King, O'Neill lead the way in Blue Raider baseball's comeback win

Tuesday, April 14

Nashville, TN

4 p.m.

Middle Tennessee

18-19

Belmont

13-24

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	Runs R	Hits H	Errors E
Middle Tenn.	0	0	0	0	0	1	3	1	3	0	0	0	2	10	16	2
Belmont	0	2	1	2	0	2	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	8	10	0

4/14/2026 11:45:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score

By: Willie Phaler, MTSU Athletic Communications

NASHVILLE, Tenn.- After trailing 5-0 after the first five innings, Middle Tennessee baseball (18-19, 5-10 CUSA) decided to make a change during its midweek clash with regional foe Belmont (13-24, 4-5 MVC).

These changes, orchestrated by head coach Jerry Meyers, led to the Blue Raiders biggest comeback of the season taking down the Bruins 10-8 in 13 innings.

Meyers made changes at right field, third base, shortstop and left field throughout the middle and late innings, pushing all the right buttons to ignite the come-from-behind victory.

The Blue Raiders' monumental comeback started in the batter's box, where multiple hitters excelled. This led to the team setting the program single-game record for doubles in a game, with nine total two-baggers.

Designated hitter Layne Akers and second baseman Cooper Clapp did the heavy lifting towards the milestone, notching three doubles each to tie the program's single game record for doubles by an individual.

Calvin Cook notched his first career RBI double in the top of the eighth, pinch-hitting in just his second career at-bat. Catcher Dean O'Neill notched two doubles of his own en route to the win. This included the record-setting ninth double in the top of the ninth.

While O'Neill added to the double tally, he came through as the night's hero on offense. With a 1-2 count in the top of the 13th, the right-handed slugger launched a 428 foot home run to left-center, jolting the Blue Raiders to the team's penultimate 10-8 lead.

Middle Tennessee's offense was strong in the comeback win, but it was far from the loudest thing on the field for the Blue Raiders, as right-hander Gavin King (W, 2-2) was dominant in 4.0 innings of scoreless relief.

King, who stands at an imposing 6-foot-7, had his A+ stuff on the mound for the Blue Raiders. The sophomore's fastball reached up to 99 mph, consistently finding the strike zone with 32 strikes on 42 total pitches. King racked up eight total strikeouts, the highest total for a Middle Tennessee relief pitcher this year.

Other notables from the wild weeknight win for the Blue Raiders include the team's first pinch-hit home run this season, with a two-run blast coming off the bat of Matt Wolfe for his first homer of the season. Bryant Beranek was also very solid in long relief for the Blue Raiders, stringing together 3.1 innings of one-run ball while tallying four strikeouts.

John Michael Pickens and Konner Bowden both picked up firsts for their collegiate careers in the win. Pickens made his first start on the mound, tossing 2.2 innings to go with a strikeout. Bowden had his first career at-bat and picked up his first RBI, driving Akers in to score in the top of the ninth.

By the Numbers:

67%:Gavin King's eight strikeouts was good for ⅔ of the hitters he faced in the win.

9: The Blue Raiders' nine doubles tonight set the program's single-game record for doubles in a game.

7: Cooper Clapp was one of two Blue Raiders to tie the program's single game doubles mark with three (Layne Akers), Clapp also tied the mark for the fifth-most at-bats in a single game with seven. The feat was last accomplished in 2018 by Drew Huff against Belmont.

The Skipper Speaks (Jerry Meyers)

We've been in that scenario a few many times too often, and we were able to just kind of stick it out and claw back and tie it up, Meyers said. It's a little hazy, it's hard to see but Gavin King filled the zone up and Dean came up with a huge hit after Grant Snider had a big at-bat walking right in front of him.

Player Perspective (Dean O'Neill)

This is going to be one of those responses, but I looked out at that crane [in right field] and I thought to myself, 'Man, this feels like one of those create a ballparks in MLB The Show,' O'Neill said. He kept on throwing me fastballs… he might of thrown me a change up… I kind of blacked out after I hit it.

Player Perspective (Gavin King)

My fastball and curveball were working really well, King said. That's the only two pitches I threw all night and I feel like I did a good job of mixing them well to put our team in a really good position to go out put us in a good position to win.

Up next

The Blue Raiders will return home to The Reese for a three-game homestand, hosting Conference USA opponent Delaware (11-26, 1-14 CUSA). The first game against the Blue Hens is scheduled for 6 p.m. on Friday.

The game will be televised on ESPN+ with Ethan Marcum and Dylan Simmons, along with a radio and audio stream with Dick Palmer and John Callow on WGNS and the Blue Raider Network.