Middle Tennesee State University Athletics
NOTEBOOK: Blue Raiders are all over C-USA Men’s Golf Awards
5/8/2023 5:42:00 PM | Baseball, General, Men's Golf, Men's Tennis, Men's Cross Country and Track & Field, Softball, Women's Golf, Women's Cross Country and Track & Field, Track & Field/Cross Country
Led by Owen Stamper, who was named C-USA Golfer of the Year after leading MTSU with a 71.0 stroke average and three conference player of the week awards this season, and Markus Varjun, who was named C-USA Freshman of the Year with a 73.0 stroke average and has two top-10 finishes on the year, five different Blue Raiders were honored on the year end lists from the C-USA office.
GOLFER OF THE YEAR
— MT Men's Golf (@MT_MGolf) May 8, 2023
Congrats to Owen Stamper on being named the Conference USA Golfer of the Year!#BlueRaiders | @ostamper9 pic.twitter.com/UcA4lnhUXy
FRESHMAN OF THE YEAR
— MT Men's Golf (@MT_MGolf) May 8, 2023
Markus Varjun is your Conference USA Freshman of the Year!#BlueRaiders pic.twitter.com/W2iFXI4NoR
In addition to Stamper, who made the All-C-USA first team, Michael Barnard was named to the All-C-USA second team, while Kevin Jegers rounded out the Blue Raiders on all-conference teams with a third team honor. Carter Maneth joined Varjun on the all-freshman team. MTSU placed the most golfers of any program on both the all-conference team and the all-freshman team in C-USA this season.
Men's Golf heads to Salem, S.C. for NCAA Regional
Early last week, MTSU earned a spot in the 2023 NCAA Regionals, getting picked as an at-large selection to the Salem Regional as a No. 11 seed.
REGIONAL BOUND
— MT Men's Golf (@MT_MGolf) May 3, 2023
The Blue Raiders are headed to South Carolina for the NCAA Salem Regional!#BlueRaiders pic.twitter.com/L1IgsVnxy1
Hosted by Clemson University at The Cliffs at Keowee Falls, MTSU will face off against five conference champions in a regional where North Carolina earned the top seed. First round is scheduled for May 15, with the top five teams and top individual not on those five teams will advance to the NCAA Championships in Scottsdale, Ariz. from May 26-31
Looking forward to competing in South Carolina!#BlueRaiders | @coachmcentire72 pic.twitter.com/XKjmIuGsjQ
— MT Men's Golf (@MT_MGolf) May 3, 2023
Owen Stamper on seeing "MIDDLE TENNESSEE" come across the screen during the NCAA Selection Show#BlueRaiders | @ostamper9 pic.twitter.com/d98pFVdkTm
— MT Men's Golf (@MT_MGolf) May 3, 2023
Women's Golf selected for first-ever National Golf Invitational
Middle Tennessee women's golf has been selected to participate in the inaugural National Golf Invitational, a new postseason golf tournament scheduled for May 12-14 at Ak-Chin Southern Dunes Golf Club in Maricopa, Ariz.
"It is very exciting to be awarded an opportunity to play in the postseason," head coach Chris Adams said. "Our goal is always to put ourselves in a position to play in the postseason, and it is a testament to our program's success to be able to play in the NGI. Golfweek Tournament Director Lance Ringler has worked hard to make this vision of his into a reality. I know Lance and the committee will run a first-class championship at a great venue in Ak-Chin Southern Dunes Golf Club."
In May 2022, the NCAA announced it would allow teams to attend a postseason tournament in the event they did not make the NCAA field, similar to the NIT, NIVC and NISC in basketball, volleyball and softball, respectively. MTSU is part of the inaugural field for the National Golf Invitational, which was created out of that permission.
In addition to the Blue Raiders, the National Golf Invitational will include programs such as Penn State, Mercer, Iowa, Western Carolina, Texas State, Santa Clara, UC Riverside, Grand Canyon, and Seattle. Teams were selected by a selection committee, using cumulative average of both the Golfweek/Sagarin and Golfstat rankings.
We're not done! Your Blue Raiders are headed to the inaugural National Golf Invitational!#BlueRaiders pic.twitter.com/QMvHF1qfPg
— MT Women's Golf (@MT_WGolf) May 4, 2023
Baseball returns to Murfreesboro to wrap up home slate this weekend
Fresh off a ranked win against then-No. 16 Dallas Baptist on the road this past weekend, Middle Tennessee baseball returns to Reese Smith Jr. Field for their final home series of the season, taking on UAB on Friday, Saturday and Sunday.
Our win over No. 16 Dallas Baptist is the sixth win over a top 25 team across all #BlueRaiders sports this academic year!#BLUEnited | #BlueCrew pic.twitter.com/IedW7mHFUI
— MT Baseball (@MT_Baseball) May 6, 2023
The Blue Raiders cranked up the offense in their 16-8 victory over No. 16 Dallas Baptist! 🔥#NCAABaseball x 🎥 @MT_Baseball pic.twitter.com/RXUw3V0eXr
— NCAA Baseball (@NCAABaseball) May 6, 2023
With any win this weekend, MTSU would clinch a spot in the 2023 C-USA Tournament, though MTSU will be looking for much more than that as they look to break up a three-way tie for fifth in the current C-USA standings, while also looking to move into the top half of the eight-team tournament field, only trailing No. 3 seed Charlotte by a game and half with three games to play.
This is the LAST HOME EVENT of the 2022-23 athletics calendar, so make sure to take the chance to see the Blue Raiders in action before we start our summer wait until MTSU Soccer is back in August. Check out the promotions below fans can expect to enjoy at the ballpark!
What's Happening in the 'Boro – presented by Ole South
— MT Athletics (@MTAthletics) May 8, 2023
One more weekend of home events! @MT_Baseball hosts UAB at The Reese.
⚾️🎟 https://t.co/FpVYoaIe2Z#BLUEnited pic.twitter.com/iFEgbZNiD2
Men's Tennis' journey ends in Round of 32 at NCAA Tournament
Against a hostile crowd in Starkville, Miss., MTSU men's tennis very nearly pulled off the win, but fell just short on Saturday to Mississippi State, bowing out of the NCAA Tournament in the Round of 32.
Tennis started the weekend with a dominant 4-0 win over nationally ranked Tulane to earn a chance against the Bulldogs, but a tight doubles point loss put them behind early against Mississippi State, where even a dominant win by No. 1 singles player Stijn Slump was not enough to advance to the Sweet 16.
What a special season!
— MT Men's Tennis (@MT_MensTennis) May 8, 2023
The #BlueRaiders finished the season in the Second Round of the NCAA Tournament for the second year in a row and the fourth in program history! 💪#BLUEnited | #WEGRITT pic.twitter.com/xe2qJI9N1d
The fight, however, was incredible from a team down to just six players entering the tournament. Excited to see the future of this team next year, and at their new courts on campus here at MTSU if progress continues outside my office this summer!
Round of 32 up next! 💪#BLUEnited pic.twitter.com/nuk9NN9iMk
— MT Men's Tennis (@MT_MensTennis) May 6, 2023
Blevins pushes MTSU past North Texas in extras ahead of this week's C-USA Softball Tournament
One of the hottest bats in the Blue Raiders' lineup of late came up in a big spot on Sunday, as freshman Ansley Blevins blasted an opposite-field home run in the top of the eighth inning to push MTSU past North Texas and deny the Mean Green the C-USA regular season title in the final regular-season game of the season for both teams.
Blevins called game! 😤#BLUEnited | ⚡️⬆️ pic.twitter.com/3byryYt0mz
— MT Softball (@MT_Softball) May 7, 2023
With the win, MTSU earned a six-seed at the C-USA Tournament in Ruston, La. and will face host LA Tech in the opening round game on Wednesday at Noon CT. The Blue Raiders must win their opening game to move on into the double elimination portion of the tournament.
Ready for the postseason! 💪🏼#BLUEnited | ⚡️⬆️ pic.twitter.com/nRjaBl2ZSZ
— MT Softball (@MT_Softball) May 8, 2023
As they traveled from Denton to Ruston today, check out the Buc-ee's pickups from everyone on the Blue Raider bus, also known as my favorite social video we've put out this month.
Dean Hayes selected to the Ohio Valley Conference Hall of Fame
Legendary Middle Tennessee track and field coach Dean Hayes will be inducted posthumously into the Ohio Valley Conference Hall of Fame on Friday, June 2 in Nashville. Hayes will be inducted with former UT Martin head men's golf coach Jerry Carpenter and former SIUE head women's softball coach and administrator Sandy Montgomery.
Our next inductee is the late Dean Hayes, former @MTAthletics track & field coach.
— Ohio Valley Conference (@OVCSports) May 3, 2023
He served as head coach for 56 years, leading team to 29 OVC team titles and being named OVC Coach of the Year 15 times, including 10 in a row at one point.#OVCit | #OVC75 | #BLUEnited pic.twitter.com/bJF47v2Ww6
During his tenure in the OVC, he led MTSU to 29 OVC titles, more than any other OVC member in conference history. He coached Blue Raider athletes to 374 individual or relay championships, had 28 individuals earn All-American status a total of 53 times and led MTSU to 15 NCAA Top 25 finishes. Additionally, he had athletes earn six individual national championships.
He was named OVC Coach of the Year 15 times, including 10 in a row from 1977-86.
Middle Tennessee track will look to continue that winning legacy at this week's Conference USA Outdoor Track & Field Championships, which start on Thursday in Denton, Texas.
Players Mentioned
