Middle Tennessee State University Athletics
Friday, February 14
Jacksonville, Fla.
8 AM
Middle Tennessee
vs
UConn
Blue Raiders head back to The Sunshine State for second consecutive weekend
2/13/2025 11:30:00 AM | Softball
MTSU looks to continue its winning ways after successful first weekend
MURFREESBORO, Tenn. – Middle Tennessee Softball will be traveling back to Florida to take part in the Jacksonville/North Florida Tournament at Jacksonville University this weekend (Feb. 14-16). The teams playing in the tournament are UConn, Jacksonville, and North Florida. The games will not be streamed, but fans can follow the live stats at Sidearm Live Stats.
The first set of games are scheduled for 8:00 am CT vs. UConn and 10:30 am CT vs. Jacksonville on Feb. 14. On the second day of the tournament (Feb. 15), the Blue Raiders are set to take on UConn at 8:00 am CT and will be facing off vs. North Florida at 3:30 pm CT. The final game of the tournament will take place at 11:30 am CT vs. North Florida on Sunday, Feb. 16.
In the opening weekend of the season at The Spring Games, the Blue Raiders posted a 3-2 record that featured a dominate win vs. Rutgers by a score of 8-1. The game saw the MTSU offense firing on all cylinders where in the fourth inning they batted through the lineup en route to a six run inning. The inning saw a two-run home run from Ava Brooks and Macie Harter drove in two more on a triple. Harter scored three runs in the game, becoming the first Blue Raider to reach that feat since February of 2023.
Jana Want was the star of the weekend which was highlighted by winning Conference USA Freshman of the Week. Want recorded a slash line of .563/.632/.813, good for a 1.445 OPS. All those marks were the best by a freshman in the conference, to open the season. In the Blue Raiders 2-1 victory over Cleveland State, Want recorded a paid of RBI singles in the fifth and seventh innings to lead the comeback.
The 2025 Blue Raider squad features 13 new student-athletes: nine freshmen and four transfers. They are Leila Ammon, Kennedy Chatman, Tori Coffman, Addy Edgmon, Macie Harter, Lani Jones, Dimitra Milonopoulos, Zoe Milonopoulos, Lilly Pendergrast, Sabria Ritto, Jana Want, Emmaline Whitt, Avery Wynne. Jana Want, a Stoney Creek, Ontario native, represents Coach Breeden's first international student-athlete.
The team features nine freshmen, two sophomores, seven juniors, three seniors and one graduate student. The 2025 Blue Raider softball team has representation from both coasts of the country with the Milonopoulos sisters representing New Jersey and Sabria Ritto representing California. More than 50% of the team are natives of Tennessee.
Scouting the opponents
UConn – The upcoming games will feature the battle between UConn and MTSU in each program's histories. The Huskies have opened the season to a 1-3 record that featured a win vs. Elon and losses to Ohio, UNC Greensboro and Ohio State. UConn saw two student-athletes have terrific starts to their season, Kaiea Higa and Grace Jenkins, both of whom are hitting for a .538 batting average to open the season. The Huskies are led by head coach Laura Valentino who is entering her sixth season as head coach. Valentino has led the Huskies to three-straight 30-win seasons, the first time since 1995-97 that has happened in their program's history.
Jacksonville – This will mark the first matchup between Jacksonville and MTSU in each program's histories. Jacksonville is off to a 2-4 start to the season that features a 1-2 record vs. CUSA's own Jax State. The Dolphins are led by Haley Fox who recorded a .467 batting average to open the 2025 campaign. Jacksonville is led by head coach Erica Ayers who has held the position since the 2018 season. The 2021 season was the best of the Ayers Era where the Dolphins recorded a record of 29-20.
North Florida – This will mark the fifth and six battles vs. North Florida in program history. In the first four matchups, the Ospreys took three of them with the Blue Raiders taking the most recent battle in 2018. North Florida is off to a 4-2 start and like Jacksonville, the Ospreys have taken on CUSA's own Jax State. The Ospreys went 1-1 vs. Jax State. To open the season, Macie Hunolt has pitched to a 1.38 ERA over 13.0 innings while Lauren Brock has led the offense with a .471 batting average.
FOLLOW THE BLUE RAIDERS
Follow Middle Tennessee Softball on social media on Facebook (Blue Raider Softball), Twitter (MT_Softball) and Instagram (@mt_softball).
The first set of games are scheduled for 8:00 am CT vs. UConn and 10:30 am CT vs. Jacksonville on Feb. 14. On the second day of the tournament (Feb. 15), the Blue Raiders are set to take on UConn at 8:00 am CT and will be facing off vs. North Florida at 3:30 pm CT. The final game of the tournament will take place at 11:30 am CT vs. North Florida on Sunday, Feb. 16.
In the opening weekend of the season at The Spring Games, the Blue Raiders posted a 3-2 record that featured a dominate win vs. Rutgers by a score of 8-1. The game saw the MTSU offense firing on all cylinders where in the fourth inning they batted through the lineup en route to a six run inning. The inning saw a two-run home run from Ava Brooks and Macie Harter drove in two more on a triple. Harter scored three runs in the game, becoming the first Blue Raider to reach that feat since February of 2023.
Jana Want was the star of the weekend which was highlighted by winning Conference USA Freshman of the Week. Want recorded a slash line of .563/.632/.813, good for a 1.445 OPS. All those marks were the best by a freshman in the conference, to open the season. In the Blue Raiders 2-1 victory over Cleveland State, Want recorded a paid of RBI singles in the fifth and seventh innings to lead the comeback.
The 2025 Blue Raider squad features 13 new student-athletes: nine freshmen and four transfers. They are Leila Ammon, Kennedy Chatman, Tori Coffman, Addy Edgmon, Macie Harter, Lani Jones, Dimitra Milonopoulos, Zoe Milonopoulos, Lilly Pendergrast, Sabria Ritto, Jana Want, Emmaline Whitt, Avery Wynne. Jana Want, a Stoney Creek, Ontario native, represents Coach Breeden's first international student-athlete.
The team features nine freshmen, two sophomores, seven juniors, three seniors and one graduate student. The 2025 Blue Raider softball team has representation from both coasts of the country with the Milonopoulos sisters representing New Jersey and Sabria Ritto representing California. More than 50% of the team are natives of Tennessee.
Scouting the opponents
UConn – The upcoming games will feature the battle between UConn and MTSU in each program's histories. The Huskies have opened the season to a 1-3 record that featured a win vs. Elon and losses to Ohio, UNC Greensboro and Ohio State. UConn saw two student-athletes have terrific starts to their season, Kaiea Higa and Grace Jenkins, both of whom are hitting for a .538 batting average to open the season. The Huskies are led by head coach Laura Valentino who is entering her sixth season as head coach. Valentino has led the Huskies to three-straight 30-win seasons, the first time since 1995-97 that has happened in their program's history.
Jacksonville – This will mark the first matchup between Jacksonville and MTSU in each program's histories. Jacksonville is off to a 2-4 start to the season that features a 1-2 record vs. CUSA's own Jax State. The Dolphins are led by Haley Fox who recorded a .467 batting average to open the 2025 campaign. Jacksonville is led by head coach Erica Ayers who has held the position since the 2018 season. The 2021 season was the best of the Ayers Era where the Dolphins recorded a record of 29-20.
North Florida – This will mark the fifth and six battles vs. North Florida in program history. In the first four matchups, the Ospreys took three of them with the Blue Raiders taking the most recent battle in 2018. North Florida is off to a 4-2 start and like Jacksonville, the Ospreys have taken on CUSA's own Jax State. The Ospreys went 1-1 vs. Jax State. To open the season, Macie Hunolt has pitched to a 1.38 ERA over 13.0 innings while Lauren Brock has led the offense with a .471 batting average.
FOLLOW THE BLUE RAIDERS
Follow Middle Tennessee Softball on social media on Facebook (Blue Raider Softball), Twitter (MT_Softball) and Instagram (@mt_softball).
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