Middle Tennesee State University Athletics
Friday, February 24
12:00 PM CT
Middle Tennessee
0-1
16
vs
3
St. Bonaventure
3-2
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
R
H
E
St. Bonaventure
2
0
1
0
0
0
0
0
0
3
8
4
Middle Tennessee
2
1
0
1
0
0
5
7
X
16
15
2
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Hamm, Jaden (2-0)
L: HEDIGER, Bryce (0-1)
Batting:
2B: GRILLI, Thomas 1
RBI: PUTNEY, Jack 1 ; GRILLI, Thomas 2
Base Running:
RUNS: THARNISH, Jayce 2 ; RANKIE, Adam 1
SB: RANKIE, Adam 1
Batting:
2B: Coker, Brett 1
HR: Snider, Eston 1 ; Jennings, Gabe 1
RBI: Snider, Eston 1 ; Coker, Brett 3 ; Wright, DJ 1 ; Boyd, Jeremiah 1 ; Vetetoe, Jared 2 ; Galloway, Jackson 1 ; Vinson, Cale 1 ; Jennings, Gabe 3 ; Vinson, Luke 1
SH: Jennings, Gabe 1
SF: Boyd, Jeremiah 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Snider, Eston 3 ; Coker, Brett 4 ; Wright, DJ 1 ; Rutter, Briggs 2 ; Mabry, JT 1 ; Vinson, Cale 1 ; Jennings, Gabe 2 ; Vinson, Luke 2
SB: Coker, Brett 2 ; Vinson, Luke 1
HBP: Coker, Brett 1 ; Wright, DJ 2 ; Rutter, Briggs 3
PO: Wright, DJ 1
Game Leaders
Hitting
AB
4
R
4
H
3
RBI
3
AB
5
R
2
H
2
RBI
1
Players Mentioned
C
/ BaseballSS
/ Baseball
RHP
/ Baseball
INF
/ Baseball
RHP
/ Baseball
OF/INF
/ Baseball
C/OF
/ Baseball
RHP
/ Baseball
Photo by: Matt Posey/MT Athletic Communications
Blue Raiders take both games of doubleheader against St. Bonaventure
2/24/2023 7:15:00 PM | Baseball
Box Score 1Box Score 2Game 1 PDF Box ScoreGame 2 PDF Box ScoreSeason StatsPhoto GalleryPhoto Gallery 2Photo Gallery 3
MTSU uses just four pitchers in twin bill to cruise over the Bonnies
MURFREESBORO, Tenn. — The Middle Tennessee baseball team got off to a hot start to their first home weekend series of the season, taking both games of a Friday doubleheader against St. Bonaventure at Reese Smith Jr. Field.
The Blue Raiders (4-2) kept the bats hot amid the cold and wet weather in the mid-state, scoring 22 runs across the two games, while responding well on the mound, holding the Bonnies (0-2) to 14 scoreless frames across 18 innings of play to help push the team to two wins.
Game 1 – MTSU 16, St. Bonaventure 3
The Blue Raiders unloaded at the plate late, scoring 12 runs in their final two innings at bat to blast past St. Bonaventure 16-3 in Game 1 of the doubleheader.
After leading 4-3 entering the bottom of the seventh thanks to balked-in run in the bottom of the fourth, Gabe Jennings supercharged the Blue Raiders offense with a three-run homer to left-center field. Eston Snider hit a big fly to dead left field two batters later for a solo-homer. DJ Wright drove in the final run of the frame, plating Brett Coker to give MTSU a 9-3 lead.
The offensive barrage continued with pace in the bottom of the eighth, as seven Blue Raiders came home to score in the inning, with six of those seven runs scored on RBI-singles from MTSU batters.
Jaden Hamm was sterling on the mound in his second start of the season, throwing seven and two-thirds innings while only allowing two earned runs, striking out nine Bonnies while walking none. James Sells finished the game with 1.1 innings of hitless relief.
Game 2 – MTSU 6, St. Bonaventure 2
Strong pitching helped the Blue Raiders keep the Bonnies at bay, as MTSU defeated St. Bonaventure 6-2 in Game 2 of Friday's doubleheader.
Jalen Wirtz dueled Gabe Watts on the mound early in Game 2, with both pitchers not giving up runs until the third inning. The Bonnies plated one in the top half on a RBI-groundout to take a 1-0 lead, but the Blue Raiders quickly responded, scoring three runs in the bottom of the third thanks to RBI singles from Jared Vetetoe and JT Mabry to take the lead.
Two more runs would score in the bottom of the sixth inning on an error and a sacrifice fly, stretching the lead to 5-1. Vetetoe would continue his strong game behind and at the plate, blasting a RBI-triple to right field to score Jeremiah Boyd. The Bonnies added one back in the top of the eighth, but Kota Sato finished the four inning save in the top of the ninth to close out the second win of the day for MTSU.
Wirtz put together a solid outing in his first start of the season, allowing just one earned run on two hits with five strikeouts, getting out of multi-runner jams to keep the Bonnies off the board. Sato was strong in his second appearance on the mound in 2023, striking out three Bonnies while allowing just three hits and giving up zero free bases via walk or hit by pitch.
By the Numbers
9: Strikeouts for Jaden Hamm in Game 1. The preseason All-Conference USA selection is averaging just over a strikeout per inning through his first 13 frames of 2023.
20: Free bases (walks and hit-by-pitches) for the Blue Raiders. The patience in the box paid dividends for MTSU on the basepaths: five of the team's six runs in Game 2 came from Blue Raiders who first reached base via walk.
3-for-5: JT Mabry's day at the plate between the two games, the best batting average for any Blue Raider hitter across the doubleheader. The second baseman drove in two runs while scoring two runs and walking three times.
Blue Raider Notes
The Blue Raiders improved to 3-0 at home with Friday's pair of wins, which serve as the first between the programs in their respective histories.
Boyd has recorded a hit in all six games in 2023. Coker had reached base in five in a row until Game 2 on Friday.
Mabry now carries a five-game hit streak.
Six games into the season, MTSU has now started all three catchers at the position at least once.
Five qualifying stat earners are hitting over .300 for the Blue Raiders, with DJ Wright's .429 clip leading the team.
The Skipper Speaks
"Knowing you have 18 innings in front of you, sometimes you worry about staying engaged, staying locked in, whether or not the at-bats, if you're in there for both games the whole time, whether or not they're going to stay as focused as they would be in a nine-inning game," said head coach Jerry Meyers. "There was some things that I really liked today from a defensive and pitching standpoint.
"Offensively, we did have some big hits, we had some good at-bats. There were some stretches there where I felt like, I think Coach Nichols (thought the) same thing, we maybe could've done a bit more. Not to be greedy or anything like that. We tacked on some big runs late in the first game. But there were some things left out there that maybe we didn't capitalize on offensively."
Player's Perspective – Jaden Hamm
On the message to pitching staff in practice this week
"It was just "attack." I felt like the first weekend, you're wanting to throw perfect pitches, and (then you're) falling behind hitters and stuff like that. So this past week, everybody just threw strikes. The first game and second game, there were (few) free 90s. That was a huge step for us leading into the next week."
Up Next
MTSU continues their series at home on Saturday against St. Bonaventure. Thanks to moving of the doubleheader, previously scheduled for Saturday, to today, the Bonnies and Blue Raiders will play one game starting on Noon. The game will be carried on ESPN+ and the Blue Raider Radio Network.
Follow the Blue Raiders
Stay up to date with the Blue Raiders on Twitter (@MT_Baseball), Facebook (Blue Raider Baseball) and Instagram (@MT_Baseball).
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