (@MT_TrackField) May 16, 2022
Eusila Chepkemei goes 2-for-2, earning 🥇 in her final event with a season-best time of 2:06.14 in the women's 800m! 💨#BlueRaiders | #CUSATF pic.twitter.com/vuuhJ8ywm1
— MT XC/Track & Field (@MT_TrackField) May 16, 2022
𝐄𝐬𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐈𝐬𝐚 🥇🥇
— MT XC/Track & Field (@MT_TrackField) May 16, 2022
The jumping queen took home two First Team All-CUSA honors for her first-place finishes in both the women's long jump and triple jump!#BlueRaiders | #CUSATF pic.twitter.com/GbCc1mbSQu
MT added six more medals, two silver and four bronze, for a total of 15 medals during the weekend. The men's team finished the meet sixth, while the women's team was third overall.
Check out the thread below for all of the all-conference performers!
The #BlueRaiders received a total of 1⃣5⃣ medals over the four-day 𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐟𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐔𝐒𝐀 𝐎𝐮𝐭𝐝𝐨𝐨𝐫 𝐓𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐅𝐢𝐞𝐥𝐝 𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐦𝐩𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐩𝐬, including a conference-best 9 gold medals! 🥇
— MT XC/Track & Field (@MT_TrackField) May 16, 2022
Here's your 2022 All-CUSA OTF members ⤵️
Barnard, Wolf tee off in Norman at NCAA Regionals
Middle Tennessee is not quite done with their time on the course this school year, as Michael Barnard and Nick Wolf are ready for three days of play down at the Norman Regional of this year's NCAA Men's Golf Championship.
The pair each qualified as one of ten individual golfers competing alongside 13 teams at the Par 72, 7,452-yard Jimmie Austin OU Golf Club. Barnard earned his spot by virtue of his individual medalist performance at the C-USA Championships, while Wolf earned an at-large bid on the quality of his overall ranking.
To advance to the NCAA Championship at Grayhawk Golf Club in Scottsdale, Ariz., Barnard or Wolf will have to be the top scoring golfer not advancing to the Championship via their spot on an advancing team, a tall task given only five teams advance from the Norman Regional.
Michael Barnard and Nick Wolf are in the field for this week's NCAA Norman Regional!#BlueRaiders
— MT Men's Golf (@MT_MGolf) May 15, 2022
📰 https://t.co/SoClhQTHac pic.twitter.com/EKmPNbrJJa
Men's Tennis adds plethora of All-Conference honors
Fresh off their Round of 32 appearance in the NCAA Tournament, Middle Tennessee Men's Tennis cleaned up at the C-USA Awards, with all six lineup regulars earning all-conference honors.
In superlatives, Stijn Slump was named Player of the Year for C-USA, while head coach Jimmy Borendame earned his fourth Conference USA Coach of the Year honor. Chris Edge & Stepan Holis, meanwhile, were named the Outstanding Doubles Team of the C-USA Championship.
On the All-Conference teams, Slump and Francisco Rocha were both named to the First Team in Singles, while Edge and Holis earned Second Team honors for their singles play. In doubles, MT's top two pairs of Pavel Motl & Slump and Rocha & Oskar Brostrom Poulsen were both named to the First Team, while Edge & Holis earned Second Team honors as a pair.
📢: Announcing your 2022 C-USA Men's Tennis Player of the Year, @MT_MensTennis' Stijn Slump! 🎾#CUSATEN | https://t.co/33dGbzHhay pic.twitter.com/lOcYoQaPA1
— Conference USA (@ConferenceUSA) May 11, 2022
📢: Announcing your 2022 C-USA Men's Tennis Outstanding Doubles Team of the Championship, @MT_MensTennis' Chris Edge and Stepan Holis! 🎾#CUSATEN | https://t.co/33dGbzHhay pic.twitter.com/AaeJ3zhBeU
— Conference USA (@ConferenceUSA) May 11, 2022
📢: Announcing your 2022 C-USA Men's Tennis Coach of the Year, @MT_MensTennis' Jimmy Borendame! 🎾#CUSATEN | https://t.co/33dGbzHhay pic.twitter.com/2Stvw5NZGE
— Conference USA (@ConferenceUSA) May 11, 2022
Softball freshmen shine with C-USA honors
The future is bright for MT Softball, as the Blue Raiders placed two freshmen, Anyce Harvey and Laura Mealer, on the Conference USA All-Freshman team, while Mealer also secured All-Conference honors on the Second Team.
A breakout star at shortstop, Mealer became the first freshman since 2007 to lead the Blue Raiders in batting average (.350). She led the team in six statistical categories including slugging percentage, runs and home runs, while tying for the team lead in two more.
Harvey was a revelation playing primarily as the Designated Player, leading the team in doubles while finishing second in batting average (.326). She was second in C-USA in doubles per game (0.26), playing in 42 of MT's 53 contests this season.
Following an incredible freshman campaign, @Laura_Mealer5 was named @ConferenceUSA All-Conference Second Team!
— MT Softball (@MT_Softball) May 10, 2022
📰 https://t.co/jboDrPpX2v#BlueRaiders | ⚡️⬆️ pic.twitter.com/cjm9Vdq94Q
Rounding out the Blue Raiders' postseason accolades, @AnyceHarvey2021 marks the second Blue Raider named @ConferenceUSA All-Freshman Team!
— MT Softball (@MT_Softball) May 10, 2022
📰 https://t.co/jboDrPpX2v#BlueRaiders | ⚡️⬆️ pic.twitter.com/okX3QS7mBe
Volleyball Releases 2022 Fall Schedule
Fans looking to catch some Blue Raider Volleyball at the Alumni Gym this fall will want to check out the schedule, released last week by head coach Chuck Crawford.
The 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟐 𝐒𝐂𝐇𝐄𝐃𝐔𝐋𝐄 is 𝐇𝐄𝐑𝐄! 🚨
— MT Volleyball (@MT_Volleyball) May 10, 2022
Head Coach Chuck Crawford has announced the 2022 Middle Tennessee volleyball schedule, which will include 28 matches for the Blue Raiders.
📰: https://t.co/1iN5UuAUVG
📅: https://t.co/z9hWo0yfz8#BlueRaiders | #MT pic.twitter.com/mVytEgMF4T
MT will play in four tournaments during non-conference play, including the Blue Raider Invitational on September 9-10. The balanced schedule features 11 home matches, 11 road matches, and six matches played on a neutral site.
"I'm extremely excited about the 2022 season schedule," Head Coach Chuck Crawford said. "I feel it offers a great balance of teams we can compete with along with teams that are proven NCAA tournament participants. The 2022 roster is by far the most talented roster I've had during my time at MTSU. Additionally, it will be the tallest roster and provide us the most depth in each position. We have a great balance of seasoned players who understand how to win tough matches."
ICYMI: Facility Friday
Last week, GoBlueRaiders.com joined on #FacilityFriday to help highlight the progress being made across campus on the #BuildBlue projects well underway. Associate AD Larry Maples has been running point on much of the development so far, which hit a new milestone last week as surveyors began drilling on the site of the future Student Athlete Performance Center.
Check out the links in the tweet below to learn more!
#BuildBlue is in motion, and the look and functionality of some state-of-the-art facilities is currently being crafted.
— MT Athletics (@MTAthletics) May 13, 2022
Welcome to #FacilityFriday 👀
𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐠𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐬: https://t.co/ZN0fsZZbuc
𝐃𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐞: https://t.co/4QmMG3qDv3 pic.twitter.com/3Lpq3Y7WDQ
Players Mentioned
