Blue Raiders' winning streak snapped in loss to USI

Tuesday, March 31

Murfreesboro, Tenn.

4 p.m.

Middle Tennessee

16-13

Southern Indiana

18-11

Southern Indiana

Middle Tenn.

3/31/2026 8:29:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score

By: Willie Phaler, MTSU Athletic Communications

MURFREESBORO, Tenn.- Middle Tennessee baseball (16-13, 5-4 CUSA) fell to Southern Indiana (18-11, 3-3 OVC) 7-2 on Tuesday night.

The battle between the Blue Raiders and Screaming Eagles was tight through the first six innings, with Middle Tennessee leading 2-1 heading into the top of the seventh. Both sides had used six pitchers in those first six innings.

USI pushed across a run against Abel Albarran in the first, while both of the Blue Raiders' runs came in the sixth against right-hander Levin East. Tyler Minnick picked up a double down the left field line to score Owen Nowak, and later came around to score on an infield single by Dean O'Neill.

The Screaming Eagles took the lead back in the top half of the seventh, pushing across two runs. Both runs were charged to Mason Dobbs (L, 2-1) line as unearned, but were enough to put USI in front for good.

The visiting squad was able to add three insurance runs in the eighth and one in the ninth. Two of the four runs were unearned, contributing to four total unearned runs on the night against the Blue Raiders.

By the Numbers:

9: Middle Tennessee utilized nine pitchers in the game as part of a bullpen day in a short week for the Blue Raiders. This included left-hander Cole Torbett, who made his season debut with a scoreless fourth inning.

12: Tyler Minnick's sixth inning double was his team-leading 12th double of the season. The RBI was Minnick's 29th of the year, tying the team lead before Dean O'Neill picked up his 30th RBI two at-bats later.

The Skipper Speaks (Jerry Meyers)

"We've got some guys that need to be able to contribute, and the only way they're going to be able to contribute. The only way they're going to be able to contribute is if we can find a way to get them in live games… but on the weekend we used four guys twice in a three game set. We've got a short game this week and pitch counts along with some guys that were throwing early that haven't thrown well through a stretch. We tried to get them back in there."

Next up

The Blue Raiders will hit the road to take on Jacksonville State (24-5, 9-0 CUSA) for an early weekend series. Game one will be on Thursday with first pitch scheduled for 6 p.m. in Jacksonville, Alabama. The game will be televised on ESPN+ with an audio broadcast available on WGNS and the Blue Raider Network.