Potent offense and the first no-hitter since 2018 lifts Blue Raiders to a pair of wins over Green Bay and Appalachian State

Friday, March 10

Murfreesboro, TN

4:30 PM CT

Middle Tennessee

15-6

Green Bay

7-11

Green Bay

Middle Tennessee

3/10/2023 10:40:00 PM | Softball

Box Score 1 Box Score 2 Game 1 Box Game 2 Box season stats Photo Gallery Photo Gallery 2

By: Anthony Fiorella, MTSU Athletics Writer

MURFREESBORO, TENN.—After a long day of games leading up to the Blue Raider nightcap, Middle Tennessee (16-6) quickly put last night's heartbreaker behind them with a pair of wins over the Green Bay Phoenix (7-11) and the Appalachian State Mountaineers (12-6).

Offensively for the Blue Raiders, Amaya Harris and Ansley Blevins combined to go 5-for-10 with four runs, a home run and a double to their credit at the bottom of the lineup while the top two hitters in the lineup in Shelby Echols and Laura Mealer combined to go 6-for-10 with seven runs and a triple.

Defensively, Middle Tennessee leaned on its' game-two starter to take down a strong Appalachian State team.

Game one- MTSU 6 vs. Green Bay 2

The Blue Raiders got the bats going early against the Phoenix, with the first run of the game coming across thanks to last week's Conference USA player of the week: Laura Mealer. After Shelby Echols reached to start the inning, Mealer tripled to centerfield on a 2-0 count and later came across to score, herself, on a passed ball to give the Blue Raiders a 2-0 lead going into the second inning.

Following her first career multi-hit game last night against Southern Illinois, Ansley Blevins hit a two-run homer in the second inning to double the MTSU lead and make it 4-0.

Green Bay was able to put up a pair of runs in the third off of starter Keri Munn, but Claire Woods came in from the bullpen and was able to limit the damage after inheriting a bases-loaded jam with nobody out.

In the bottom of the fourth inning, Blue Raider right fielder Amaya Harris made arguably the best defensive play of the year, thus far, nabbing a fly ball in foul territory down the first base line as she crashed through the gate and into the visiting bullpen, emerging from behind the fence with the ball.

In the bottom of the sixth, Harris added an important insurance run with a two-out single to plate Bryanna Coffman before coming around to score herself on an RBI single from Shelby Echols to give Middle Tennessee a 6-2 lead.

Claire Woods earned her first win of the year by holding the Phoenix at bay the final three over the final three innings.

Game two- MTSU 10 vs. Appalachian State 0 (5 innings)

MTSU starter Kamryn Carcich impressed in her debut outing in Murfreesboro, tossing a five-inning no hitter as a part of the run rule, striking out five along the way. It was the 13^th no hitter in program history and the first since Cori Jennings did it against FIU on May 9^th, 2018.

Middle Tennessee once again got off to a fast start by manufacturing three runs in the first inning off of a pair of walks, a hit by pitch and a sacrifice bunt that netted third baseman Julia Garcia her fifth RBI of the early season.

The Blue Raiders got their first three hits of the ballgame in the second inning. Ansley Blevins led off the inning with a double into the gap in right-center field and came around to score on an RBI single by Laura Mealer. Mealer came in to score when catcher Ava Tepe drove her in on the next at-bat with a single to right field to make it 5-0. Anyce Harvey walked and chased
Appalachian State starter Kaylie Northrop from the ballgame after just 1.2 innings of work. Middle Tennessee wound up scoring another run after another couple of walks to make it 6-0 heading into the third.

Middle Tennessee added another four in the third inning and rode their starter.

By the Numbers

Deuces wild: Laura Mealer tied Shelby Sargent for the team lead in triples with her second of the year in the Green Bay game.
Five: the number of extra-base hits amassed by MTSU on the day.

Quote from Head Coach Jeff Breeden

"You have to start with the no-hitter. I can't remember the last time we had a no-hitter here, but that was just great to see. To go along with that, we had some great defensive plays behind her to help her get that no-hitter. Amaya (Harris) played her butt off in right field. We scored a bunch of runs and hit the ball hard today. In the first game, we didn't have a lot of energy about us. We jumped out and got four early, but we had to fight back and did. I challenged the team between games to come out with more energy in the second game and we did. We beat a really good team in App State. When we can scored three runs on no hits in the first inning, we're fixing to beat somebody."

Quote from right fielder Amaya Harris

"Basically, it was a ball I thought I could get to so I went for it. I knew the fence was there, but I didn't know I was going to fall through. I just kept going and was able to make the catch. I was just trying to focus on the ball the whole time."

Quote from pitcher Kamryn Carcich

"Honestly, I came into the game just wanting to come out and do my best. I felt really comfortable being here at home. I wasn't trying to throw a no-hitter, but I trusted my team behind me and they played great defense and the trust got me through it. I think today sets a standard for us so that we know where we can be when we play like we did today."

Up Next

Middle Tennessee is set to host Western Illinois tomorrow at 3:00 p.m. CDT as the MTSU Invitational continues throughout the weekend.

Follow the Blue Raiders

Follow Middle Tennessee Softball on social media on Facebook (Blue Raider Softball) Twitter (@MT_Softball) and Instagram (@mt_softball).