Middle Tennessee State University Athletics
COLUMN: The Blue Raiders proved they belonged in Tuscaloosa
5/22/2023 12:20:00 PM | Softball, BRAA
“The only difference is we don't draw a crowd like this,” Mead said. “That clearly shows that we can compete with anyone in the country.”
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — The question, in retrospect, was tee'd up hours before the Blue Raiders ever made their way into the Rhoads Stadium press box. When MTSU silenced 4,000 Crimson Tide fans with a run in the first inning, a home run in the third inning and a final out on a bunt single attempt to force a decisive winner-takes-all game in Tuscaloosa.
But when it was tossed to Gretchen Mead, the fifth-year pitcher kept her career batting average at 1.000.
We're in an NCAA Tournament where Grand Canyon beat UCLA, Miami of Ohio, playing in a regional final, you guys took it to (Alabama)," the reporter asked after MTSU split games in the regional final with No. 5 Alabama. What does that say for softball and for mid-majors in particular?
Mead quickly smirked before her answer.
"The only difference is we don't draw a crowd like this," Mead said. "That clearly shows that we can compete with anyone in the country."
Head Coach Jeff Breeden doesn't like that mid-major term. Most of the coaches I have the pleasure of working with at MTSU don't. When you put the No. 5 team in the country on the ropes like the Blue Raiders did this weekend, maybe the first thought shouldn't be "Wow, it's amazing what these scrappy underdogs could accomplish," but rather "Hey, softball is finally big enough that a team like MTSU is as skilled as a team like Alabama."
The final result didn't go MTSU's way, sure. Sometimes, you just get beat by a long ball. But the fight, and the skill, of the Blue Raiders shined through at all times this weekend. Despite all the naysayers, the North Texas softball parents in the Twitter mentions after MTSU won the Conference USA title, the media analysts not even giving the No. 6 seeded team in C-USA a second glance in their regional previews, the casual softball fans calling this regional a "Mickey Mouse" set-up for the hosts, the Blue Raiders proved they belong among the best teams in the sport.
With all due respect to Montana Fouts, the Crimson Tide ace whose SEC Tournament injury and subsequent absence loomed large over every moment of Alabama's journey this weekend, it was the Blue Raiders who became the story of the regional, who were the aggressors in Rhoads Stadium, the team that made things happen in every game they played.
Even on Saturday, when MTSU fell 12-5 to Alabama, the Blue Raiders were the ones to jump out front with two early solo home runs, then responded back with three runs in the third inning after taking a counter punch and falling behind, retaking the lead 5-4. A seven-walk top of the fourth gave Alabama that win, but they had felt fear for a brief time.
The fear only grew larger as MTSU showed up unafraid, undeterred on Sunday, jumping ahead 3-0 before Alabama could scratch across a run. By the time intermission between the two games hit, you could only hear the three rows of rabid Blue Raider supporters behind the first base dugout in Rhoads Stadium, who Breeden thanked for all their support, both at home this season and in Tuscaloosa this weekend.
Perhaps this fear was no better exemplified than when an infield single in the fifth inning prompted Alabama Coach Patrick Murphy to emphatically rev up his home crowd, begging for any amount of juice to try to get by Middle Tennessee.
"I'm pleased with the way my team has performed," head coach Jeff Breeden said. "I hadn't scored a run in a region before we got here...We did that, we did more than that. We stood toe-to-toe with the No. 5 team in the country today. We beat them once, got beat 1-0 once. I can't ask for anything else."
The scrappy, aggressive, fun-loving style of softball the Blue Raiders played quickly captured the hearts of so many people I talked to in Tuscaloosa or interacted with online this weekend. The dance breaks that Ava Tepe had during the (admittedly monstrously long) TV timeouts, the outfield celebrations after recording an out, the energy every player in the dugout had at pretty much every moment from the time MTSU rolled off the bus, it all connected with people.
They connected with the TV broadcasters, with the Crimson Tide fans who stuck around to watch MTSU play Central Arkansas twice this weekend, with the stadium staff, the people in the marketing booth in the press box that played pregame music early just because the Blue Raiders asked.
It was no wonder, then, that after the handshake lines were done, Alabama fans were sure to cheer extra loud as the Blue Raiders left the field when prompted by the PA read. That doesn't happen every time. It didn't really happen for LIU or Central Arkansas this weekend.
It happened for MTSU.
"It's meant the world to me (to be a part of this team)," Mead said. "Obviously, I didn't want it to end this way, but you have to start a new life somewhere else."
New life will start for the Blue Raiders sooner rather than later. Even with a roster returning nearly everyone, Breeden notes his team will need to "reinvent ourselves." But returning every fielder starter from, quite literally, the best team in program history by almost every metric the record book tracks, from wins to win percentage to postseason progress, has MTSU excited for that process.
"We get more chemistry together, more confidence and experience, because we're still such a young team," Shelby Echols, the Houston Baptist transfer that was a spark at the top of the order all weekend long, said of the preparation for 2024. "I believe we can beat anybody next year."
But when it was tossed to Gretchen Mead, the fifth-year pitcher kept her career batting average at 1.000.
We're in an NCAA Tournament where Grand Canyon beat UCLA, Miami of Ohio, playing in a regional final, you guys took it to (Alabama)," the reporter asked after MTSU split games in the regional final with No. 5 Alabama. What does that say for softball and for mid-majors in particular?
Mead quickly smirked before her answer.
"The only difference is we don't draw a crowd like this," Mead said. "That clearly shows that we can compete with anyone in the country."
Head Coach Jeff Breeden doesn't like that mid-major term. Most of the coaches I have the pleasure of working with at MTSU don't. When you put the No. 5 team in the country on the ropes like the Blue Raiders did this weekend, maybe the first thought shouldn't be "Wow, it's amazing what these scrappy underdogs could accomplish," but rather "Hey, softball is finally big enough that a team like MTSU is as skilled as a team like Alabama."
The final result didn't go MTSU's way, sure. Sometimes, you just get beat by a long ball. But the fight, and the skill, of the Blue Raiders shined through at all times this weekend. Despite all the naysayers, the North Texas softball parents in the Twitter mentions after MTSU won the Conference USA title, the media analysts not even giving the No. 6 seeded team in C-USA a second glance in their regional previews, the casual softball fans calling this regional a "Mickey Mouse" set-up for the hosts, the Blue Raiders proved they belong among the best teams in the sport.
With all due respect to Montana Fouts, the Crimson Tide ace whose SEC Tournament injury and subsequent absence loomed large over every moment of Alabama's journey this weekend, it was the Blue Raiders who became the story of the regional, who were the aggressors in Rhoads Stadium, the team that made things happen in every game they played.
Even on Saturday, when MTSU fell 12-5 to Alabama, the Blue Raiders were the ones to jump out front with two early solo home runs, then responded back with three runs in the third inning after taking a counter punch and falling behind, retaking the lead 5-4. A seven-walk top of the fourth gave Alabama that win, but they had felt fear for a brief time.
The fear only grew larger as MTSU showed up unafraid, undeterred on Sunday, jumping ahead 3-0 before Alabama could scratch across a run. By the time intermission between the two games hit, you could only hear the three rows of rabid Blue Raider supporters behind the first base dugout in Rhoads Stadium, who Breeden thanked for all their support, both at home this season and in Tuscaloosa this weekend.
Perhaps this fear was no better exemplified than when an infield single in the fifth inning prompted Alabama Coach Patrick Murphy to emphatically rev up his home crowd, begging for any amount of juice to try to get by Middle Tennessee.
"I'm pleased with the way my team has performed," head coach Jeff Breeden said. "I hadn't scored a run in a region before we got here...We did that, we did more than that. We stood toe-to-toe with the No. 5 team in the country today. We beat them once, got beat 1-0 once. I can't ask for anything else."
The scrappy, aggressive, fun-loving style of softball the Blue Raiders played quickly captured the hearts of so many people I talked to in Tuscaloosa or interacted with online this weekend. The dance breaks that Ava Tepe had during the (admittedly monstrously long) TV timeouts, the outfield celebrations after recording an out, the energy every player in the dugout had at pretty much every moment from the time MTSU rolled off the bus, it all connected with people.
They connected with the TV broadcasters, with the Crimson Tide fans who stuck around to watch MTSU play Central Arkansas twice this weekend, with the stadium staff, the people in the marketing booth in the press box that played pregame music early just because the Blue Raiders asked.
It was no wonder, then, that after the handshake lines were done, Alabama fans were sure to cheer extra loud as the Blue Raiders left the field when prompted by the PA read. That doesn't happen every time. It didn't really happen for LIU or Central Arkansas this weekend.
It happened for MTSU.
"It's meant the world to me (to be a part of this team)," Mead said. "Obviously, I didn't want it to end this way, but you have to start a new life somewhere else."
New life will start for the Blue Raiders sooner rather than later. Even with a roster returning nearly everyone, Breeden notes his team will need to "reinvent ourselves." But returning every fielder starter from, quite literally, the best team in program history by almost every metric the record book tracks, from wins to win percentage to postseason progress, has MTSU excited for that process.
"We get more chemistry together, more confidence and experience, because we're still such a young team," Shelby Echols, the Houston Baptist transfer that was a spark at the top of the order all weekend long, said of the preparation for 2024. "I believe we can beat anybody next year."
Players Mentioned
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