Middle Tennesee State University Athletics
NOTEBOOK: MT Athletics Supports the Special Olympics
5/9/2022 5:11:00 PM | Baseball, General, Men's Golf, Men's Tennis
MURFREESBORO, Tenn. — Driving into work at the Murphy Center on any morning often brings some interesting sites, given how busy the parking lot on Greenland Drive often is. But with the spring semester over, imagine my surprise to see dozens of cars set up at Dean A. Hayes Track and Soccer Stadium early this morning as I pulled in.
Quickly, however, the reason why the cars, and the plethora of pop-up tents on the track, were there this morning became clear, as the police processional guarding the Special Olympics torch run came in shortly after I had parked.
One of the first things I learned about Middle Tennessee when I got this job was how important the athletic department's relationship with the Special Olympics of Tennessee was, and how COVID had sadly made many of the events our student athletes had helped out with have to be paused.
But now, as exams have wrapped up and we move into the final few weeks of the 2021-22 athletic season here in Murfreesboro, seeing the Special Olympics back in action today was a great pick-me-up on a Monday morning.
Check out some of the frames our social media coordinator, Matt Posey, snagged of Blue Raiders helping out with the events today.
Baseball takes care of Panthers in Miami
While the sports world, or at least most of my twitter feed, turned its attention to Hard Rock Stadium for the Miami Grand Prix in the world of Formula 1 this weekend, Blue Raider baseball took two of three from FIU just 25.4 miles down the Ronald Reagan Turnpike, continuing their strong strong season in rubber matches, going 6-0 when a series in on the line this season.
Jaden Hamm continued his brilliant second half on Saturday, going eight innings while striking out eight Panthers for just one earned run to earn the W in the 5-1 victory, matching MT's team win total from 2021 with the 24th win on the season.
On Sunday, the MT bats really came alive, putting up 11 runs, nine coming during the sixth and seventh innings, to race past FIU and continue to stay in the top half of the very crowded Conference USA standings.
The Blue Raiders, no. 51 in the latest NCAA RPI rankings, are four games back of conference leading USM with six conference games to play, but only two back of second place UTSA and three back of co-third place LA Tech and Florida Atlantic. Baseball America also had MT knocking on the door of an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament, being placed in the magazine's "Next Four Out" in last week's tournament projections.
They'll be back in action for a midweek game with Tennessee Tech on Tuesday at the Reese for 90s Night. First pitch is scheduled for 6 p.m.
All-time Men's Tennis Season comes up just short in Raleigh
After a dominant opening round win over UNC Wilmington to open their NCAA Tournament run, the No. 16 seed Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders came up just short on Saturday amidst the rain in Raleigh, N.C., falling 4-3 to NC State despite some stellar play from everyone in the MT lineup.
It was a tight match all the way around, where a two-point swing in either of the two doubles matches that didn't go MT's way could've flipped the result.
So many great stats from the year from our tennis SID, Alex Morgan, in his recap, be sure to check that out to see the dominance of graduate students Chris Edge and Stepan Hollis over their careers in particular.
For now, I'll leave with my favorite clip of the weekend: Oskar Brostrom Poulsen getting an ace on match point to tie up the match against NC State.
Barnard, Wolf, earn All C-USA Honors on the course
It was a busy week of honors for both Michael Barnard and Nick Wolf, as the duo each earned berths in the Norman Regional as individuals for the NCAA Golf Championships. And later in the week, the pair also earned All-Conference honors, with Barnard named to the All C-USA first team and Wolf to the All C-USA second team.
The pair will have the rest of the week to prepare for NCAA play, which begins in Norman on May 15. The two Blue Raiders are among 10 individuals competing in the Norman regional, where the top scoring individual not on an advancing team will advance to the NCAA Championships. The Norman Regional features 13 teams that qualified for NCAA play, with the top five teams in that 13 advancing.
Wholesome Mother's Day Moment for Tyshun Render
An awesome Mother's Day weekend moment for football alum Tyshun Render, as his mom was in attendance for his USFL game with the New Jersey Generals over the weekend in Birmingham, Ala.
The USFL captured the moment of Tyshun making sure his mom was in the stands for the day!
With the Generals' third win of the season in hand in the closing seconds, Render also got the chance to hang out with his family in the stands. Only in the USFL!
Congrats to our Blue Raider Graduates!
The Murphy Center was abuzz all weekend for commencement ceremonies, and that included so many of our own Blue Raiders.
Check out some of the celebrations below! And congratulations to everyone who walked across the stage this weekend for your accomplishments.
Quickly, however, the reason why the cars, and the plethora of pop-up tents on the track, were there this morning became clear, as the police processional guarding the Special Olympics torch run came in shortly after I had parked.
One of the first things I learned about Middle Tennessee when I got this job was how important the athletic department's relationship with the Special Olympics of Tennessee was, and how COVID had sadly made many of the events our student athletes had helped out with have to be paused.
But now, as exams have wrapped up and we move into the final few weeks of the 2021-22 athletic season here in Murfreesboro, seeing the Special Olympics back in action today was a great pick-me-up on a Monday morning.
Check out some of the frames our social media coordinator, Matt Posey, snagged of Blue Raiders helping out with the events today.
A great day to take a break from baseball and volunteer at @SOTennessee on campus! pic.twitter.com/mAtiGhFLKx
— MT Baseball (@MT_Baseball) May 9, 2022
.@GretchenMead27 and @shelbyy_sargent helped volunteer with @SOTennessee's Special Olympics Games this morning at Hayes Stadium!#BlueRaiders | ⚡️⬆️ pic.twitter.com/Emiv2iDSNB
— MT Softball (@MT_Softball) May 9, 2022
Great start to the week as a few #BlueRaiders helped out at @SOTennessee today! pic.twitter.com/JYbJQsPWIe
— Middle Tennessee FB (@MT_FB) May 9, 2022
Baseball takes care of Panthers in Miami
While the sports world, or at least most of my twitter feed, turned its attention to Hard Rock Stadium for the Miami Grand Prix in the world of Formula 1 this weekend, Blue Raider baseball took two of three from FIU just 25.4 miles down the Ronald Reagan Turnpike, continuing their strong strong season in rubber matches, going 6-0 when a series in on the line this season.
Jaden Hamm continued his brilliant second half on Saturday, going eight innings while striking out eight Panthers for just one earned run to earn the W in the 5-1 victory, matching MT's team win total from 2021 with the 24th win on the season.
Bounced back ✔ pic.twitter.com/MQPd8CE1dd
— MT Baseball (@MT_Baseball) May 8, 2022
On Sunday, the MT bats really came alive, putting up 11 runs, nine coming during the sixth and seventh innings, to race past FIU and continue to stay in the top half of the very crowded Conference USA standings.
Another Sunday dub! pic.twitter.com/5oUU51D66o
— MT Baseball (@MT_Baseball) May 8, 2022
The Blue Raiders, no. 51 in the latest NCAA RPI rankings, are four games back of conference leading USM with six conference games to play, but only two back of second place UTSA and three back of co-third place LA Tech and Florida Atlantic. Baseball America also had MT knocking on the door of an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament, being placed in the magazine's "Next Four Out" in last week's tournament projections.
They'll be back in action for a midweek game with Tennessee Tech on Tuesday at the Reese for 90s Night. First pitch is scheduled for 6 p.m.
All-time Men's Tennis Season comes up just short in Raleigh
After a dominant opening round win over UNC Wilmington to open their NCAA Tournament run, the No. 16 seed Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders came up just short on Saturday amidst the rain in Raleigh, N.C., falling 4-3 to NC State despite some stellar play from everyone in the MT lineup.
It was a tight match all the way around, where a two-point swing in either of the two doubles matches that didn't go MT's way could've flipped the result.
So many great stats from the year from our tennis SID, Alex Morgan, in his recap, be sure to check that out to see the dominance of graduate students Chris Edge and Stepan Hollis over their careers in particular.
For now, I'll leave with my favorite clip of the weekend: Oskar Brostrom Poulsen getting an ace on match point to tie up the match against NC State.
Ace for the W.... take a bow @BrostrOskar 🙏#MT pic.twitter.com/JQ0o3VkuGr
— MT Men's Tennis (@MT_MensTennis) May 8, 2022
Barnard, Wolf, earn All C-USA Honors on the course
It was a busy week of honors for both Michael Barnard and Nick Wolf, as the duo each earned berths in the Norman Regional as individuals for the NCAA Golf Championships. And later in the week, the pair also earned All-Conference honors, with Barnard named to the All C-USA first team and Wolf to the All C-USA second team.
Big week for these two! Michael Barnard (First Team) and Nick Wolf (Second Team) have been named All-Conference USA! #BlueRaiders pic.twitter.com/Yb5HQ74L9F
— MT Men's Golf (@MT_MGolf) May 5, 2022
The pair will have the rest of the week to prepare for NCAA play, which begins in Norman on May 15. The two Blue Raiders are among 10 individuals competing in the Norman regional, where the top scoring individual not on an advancing team will advance to the NCAA Championships. The Norman Regional features 13 teams that qualified for NCAA play, with the top five teams in that 13 advancing.
Wholesome Mother's Day Moment for Tyshun Render
An awesome Mother's Day weekend moment for football alum Tyshun Render, as his mom was in attendance for his USFL game with the New Jersey Generals over the weekend in Birmingham, Ala.
The USFL captured the moment of Tyshun making sure his mom was in the stands for the day!
The content we're here for 😍🏈 @TyshunR_Iam had to make sure his mom was in the stands for Mother's Day weekend pic.twitter.com/oabTKiTRRQ
— USFL (@USFL) May 7, 2022
With the Generals' third win of the season in hand in the closing seconds, Render also got the chance to hang out with his family in the stands. Only in the USFL!
🙌 @TyshunR_Iam enjoying a moment with his family ❤️ pic.twitter.com/E02WqexCDx
— New Jersey Generals (@USFLGenerals) May 7, 2022
Congrats to our Blue Raider Graduates!
The Murphy Center was abuzz all weekend for commencement ceremonies, and that included so many of our own Blue Raiders.
Check out some of the celebrations below! And congratulations to everyone who walked across the stage this weekend for your accomplishments.
Players Mentioned
/ Men's Golf
/ Men's Tennis
/ Men's Tennis
RHP
/ Baseball
/ Men's Golf
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