Middle Tennesee State University Athletics
Middle Tennessee
9-8, 0
Western Kentucky
14-5, 0
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Johnson, Patrick (1-0)
L: MESARIS, Dalton (1-1)
S: Sells, James (2)
Batting:
2B: GILROY, Aidan 1 ; LIEBERT, Kirk 1
HR: FARRIS, Lukas 1
RBI: GILROY, Aidan 2 ; GARCIA, Tristin 1 ; LIEBERT, Kirk 1 ; FARRIS, Lukas 1 ; FIECHTER, AJ 3
Base Running:
RUNS: CRITTENBERGER, Ty 2 ; GARCIA, Tristin 1 ; BATUSICH, Ty 1 ; FARRIS, Lukas 2 ; ROSS, Camden 2
SB: CRITTENBERGER, Ty 1
CS: GILROY, Aidan 1
Batting:
3B: Jennings, Gabe 1
RBI: Boyd, Jeremiah 1 ; Rutter, Briggs 3 ; Galloway, Jackson 1 ; Wright, DJ 3 ; Jennings, Gabe 2 ; Vinson, Luke 1
SH: Johnson, Kam 1 ; Vetetoe, Jared 1 ; Vinson, Luke 1
SF: Wright, DJ 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Mabry, JT 3 ; Coker, Brett 2 ; Boyd, Jeremiah 1 ; Symlar, Bryce 1 ; Rutter, Briggs 2 ; Galloway, Jackson 1 ; Jennings, Gabe 1 ; Snider, Eston 1
SB: Rutter, Briggs 1
HBP: Coker, Brett 1 ; Boyd, Jeremiah 1 ; Jennings, Gabe 1
Game Leaders
Players Mentioned
Blue Raiders Rally in Seventh to Defeat WKU
3/17/2023 11:04:00 PM | Baseball
But just as notably, they now are 1-0 in Conference USA play and 1-0 against its rival from the Bluegrass State.
A pair of leadoff baserunners commenced the home half of the seventh for the Blue Raiders, who trailed 7-6 after leading 6-0 after the second inning. DJ Wright would tie the game on an RBI sacrifice fly, Gabe Jennings drove in a pair with a triple to the left field corner and Luke Vinson's squeeze bunt made it 10-7.
A one-out Briggs Rutter single an inning later drove in Brett Coker and JT Mabry to extend the lead to 12-7, with the only Hilltopper response coming as a singular run in the ninth.
The Skipper Speaks
"You get six runs early and there is a lot of game left. They brought a guy out of the bullpen who got some zeroes for them to give them a chance to creep back in. I told our guys that it's a character win. We put up six early, they come back and chip away and take the lead, and we came back, strung some good at bats together, got a bunt down, moved some runners, we did some things that go along with winning baseball," said Meyers.
By the Numbers
4.2: Starting pitcher Jaden Hamm tossed 4.2 innings on Friday night, striking out five and walking another five while allowing three earned runs.
2.0: Bryant Beranek came out of the bullpen to toss 2.0 frames, striking out three while giving up a pair of earned runs. Patrick Johnson and James Sells would combine for 2.0 IP as well, with the freshman Johnson earning his first career win.
5: Five Blue Raiders logged multiple hits in the game. Rutter had a 3-5 night with a trio of RBI. Jennings was 3-4 with two RBI. Mabry, Wight and Jeremiah Boyd each had two hits.
3: MTSU hung three runs in both the first and second inning. Rutter and Wright opened the scoring with RBI singles, with Boyd and Galloway getting the second inning RBI.
Blue Raider Notes
MTSU has now won three of its past four against WKU, as well as eight of the past 11 matchups.
The Blue Raiders trailed at the latest point in any win in 2023 Friday.
Coach Meyers' team is 4-1 when Hamm starts on the mound.
Mabry and Coker extend their hitting streaks to 13 and nine games respectively.
Next Up
The teams will continue the three-game series Saturday at 3:00 p.m. ESPN+ will stream the game and GoBlueRaiders.com and the Varsity Network App will carry the radio broadcast.
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