Blue Raiders head to Florida Gulf Coast Invitational

MURFREESBORO, Tenn. – Middle Tennessee softball heads to Fort Myers, Florida this weekend to compete in the Florida Gulf Coast Invitational on Feb. 17-19 at the FGCU Softball Complex.

The Blue Raiders will open the weekend with two games on Friday facing FGCU and Boston College. The first game will start at 3 p.m. CT and the next game will follow at 6:30 p.m. CT. On Saturday, they will play two more games against the same opponents. First pitch is at 11:15 a.m. CT, and their second game will be played at 4:00 p.m. CT. Wrapping up the weekend on Sunday, they will play just one game against Lipscomb at 8 a.m. CT.
Live stats for all this weekend's games can be found here.

Quick Hits
· Freshman Ansley Blevins had a good start to her Blue Raider career with two timely home runs and six RBIs.
· Laura Mealer also had a strong opening weekend hitting .375 with two home runs and seven RBIs.
· Freshman pitcher Paige Connors performed well in the circle for the Blue Raiders pitching 11 innings. She had a 2.31 ERA and two wins over the weekend with eight strikeouts.

Series History

The Blue Raiders' all-time series between Florida Gulf Coast includes only two matchups, which Middle Tennessee leads 2-0. Only one game has been played between MTSU and Boston College, with the Blue Raiders winning by a score of 6-4 in eight innings in 2010. The winner this weekend between MTSU and Lipscomb will have an edge in the all-time series as it is currently even at 14-14.

Scouting the Competition

Florida Gulf Coast stands at 3-2 this season after a three-game win streak to close out last weekend. As a team, FGCU is hitting .234 through five games and has scored 21 runs. Its team ERA is 3.86 with seven pitchers having appearances in the first weekend of play.

Boston College's record is 4-1 this season led by senior Abigail Knight who is batting .417 with seven RBIs. However, their team batting average is .219 with 15 runs scored. The pitching staff for the Eagles includes five pitchers with a team ERA of 2.68.

Lipscomb sits at 0-2 on the season looking for its first win of the season this weekend. The Bisons have struggled at the plate so far this season with a team batting average of just .067 and one run scored in those two games. Only three pitchers have made appearances so far this season have given up six earned runs.

Last Time Out: UC Riverside Tournament

The Blue Raiders opened the season against UC Riverside, Montana, and Fresno State on Feb. 9-12. The Blue Raiders dropped the first game against UC Riverside but got their revenge in day two by picking up wins over Montana and UC Riverside.

Middle Tennessee beat Montana 1-0 with Kamryn Carcich getting her first win of the season in a complete game shutout featuring eight strikeouts. The next day, the Blue Raiders faced a tough Fresno State team and picked up the win with a late seventh inning surge and home run by freshman Ansley Blevins.

They then closed out the weekend against Montana resulting in another win, 9-3, to start the season with a 4-1 record.

Follow the Blue Raiders

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Players Mentioned

Ansley Blevins

Kamryn Carcich

Paige Connors

Laura Mealer

Middle Tennessee State University Athletics