Middle Tennesee State University Athletics
Saturday, March 4
12:00 PM CT
Middle Tennessee
vs
Toledo
Blue Raider Baseball to Host Toledo for Weekend Series
3/2/2023 6:00:00 PM | Baseball
UPDATE: Friday's 3:00 p.m. first pitch has been postponed. A doubleheader will be held Saturday, with a 12:00 p.m. first pitch for Game 1. For more details, click here.
MURFREESBORO, Tenn. – Middle Tennessee Baseball will look to draw upon last weekend's series sweep when it hosts the Toledo Rockets this weekend at Reese Smith Jr. Field.
MTSU seeks a return to the win column after dropping Tuesday's decision to Belmont. But the Blue Raiders have won five of their past six dating back to last week's midweek contest against SEMO and four-game weekend sweep over St. Bonaventure.
First pitch from the Reese is set for 3:00 p.m. on Friday. The teams will square off for Game 2 at the same time on Saturday before a 1:00 p.m. series finale is scheduled for Sunday.
ESPN+ will carry the stream for Friday and Sunday's games, while C-USA TV will air Saturday's matchup for free. The Varsity Network App and GoBlueRaiders.com will have all three weekend radio broadcasts. Listeners can also tune into WGNS 101.9 FM / 1450 AM (Murfreesboro), WGNS 100.5 FM (Smyrna) on Friday and Sunday.
Weekend Rotation
RHPs Jaden Hamm and Eriq Swan will start Friday and Saturday's game, respectively. Sunday's starting pitcher is still to be determined.
Both Hamm and Swan earned winning decisions in their respective most recent outings. Hamm would last 7.2 innings while striking out nine in the daycap of last Friday's twin bill against St. Bonaventure. Swan meanwhile logged season-highs in innings pitched (6.0) and strikeouts (7) against the Bonnies in Saturday's win last week.
All-Time Against Toledo
The Blue Raiders lead the all-time series with Toledo, 2-1. The teams played a three-game series in 2008 at Reese Smith Jr. Field.
Quick Hitters
» Middle Tennessee has flexed its muscle at the plate so far in 2023. The Blue Raiders are slugging .515 as a team thus far this season, and have already hit 13 home runs. 1B DJ Wright leads MTSU with four homers on the year. Jeremiah Boyd follows closely with three. Briggs Rutter, Gabe Jennings and Eston Snider with two each.
» In addition to power, the Raiders have also displayed a robust plate approach and show that in their batting averages. Six qualifying stat earners are batting over .300, with three in that group sitting at a .400 or greater AVG led by Rutter's .444 clip.
» MTSU is coming off a four-game series against St. Bonaventure where it used just nine pitchers across the weekend. Hamm earned his second win of the season via a 7.2-frame outing in Game 1 of Friday's doubleheader. Swan tossed six innings and claimed the winning
decision Saturday.
» Across 13.2 IP, the Blue Raider bullpen combined for just two earned runs against the Bonnies. Sunday, LHP Jake Cothran was the first relief pitcher to earn a win for MTSU in 2023.
» The Blue Raiders are 5-1 when its starting pitcher lasts five innings or longer, 3-0 when an opposing left-handed pitcher starts, 5-0 when leading after six innings and 6-0 when leading after eight. MTSU also is unbeaten when holding opposing lineups to six runs or fewer.
Scouting the Rockets
» Toledo is 2-4 to start 2023. The Rockets opened the season by dropping two of three to East Tennessee State, before falling to Presbyterian College and Gardner-Webb at the OneSpartanburg, Inc. Baseball Classic. Toledo did defeat USC Upstate in the second of three games last weekend.
» The Rockets were 33-25 and 23-16 in the Mid-American Conference a season ago.
» The MAC program is led offensively by sophomore C Trey Wright, with a .500 AVG, with five games and four starts under his belt this season. Junior INF Jeron Williams follows with a .321 AVG, having started all six contests this year.
» Among all pitchers, senior RHP Cal McAninch leads the team in ERA (3.86), WHIP (1.07) and batting average against (.219). The native of Columbus, Ohio has appeared in four contests out of the bullpen.
» Sophomore RHP Brennan McCune, junior LHP Noah Johnson and redshirt freshman RHP Dane Hall each have two starts.
Up Next
There is not a midweek game scheduled for next week. After Toledo, the Blue Raiders are next in action Friday, March 10 against Evansville.
Follow the Blue Raiders
Stay up to date with the Blue Raiders on Twitter (@MT_Baseball), Facebook (Blue Raider Baseball) and Instagram (@MT_Baseball).
MURFREESBORO, Tenn. – Middle Tennessee Baseball will look to draw upon last weekend's series sweep when it hosts the Toledo Rockets this weekend at Reese Smith Jr. Field.
MTSU seeks a return to the win column after dropping Tuesday's decision to Belmont. But the Blue Raiders have won five of their past six dating back to last week's midweek contest against SEMO and four-game weekend sweep over St. Bonaventure.
First pitch from the Reese is set for 3:00 p.m. on Friday. The teams will square off for Game 2 at the same time on Saturday before a 1:00 p.m. series finale is scheduled for Sunday.
ESPN+ will carry the stream for Friday and Sunday's games, while C-USA TV will air Saturday's matchup for free. The Varsity Network App and GoBlueRaiders.com will have all three weekend radio broadcasts. Listeners can also tune into WGNS 101.9 FM / 1450 AM (Murfreesboro), WGNS 100.5 FM (Smyrna) on Friday and Sunday.
Weekend Rotation
RHPs Jaden Hamm and Eriq Swan will start Friday and Saturday's game, respectively. Sunday's starting pitcher is still to be determined.
Both Hamm and Swan earned winning decisions in their respective most recent outings. Hamm would last 7.2 innings while striking out nine in the daycap of last Friday's twin bill against St. Bonaventure. Swan meanwhile logged season-highs in innings pitched (6.0) and strikeouts (7) against the Bonnies in Saturday's win last week.
All-Time Against Toledo
The Blue Raiders lead the all-time series with Toledo, 2-1. The teams played a three-game series in 2008 at Reese Smith Jr. Field.
Quick Hitters
» Middle Tennessee has flexed its muscle at the plate so far in 2023. The Blue Raiders are slugging .515 as a team thus far this season, and have already hit 13 home runs. 1B DJ Wright leads MTSU with four homers on the year. Jeremiah Boyd follows closely with three. Briggs Rutter, Gabe Jennings and Eston Snider with two each.
» In addition to power, the Raiders have also displayed a robust plate approach and show that in their batting averages. Six qualifying stat earners are batting over .300, with three in that group sitting at a .400 or greater AVG led by Rutter's .444 clip.
» MTSU is coming off a four-game series against St. Bonaventure where it used just nine pitchers across the weekend. Hamm earned his second win of the season via a 7.2-frame outing in Game 1 of Friday's doubleheader. Swan tossed six innings and claimed the winning
decision Saturday.
» Across 13.2 IP, the Blue Raider bullpen combined for just two earned runs against the Bonnies. Sunday, LHP Jake Cothran was the first relief pitcher to earn a win for MTSU in 2023.
» The Blue Raiders are 5-1 when its starting pitcher lasts five innings or longer, 3-0 when an opposing left-handed pitcher starts, 5-0 when leading after six innings and 6-0 when leading after eight. MTSU also is unbeaten when holding opposing lineups to six runs or fewer.
Scouting the Rockets
» Toledo is 2-4 to start 2023. The Rockets opened the season by dropping two of three to East Tennessee State, before falling to Presbyterian College and Gardner-Webb at the OneSpartanburg, Inc. Baseball Classic. Toledo did defeat USC Upstate in the second of three games last weekend.
» The Rockets were 33-25 and 23-16 in the Mid-American Conference a season ago.
» The MAC program is led offensively by sophomore C Trey Wright, with a .500 AVG, with five games and four starts under his belt this season. Junior INF Jeron Williams follows with a .321 AVG, having started all six contests this year.
» Among all pitchers, senior RHP Cal McAninch leads the team in ERA (3.86), WHIP (1.07) and batting average against (.219). The native of Columbus, Ohio has appeared in four contests out of the bullpen.
» Sophomore RHP Brennan McCune, junior LHP Noah Johnson and redshirt freshman RHP Dane Hall each have two starts.
Up Next
There is not a midweek game scheduled for next week. After Toledo, the Blue Raiders are next in action Friday, March 10 against Evansville.
Follow the Blue Raiders
Stay up to date with the Blue Raiders on Twitter (@MT_Baseball), Facebook (Blue Raider Baseball) and Instagram (@MT_Baseball).
Players Mentioned
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