Middle Tennessee State University Athletics
Sunday, March 12
Murfreesboro, TN
3:00 PM CT
Middle Tennessee
18-6
6
vs
1
Western Illinois
6-16
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
R
H
E
Western Illinois
0
0
0
1
0
0
0
1
6
1
Middle Tennessee
1
0
0
0
1
4
0
6
8
0
Gretchen Mead’s second complete game of the season gives Blue Raiders a 6-1 win over Western Illinois to close out MTSU Invitational
3/12/2023 7:54:00 PM | Softball
MURFREESBORO, TENN. —Middle Tennessee (18-6) got itself to a 3-1 record on the weekend on pure offense. Timely hitting, good base running and unselfish approaches in the box produced three of five games with 10-plus hits this weekend.
On Sunday, the bats cooled off a bit along with the cold breeze blowing in from centerfield and the Blue Raiders would need a big outing from veteran starting pitcher Gretchen Mead to win. The Kingwood, Texas, native gave her team just that, tossing a complete game with seven strikeouts in the Blue Raiders 6-1 win over Western Illinois (6-16).
Middle Tennessee scored at least one run in each game in the MTSU invitational, capped off in today's contest when Shelby Echols scored on Ava Tepe's sacrifice fly to make it 1-0 at the end of the first frame.
Western Illinois tied it in the top of the fourth inning on a home run by catcher Georgia Rea to make it 1-1.
With only two hits to their credit coming into the third, Shelby Sargent laced her third triple of the year to left field to start off the Middle Tennessee fifth inning and was brought in to score by Ansley Blevins on a sacrifice fly to give the Blue Raiders a 2-1 lead. For Blevins, it was her fourth RBI of the weekend in a weekend in which she improved her batting average by more than 50 points.
With the bases loaded and one out in the bottom of the sixth, Middle Tennessee plated four runs after a Western Illinois error opened the floodgates and the Blue Raiders saw Shelby Sargent, Savannah Behabetz, Bryanna Coffman and Amaya Harris come in to score.
Offensively, Shelby Echols, Shelby Sargent and Ansley Blevins paced the Blue Raiders during the tournament. Echols hit .588 with a team-high 10 hits, two doubles, three RBIs and scored five runs to go along with five stolen bases. Sargent hit .500 with four runs scored and a stolen base while Blevins hit a home run, had two doubles and slugged .786.
By the Numbers
"Gretchen has a bit longer of a leash because of her time with us being a super-senior. She struggled a bit in the fifth, and we thought about pulling her, but then she came back out and had a great sixth. She had a great sixth and we got her a cushion to finish it off and she did well. We've played two weekends in a row where we haven't had more than maybe one or two errors, so we've cleaned that up well. Championship teams hit with two outs and with runners in scoring position. We've grown and been able to get those timely hits and get more of those clutch RBIs.
Quote from Graduate Student pitcher Gretchen Mead
"I had a really good warm-up today compared to Thursday, so I felt really good coming into (today). My defense played really well behind me in the first inning. In the fifth inning, Shelby (Echols) called time because she thought I needed a little breather and I was like 'Thank God.' Coach Pena came out and asked how I felt about the girl coming up and I told her that I could get her and did. Our defense played tough as always and the hitting was just more than I could ask for."
Quote from junior second baseman Shelby Echols
"It was my first time as a Blue Raider playing at home and I was excited and had a lot of family here. I was able to relax because I knew if I was there for my teammates, my teammates would be there for me. I had a lot of fun. We're all having a lot of fun as a team, together. Amaya (Harris) and Ansley (Blevins) were on fire this weekend, so when I come up to hit later in games I put them before me when I come up to bat if they're on base and it makes it so much easier in that situation."
Up Next
Middle Tennessee welcomes Southeast Missouri State to Murfreesboro this Wednesday for the final tune-up prior to next weekend's series against UAB to open Conference USA play. First pitch Wednesday is scheduled for 5:00 p.m. C.D.T.
Follow the Blue Raiders
Follow Middle Tennessee Softball on social media on Facebook (Blue Raider Softball) Twitter (@MT_Softball) and Instagram (@mt_softball).
On Sunday, the bats cooled off a bit along with the cold breeze blowing in from centerfield and the Blue Raiders would need a big outing from veteran starting pitcher Gretchen Mead to win. The Kingwood, Texas, native gave her team just that, tossing a complete game with seven strikeouts in the Blue Raiders 6-1 win over Western Illinois (6-16).
Middle Tennessee scored at least one run in each game in the MTSU invitational, capped off in today's contest when Shelby Echols scored on Ava Tepe's sacrifice fly to make it 1-0 at the end of the first frame.
Western Illinois tied it in the top of the fourth inning on a home run by catcher Georgia Rea to make it 1-1.
With only two hits to their credit coming into the third, Shelby Sargent laced her third triple of the year to left field to start off the Middle Tennessee fifth inning and was brought in to score by Ansley Blevins on a sacrifice fly to give the Blue Raiders a 2-1 lead. For Blevins, it was her fourth RBI of the weekend in a weekend in which she improved her batting average by more than 50 points.
With the bases loaded and one out in the bottom of the sixth, Middle Tennessee plated four runs after a Western Illinois error opened the floodgates and the Blue Raiders saw Shelby Sargent, Savannah Behabetz, Bryanna Coffman and Amaya Harris come in to score.
Offensively, Shelby Echols, Shelby Sargent and Ansley Blevins paced the Blue Raiders during the tournament. Echols hit .588 with a team-high 10 hits, two doubles, three RBIs and scored five runs to go along with five stolen bases. Sargent hit .500 with four runs scored and a stolen base while Blevins hit a home run, had two doubles and slugged .786.
By the Numbers
- 4-1, the Blue Raiders' record this weekend at the MTSU Invitational.
- Seven: the number of combined runs in the first inning by the Blue Raiders this weekend.
"Gretchen has a bit longer of a leash because of her time with us being a super-senior. She struggled a bit in the fifth, and we thought about pulling her, but then she came back out and had a great sixth. She had a great sixth and we got her a cushion to finish it off and she did well. We've played two weekends in a row where we haven't had more than maybe one or two errors, so we've cleaned that up well. Championship teams hit with two outs and with runners in scoring position. We've grown and been able to get those timely hits and get more of those clutch RBIs.
Quote from Graduate Student pitcher Gretchen Mead
"I had a really good warm-up today compared to Thursday, so I felt really good coming into (today). My defense played really well behind me in the first inning. In the fifth inning, Shelby (Echols) called time because she thought I needed a little breather and I was like 'Thank God.' Coach Pena came out and asked how I felt about the girl coming up and I told her that I could get her and did. Our defense played tough as always and the hitting was just more than I could ask for."
Quote from junior second baseman Shelby Echols
"It was my first time as a Blue Raider playing at home and I was excited and had a lot of family here. I was able to relax because I knew if I was there for my teammates, my teammates would be there for me. I had a lot of fun. We're all having a lot of fun as a team, together. Amaya (Harris) and Ansley (Blevins) were on fire this weekend, so when I come up to hit later in games I put them before me when I come up to bat if they're on base and it makes it so much easier in that situation."
Up Next
Middle Tennessee welcomes Southeast Missouri State to Murfreesboro this Wednesday for the final tune-up prior to next weekend's series against UAB to open Conference USA play. First pitch Wednesday is scheduled for 5:00 p.m. C.D.T.
Follow the Blue Raiders
Follow Middle Tennessee Softball on social media on Facebook (Blue Raider Softball) Twitter (@MT_Softball) and Instagram (@mt_softball).
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Mead, Gretchen (6-2)
L: Rodriguez (3-6)
Batting:
2B: Drager 1
HR: Rea 1
RBI: Rea 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Rea 1
CS: Drager 1
Batting:
3B: Sargent, Shelby 1
RBI: Echols, Shelby 1 ; Mealer, Laura 1 ; Tepe, Ava 1 ; Blevins, Ansley 1
SH: Echols, Shelby 1 ; Garcia, Julia 1
SF: Tepe, Ava 1 ; Blevins, Ansley 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Echols, Shelby 1 ; Behabetz, Savannah 1 ; Sargent, Shelby 2 ; Coffman, Bryanna 1 ; Harris, Amaya 1
SB: Echols, Shelby 2 ; Mealer, Laura 1
CS: Echols, Shelby 1
Game Leaders
AB
3
R
2
H
3
RBI
0
AB
2
R
1
H
2
RBI
1
AB
4
R
0
H
2
RBI
1
AB
3
R
1
H
1
RBI
0
Players Mentioned
OF
/ Softball
C/1B
/ Softball
OF
/ Softball2B
/ SoftballOF/INF
/ Softball
RHP
/ SoftballOF/UTL
/ Softball
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