Middle Tennesee State University Athletics
Saturday, May 6
Dallas, TX
2:00 PM CT
Middle Tennessee
23-22, 12-11
16
at
8
Dallas Baptist
35-12, 19-4
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
R
H
E
MTSU
1
1
0
0
5
3
2
1
3
16
17
1
DBU
2
0
2
0
0
0
1
1
2
8
13
2
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Sells, James (3-3)
L: Braxton Bragg (6-2)
Batting:
2B: Vinson, Luke 2
HR: Rutter, Briggs 1 ; Jennings, Gabe 1
RBI: Mabry, JT 1 ; Coker, Brett 2 ; Boyd, Jeremiah 2 ; Rutter, Briggs 3 ; Snider, Eston 3 ; Wright, DJ 1 ; Jennings, Gabe 2
SH: Mabry, JT 1 ; Jennings, Gabe 1
SF: Mabry, JT 1 ; Coker, Brett 1 ; Jennings, Gabe 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Vinson, Luke 3 ; Coker, Brett 2 ; Boyd, Jeremiah 3 ; Rutter, Briggs 3 ; Galloway, Jackson 2 ; Wright, DJ 1 ; Jennings, Gabe 2
SB: Coker, Brett 1 ; Boyd, Jeremiah 1 ; Snider, Eston 1
HBP: Vinson, Luke 1 ; Snider, Eston 1
Batting:
2B: Miguel Santos 1 ; Ethan Mann 2
HR: Nathan Humphreys 3 ; Grant Jay 1
RBI: Nathan Humphreys 5 ; Ethan Mann 1 ; Kodie Kolden 1 ; Grant Jay 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Jace Grady 1 ; Miguel Santos 2 ; Nathan Humphreys 4 ; Grant Jay 1
SB: Jace Grady 1 ; Grant Jay 1
CS: George Specht 1
HBP: George Specht 1
Game Leaders
Hitting
AB
5
R
3
H
4
RBI
3
AB
6
R
3
H
3
RBI
0
AB
4
R
3
H
2
RBI
2
Players Mentioned
C
/ Baseball
SS
/ Baseball
OF
/ Baseball
RHP
/ Baseball
INF
/ Baseball
C
/ Baseball
RHP
/ Baseball
OF/INF
/ BaseballOF/LHP
/ Baseball
Photo by: Matt Posey/MT Athletic Communications
Blue Raiders Explode for 10 Unanswered Runs in Win at No. 16 Dallas Baptist
5/6/2023 5:36:00 PM | Baseball
DALLAS – Less than 24 hours after a loss, and down 4-2 through four innings at Horner Ballpark against the No. 16 Dallas Baptist Patriots, Middle Tennessee was looking to change the momentum of Saturday's road contest, and did just that in resounding fashion with 10 unanswered runs on its way to a 16-8 win to even the Conference USA series heading into Sunday's series finale.
Snapping Dallas Baptist's 15-game conference win streak, the Raiders improve to 23-22 with the win, and 12-11 in C-USA play.
While the bats stood out in Saturday's win, RHP James Sells was an invaluable factor as well. Entering the game in relief of starter Jaden Hamm, Sells retired the first eight batters faced and struck out eight across six innings. The Winchester, Tenn. native moved to 3-3 while earning the winning decision.
Like in Friday's contest, the Blue Raiders scored in the opening inning to make it 1-0. Luke Vinson scored off a Brett Coker RBI groundout in the first to score after leading the game off with a double.
After the Patriots went up 2-1 in the bottom half of the inning, Briggs Rutter had a solo home run to left field to tie the game.
Gabe Jennings singled in to lead off the fifth, and was the opening spark in a ferocious five-run rally in the inning. Coker had an RBI groundout before Jeremiah Boyd, Rutter and each collected RBI singles, with a one-run error off the bat of Jackson Galloway sandwiched in the six-hit frame.
An inning later, Jennings once again kickstarted a multi-run inning, but this time with a leadoff solo home run to make it 8-4. Boyd logged his second RBI single in as many at bats later in the frame and Eston Snider was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded.
Rutter singled in the seventh before MTSU scored its second run as a result of Galloway reaching on an error to make it 12-4.
JT Mabry logged a sacrifice fly in the eighth. The Patriots had home runs in each of the final three innings, but the Blue Raiders' cushion was large enough to absorb the pair of late DBU tallies with little suspense, especially as MTSU tacked on an additional trio in the ninth.
The Skipper Speaks
"All year long we have done a good job of bouncing back. If we get beat, it doesn't matter how we get beat. Whatever happens the day before, you have to get over it. I told the team this morning, what's behind us is behind us. It doesn't matter how many we've won up to this point, let's treat it as opening day. Opening day, we had a great day offensively and on the mound. We're 45 games in, and let's treat all the rest of the games like opening day," said head coach Jerry Meyers.
"Offensively, we just continued to stick with what the approach needed to be. It takes character to do that, because when you get beat bad, come back the next day and get behind, it is very easy not to stay with an approach. It's easy to try and do too much. Then game is too hard to try to make up for the past. You have to stay in the moment, stay locked in and stick with the approach."
Player Perspective – Briggs Rutter
On the hitting being contagious: "It's what we've done all year. When you see the guy ahead of you hit, and our hitter is attacking their pitcher, you want to get on that guy too. It's contagious and it just happens. We're a really good team at it, and it's really fun when we're doing it," said Rutter.
By the Numbers
17: Each member of the lineup had at least a hit, as the Raider bats had 17 total base knocks Saturday.
5: Five hitters logged multiple hits across the afternoon. Rutter (4-5) led the team across the afternoon. Vinson was 3-6 with a pair of doubles, Boyd and Jennings each went 2-4 and Wright was 2-6.
3: Snider and Rutter each had three RBI.
Blue Raider Notes
Meyers kept the lineup card mostly identical to Friday's game, with the same nine in the batting order. The only change other than the starting pitcher was Boyd catching, and Rutter sliding into the DH spot. Saturday represented the first start at catcher for Boyd since March 12 against Evansville, and the fifth on the season for him.
The win is the program's first over a ranked opponent since defeating No. 21 Old Dominion 13-5 on March 20 last season. It's also the Raiders' first road win over a top 25 foe since 2015, when they knocked off No. 19 Florida Atlantic in a 12-inning series rubber.
Across the athletic department, Middle Tennessee now has six ranked wins across five different sports.
Next Up
The teams close the series with a rubber matchup Sunday at 1:00 p.m.
DBU's Patriot Broadcasting Network will have the game, with WGNS 101.9 FM / 1450 AM (Murfreesboro), WGNS 100.5 FM (Smyrna), GoBlueRaiders.com and the Varsity Network App carrying the radio broadcast.
Follow the Blue Raiders
Stay up to date with the Blue Raiders on Twitter (@MT_Baseball), Facebook (Blue Raider Baseball) and Instagram (@MT_Baseball).
Snapping Dallas Baptist's 15-game conference win streak, the Raiders improve to 23-22 with the win, and 12-11 in C-USA play.
While the bats stood out in Saturday's win, RHP James Sells was an invaluable factor as well. Entering the game in relief of starter Jaden Hamm, Sells retired the first eight batters faced and struck out eight across six innings. The Winchester, Tenn. native moved to 3-3 while earning the winning decision.
Like in Friday's contest, the Blue Raiders scored in the opening inning to make it 1-0. Luke Vinson scored off a Brett Coker RBI groundout in the first to score after leading the game off with a double.
After the Patriots went up 2-1 in the bottom half of the inning, Briggs Rutter had a solo home run to left field to tie the game.
Gabe Jennings singled in to lead off the fifth, and was the opening spark in a ferocious five-run rally in the inning. Coker had an RBI groundout before Jeremiah Boyd, Rutter and each collected RBI singles, with a one-run error off the bat of Jackson Galloway sandwiched in the six-hit frame.
An inning later, Jennings once again kickstarted a multi-run inning, but this time with a leadoff solo home run to make it 8-4. Boyd logged his second RBI single in as many at bats later in the frame and Eston Snider was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded.
Rutter singled in the seventh before MTSU scored its second run as a result of Galloway reaching on an error to make it 12-4.
JT Mabry logged a sacrifice fly in the eighth. The Patriots had home runs in each of the final three innings, but the Blue Raiders' cushion was large enough to absorb the pair of late DBU tallies with little suspense, especially as MTSU tacked on an additional trio in the ninth.
The Skipper Speaks
"All year long we have done a good job of bouncing back. If we get beat, it doesn't matter how we get beat. Whatever happens the day before, you have to get over it. I told the team this morning, what's behind us is behind us. It doesn't matter how many we've won up to this point, let's treat it as opening day. Opening day, we had a great day offensively and on the mound. We're 45 games in, and let's treat all the rest of the games like opening day," said head coach Jerry Meyers.
"Offensively, we just continued to stick with what the approach needed to be. It takes character to do that, because when you get beat bad, come back the next day and get behind, it is very easy not to stay with an approach. It's easy to try and do too much. Then game is too hard to try to make up for the past. You have to stay in the moment, stay locked in and stick with the approach."
Player Perspective – Briggs Rutter
On the hitting being contagious: "It's what we've done all year. When you see the guy ahead of you hit, and our hitter is attacking their pitcher, you want to get on that guy too. It's contagious and it just happens. We're a really good team at it, and it's really fun when we're doing it," said Rutter.
By the Numbers
17: Each member of the lineup had at least a hit, as the Raider bats had 17 total base knocks Saturday.
5: Five hitters logged multiple hits across the afternoon. Rutter (4-5) led the team across the afternoon. Vinson was 3-6 with a pair of doubles, Boyd and Jennings each went 2-4 and Wright was 2-6.
3: Snider and Rutter each had three RBI.
Blue Raider Notes
Meyers kept the lineup card mostly identical to Friday's game, with the same nine in the batting order. The only change other than the starting pitcher was Boyd catching, and Rutter sliding into the DH spot. Saturday represented the first start at catcher for Boyd since March 12 against Evansville, and the fifth on the season for him.
The win is the program's first over a ranked opponent since defeating No. 21 Old Dominion 13-5 on March 20 last season. It's also the Raiders' first road win over a top 25 foe since 2015, when they knocked off No. 19 Florida Atlantic in a 12-inning series rubber.
Across the athletic department, Middle Tennessee now has six ranked wins across five different sports.
Next Up
The teams close the series with a rubber matchup Sunday at 1:00 p.m.
DBU's Patriot Broadcasting Network will have the game, with WGNS 101.9 FM / 1450 AM (Murfreesboro), WGNS 100.5 FM (Smyrna), GoBlueRaiders.com and the Varsity Network App carrying the radio broadcast.
Follow the Blue Raiders
Stay up to date with the Blue Raiders on Twitter (@MT_Baseball), Facebook (Blue Raider Baseball) and Instagram (@MT_Baseball).
Facility tour – Stephen and Denise Smith Student-Athlete Performance Center
Wednesday, July 30
Spring Sports Show hosted by The Boulevard – April 21, 2025: Softball and Baseball
Monday, April 21
🎥 from the 52nd annual Groundhog Day Luncheon! Also, we play baseball this month 🤩
Sunday, February 02
MTSU Baseball 2025 52nd Annual Groundhog Day Luncheon
Friday, January 31
