Blue Raiders complete sweep of FDU with 7-1 win

Sunday, February 23

Murfreesboro, Tenn.

1 p.m.

Middle Tennessee

4-3

FDU

0-6

FDU

Middle Tennessee

Photo by: Michael Giglio/MT Athletic Communications

2/23/2025 4:57:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score Photo Gallery

By: Anthony Fiorella, MTSU Athletic Communications

MURFREESBORO, Tenn. —Middle Tennessee's (4-3) starting rotation completed a dominant weekend against Fairleigh Dickinson (0-6) on Sunday afternoon to finish off the sweep of the Knights in a 7-1 win.

Following six shutout innings on Friday and Saturday from Trace Phillips and Chandler Alderman, fellow sophomore Drew Horn tossed five no-hit innings, picking up a team-high 11 strikeouts to collect his first win of the season. All three starters combined for 26 strikeouts and allowed just seven hits in 17 shutout innings of work over the weekend.

Middle Tennessee third baseman Hayden Miller hit his second home run of the year, a solo shot to left field, to open the scoring in the second inning and make it 1-0. Four at-bats later, Eston Snider collected RBI number six on the weekend with a sacrifice fly to right field that plated Keaton Ray to make it 2-0 and Tyler Minnick, making his debut at first base, singled through the left side of the infield to make it 3-0.

FDU's starter Cooper Montelbano lasted just three innings and allowed three runs on four hits before giving way to Ben Pika out of the bullpen, who surrendered a leadoff triple to Clay Badylak who was brought in on a bunt single by Eston Snider to give the Blue Raider leadoff man his second RBI of the game and make it 4-0. With one out and Snider on second, Tyler Minnick picked up his second RBI of the afternoon on a double down the left field line that made it 5-0.

In the sixth inning, Eston Snider homered for the third time this weekend, this time clubbing one off of the steps to the second level in Floyd Stadium off of Knight's left-hander Jordan Savinon to make it 6-0. Snider finished the day 3-for-4 with three RBIs, a stolen base and scored two runs. In the series, the centerfielder was 6-for-10 with five runs scored and two stolen bases.

Middle Tennessee tacked on its' seventh run of the game on an RBI single from Nathan Brewer to cap a two-run sixth. Ollie Akens came on in relief of Horn in the sixth inning and didn't allow FDU to get a hit or run until the seventh inning, sending the Blue Raiders to the eighth inning up 7-1. It was the first run surrendered by Blue Raider pitching in 13 innings of work. Jack Fortner made his second appearance of the year in the eighth inning, finishing the game on the hill for Middle Tennessee by working the final two innings and striking out a pair.

Aside from Snider, Tyler Minnick went 2-for-5 with a pair of RBIs and a run scored while also more than holding his own in his first start at third base. Clay Badylak had a productive day in the nine-hole, going 1-for-2 with two walks, a triple, stolen base and two runs scored.

By the Numbers
3: Home runs this weekend for Eston Snider, including a grand slam yesterday.
17: Shutout innings by the Blue Raider starting rotation in the series.
11: Strikeouts by Drew Horn, a team-high so far this season.

The Skipper Speaks (Jerry Meyers)
"The tone being set this year is going to be by whether (the starting rotation) can come out and pitch like they did this weekend," said Middle Tennessee State Head Coach Jerry Meyers. "They all pounded the zone and didn't give up free 90's early in their outings. Guys know they need to attack the zone and figure out what the zone looks like, especially right out of the bullpen. Drew (Horn) was outstanding overall today. He had a couple of spurts where he sprayed around a little too much. There's plenty to work on, but our three starters did well this weekend and we had some guys that did well out of the bullpen, too. This time of year, we're trying to figure things out. Some guys were off to a slow start and some are off to a quick start at the plate. The consistency of our at-bats has been good, but can be better. We were able to do some things and get some guys some at-bats and get a few guys in there in some different spots."

Player Perspective (Drew Horn)
"Finding the changeup in the bullpen really helped before I got out on the mound," Horn said. "The slurve and cutter were a little off, but they dialed back in later on. Me and Coach (Wisniewski) talked before the game about being aggressive because they weren't swinging the bats early on in counts. I knew I needed to get ahead. I'm glad our offense got us great run support this weekend, but I knew Trace (Phillips) and Chandler (Alderman) did a lot, and I wanted to just do the same as them."

Up Next
Middle Tennessee will take on the Austin Peay Governors this Tuesday at 3:00 p.m. at Reese Smith Jr. Field. Follow the Blue Raiders Stay up to date with the Blue Raiders on Twitter (@MT_Baseball), Facebook (Blue Raider Baseball), and Instagram (@MT_Baseball).