Middle Tennesee State University Athletics
Tuesday, February 20
Tuscaloosa, Ala.
4:00 p.m. CT
Middle Tennessee
2-2
1
at
6
Alabama
4-0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
R
H
E
Middle Tennessee
0
0
0
1
0
0
0
0
0
1
6
2
Alabama
0
0
2
0
1
0
1
2
X
6
7
0
Blue Raiders fall at Alabama
2/20/2024 7:03:00 PM | Baseball
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — Middle Tennessee baseball dropped a 6-1 decision at Alabama on Tuesday, as seven Blue Raider pitchers combined to allow seven hits over eight innings.
Cole Torbett struck out five batters over the first two innings, holding Alabama (4-0) scoreless. He left after 40 pitches in the third with a runner on, who would come around to score on a two-run TJ McCants homer.
Trace Phillips got a run back for the Blue Raiders (2-2) in the top of the fourth, driving in Briggs Rutter with a single to right field.
A popup that glanced off the glove of a diving Luke Vinson in the fifth inning turned into a triple for Alabama's Bryce Eblin, who came around to score on a groundout.
Ollie Akens, Chandler Alderman, Patrick Johnson, Luke Earnhardt, Kota Sato and James Sells combined for 6.0 innings pitched with six strikeouts and five runs allowed. Five of Alabama's six runs were earned, as MTSU committed two errors in the field.
Austin Morris (1-0) earned the win for the Crimson Tide. Torbett (0-1) was saddled with the loss. Braylon Myers picked up the save with 2.0 innings of relief.
Bryce Symlar and Gabe Jennings each collected two hits, as MTSU finished the game with six hits in total, all singles.
By the Numbers
5: Torbett's five strikeouts were the most by a Blue Raider this season.
11: MTSU struck out a season-high 11 batters as a staff
3: Alderman struck out three batters in 1.2 innings in his collegiate debut.
Blue Raider Notes
The Skipper Speaks
"Torbett did a real nice job setting the tone, throwing three pitches for strikes. Not overpowering stuff – their guy had overpowering stuff – but Torbett kept us in there and did a real nice job. The plan was not to go more than 45 pitches or so with him, and then try to play the matchups out of the bullpen. It worked out a little bit, for the most part, but obviously, they're a really good team, a top-25 team, and they're trying to sort through some really good arms, and so it was a tough night in that regard, offensively."
Up Next
MTSU is back home this weekend for three games against Miami (Ohio) starting Friday at 3 p.m. at Reese Smith Jr. Field.
Follow the Blue Raiders
Stay up to date with the Blue Raiders on X (formerly known as Twitter) (@MT_Baseball), Facebook (Blue Raider Baseball) and Instagram (@MT_Baseball).
Cole Torbett struck out five batters over the first two innings, holding Alabama (4-0) scoreless. He left after 40 pitches in the third with a runner on, who would come around to score on a two-run TJ McCants homer.
Trace Phillips got a run back for the Blue Raiders (2-2) in the top of the fourth, driving in Briggs Rutter with a single to right field.
A popup that glanced off the glove of a diving Luke Vinson in the fifth inning turned into a triple for Alabama's Bryce Eblin, who came around to score on a groundout.
Ollie Akens, Chandler Alderman, Patrick Johnson, Luke Earnhardt, Kota Sato and James Sells combined for 6.0 innings pitched with six strikeouts and five runs allowed. Five of Alabama's six runs were earned, as MTSU committed two errors in the field.
Austin Morris (1-0) earned the win for the Crimson Tide. Torbett (0-1) was saddled with the loss. Braylon Myers picked up the save with 2.0 innings of relief.
Bryce Symlar and Gabe Jennings each collected two hits, as MTSU finished the game with six hits in total, all singles.
By the Numbers
5: Torbett's five strikeouts were the most by a Blue Raider this season.
11: MTSU struck out a season-high 11 batters as a staff
3: Alderman struck out three batters in 1.2 innings in his collegiate debut.
Blue Raider Notes
- Torbett made his first collegiate start Tuesday.
- Phillips' fourth-inning RBI was the first of his career.
The Skipper Speaks
"Torbett did a real nice job setting the tone, throwing three pitches for strikes. Not overpowering stuff – their guy had overpowering stuff – but Torbett kept us in there and did a real nice job. The plan was not to go more than 45 pitches or so with him, and then try to play the matchups out of the bullpen. It worked out a little bit, for the most part, but obviously, they're a really good team, a top-25 team, and they're trying to sort through some really good arms, and so it was a tough night in that regard, offensively."
Up Next
MTSU is back home this weekend for three games against Miami (Ohio) starting Friday at 3 p.m. at Reese Smith Jr. Field.
Follow the Blue Raiders
Stay up to date with the Blue Raiders on X (formerly known as Twitter) (@MT_Baseball), Facebook (Blue Raider Baseball) and Instagram (@MT_Baseball).
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Austin Morris (1-0)
L: Torbett, Cole (0-1)
S: Braylon Myers (1)
Batting:
RBI: Phillips, Trace 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Rutter, Briggs 1
SB: Badylak, Clay 1
CS: Phillips, Trace 1 ; Symlar, Bryce 2
Batting:
3B: Ian Petrutz 1 ; Bryce Eblin 1
HR: Gage Miller 1 ; TJ McCants 1 ; Bryce Eblin 1
RBI: Gage Miller 1 ; TJ McCants 3 ; Bryce Eblin 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Gage Miller 1 ; TJ McCants 1 ; Ian Petrutz 1 ; Bryce Eblin 3
SB: Bryce Eblin 1
HBP: Evan Sleight 1 ; Mac Guscette 1
Game Leaders
Hitting
AB
4
R
0
H
2
RBI
0
AB
2
R
0
H
2
RBI
0
AB
4
R
1
H
1
RBI
0
AB
3
R
0
H
1
RBI
1
Players Mentioned
RHP
/ Baseball
LHP
/ Baseball
LHP
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/ Baseball
RHP
/ BaseballINF/RHP
/ BaseballC
/ Baseball
RHP
/ BaseballOF
/ Baseball
LHP/OF
/ Baseball
OF
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