MTSU baseball wins fourth straight to continue hot start

Saturday, February 28

Murfreesboro, Tenn.

1 p.m.

Middle Tennessee

8-2

Illinois State

6-4

Illinois St.

Middle Tenn.

2/28/2026 5:19:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score

By: Willie Phaler, MTSU Athletic Communications

Middle Tennessee baseball (8-2) secured its third straight series win, and fourth win in a row with an 8-2 victory over Illinois State (6-4) on Saturday night.

The Blue Raiders win marked the team's best start through 10 games since 2013, as the group has been clicking on the mound, in the batter's box and in the field.

Center fielder Owen Nowak continued the hot start to his first campaign at the Division I level, going 2-for-2 with a home run to right field, two RBI and three runs.

Nowak launched his second home run of the season in the second inning, giving MTSU a 4-0 lead in the second inning. The Wisconsin native's roundtripper came after he scored in the first inning, along with Nathan Brewer.

Illinois State worked across one of its two runs in the fourth, as Camden Karczewski drew a bases-loaded walk against Blue Raiders right-hander Mason Dobbs (W, 1-0).

After walking his first hitter, Dobbs recovered to toss 3.0 innings of three-hit, one-run ball for Middle Tennessee. Dobbs fanned three hitters, as did Blue Raider starter Chandler Alderman over his 3.1 innings of work.

The Blue Raiders offense continued to swing the sticks well in the fourth and the eighth innings. Cooper Clapp belted his third home run of the year to right field to extend the lead to 5-1 in the fifth. Brewer added an RBI on a bunt hit in the eighth, while Dean O'Neill put himself on the board with an RBI double down the left field line to score two.

The back end of Middle Tennessee's bullpen twirled a gem, picking up right where Dobbs and Alderman left off. Left-hander Collin Kerrigan tossed 1.1 innings of two-hit ball, while Landen Burch (S, 2) slammed the door with a four out save.

By the Numbers:

2013: Middle Tennessee is off to its best start through 10 games since 2013.
10: The Blue Raiders pitching quartet of Alderman, Dobbs, Kerrigan and Burch combined for 10 strikeouts.
11: Owen Nowak is up to 11 walks on the year through 10 games.

The Skipper Speaks (Jerry Meyers)

"We don't really care where we are record wise or that type of thing right now," Meyers said. "Its about whether we're playing how we're trying to play, and we're doing that pretty well for the most part. We've got a long way to go. We've got a lot of room to grow."

Player Perspective (Owen Nowak)

"We just gel well to be honest," Nowak said. "Everyone is doing their job, everyone knows their job and they are doing it to the best of their ability. Obviously you can't do this all the time, but I've always said that the game comes back to you."

Next Up

The Blue Raiders will aim for the series sweep tomorrow against the Redbirds, with a 1:00 p.m. first pitch. David Horn Jr., (1-1, 4.32 ERA) is scheduled to start for MTSU, while ISU is projected to roll with Luke Teschke (0-1, 10.36 ERA).