Blue Raiders Set for Home Series Against Evansville

MURFREESBORO, Tenn. – Middle Tennessee Baseball will participate in its final non-conference series this weekend when the Evansville Purple Aces come to Reese Smith Jr. Field this weekend for a three-game series.

First pitch is set for 3:00 p.m. Friday, with 1:00 p.m. starts scheduled for Saturday and Sunday. ESPN+ will carry the stream for all three matchups. The Varsity Network App and GoBlueRaiders.com will have the radio broadcasts, and Sunday's game can also be heard on WGNS 101.9 FM / 1450 AM (Murfreesboro), WGNS 100.5 FM (Smyrna).

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.

Hamm leads the Blue Raiders in strikeouts (25) and innings pitched (19.0). Swan is second in both categories, with 17 strikeouts across 14.2 frames.

All-Time Against Evansville

The all-time series between the Blue Raiders and Purple Aces is tied, 5-5. The teams met most recently in 2020, which was the first meeting between the sides at the time since 1998. MTSU won that game 6-0.

Quick Hitters

» Middle Tennessee hit a combined 11-27 in leadoff situations against Toledo, good for a .407 AVG.

» Blue Raider second baseman JT Mabry was 7-12 last weekend against Toledo, with a trio of doubles in Saturday's doubleheader and a home run in Sunday's weekend finale. Having hit in the sixth or seventh spot for most of the season-to-date, the Chesterfield, Mo. native hit leadoff last Sunday for the first time in 2023.

» Multiple Blue Raiders carry lengthy hitting streaks into the Evansville series. Jeremiah Boyd has logged a hit in all 12 games this season. JT Mabry follows with an eight-game hitting streak currently. Eston Snider meanwhile has reached base safely in each game this year, with Gabe Jennings and Brett Coker also possessing seven-game on-base streaks.

» Heading into Friday, the Blue Raiders lead Conference USA with a team OPS of .910 and a .490 slugging percentage. On the pitching side, RHP Jaden Hamm is second in the league in strikeouts with 25 on the year, including 10 in his most recent outing against Toledo.

» The Blue Raiders are 5-2 when its starting pitcher lasts five innings or longer, 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, and 6-1 when leading in walks drawn.

Scouting the Purple Aces

» Evansville was involved in a marathon Wednesday night, falling 2-1 at Vanderbilt in 17 innings. The Missouri Valley team was held to six hits across the evening by the Vanderbilt pitching staff.

» Before Wednesday's setback in Nashville, the Aces had won seven straight, taking a series off Eastern Michigan and sweeping Bowling Green. MTSU and Evansville also have a common foe in SEMO, a team the Aces defeated 14-8 on March 1.

» The Aces' four-game sweep over Bowling Green saw the Aces outscore the Falcons by an emphatic 7.75 runs per game.

» Evansville is led by fifth-year player Chase Hug, who is hitting .426 on the year with two home runs, 12 RBI and a 1.238 OPS. The native of Indianapolis, Ind. was named the MVC Player of the Week for the second consecutive week Monday.

» Another three hitters maintain averages above .300 heading into this weekend, led by junior infielder Simon Scherry (.365).

» Head coach Wes Long is in his 15^th season at the helm of the Evansville program.

Up Next

MTSU will be back in action after this weekend with a Wednesday matchup against Tennessee Tech before opening conference play on Friday, March 17 at home against WKU.

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Players Mentioned

Jeremiah Boyd

Brett Coker

Jaden Hamm

Gabe Jennings

JT Mabry

Eston Snider

Eriq Swan

Middle Tennessee State University Athletics