Horn Jr.'s career-night paired with 3 homers lifts Blue Raiders over Delaware

Friday, April 17

Murfreesboro, Tenn.

6 p.m.

Middle Tennessee

19-19, 6-10

Delaware

11-27, 1-15

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	Runs R	Hits H	Errors E
Delaware	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	6	7	12	1
Middle Tenn.	4	0	0	3	0	0	1	0	X	8	11	0

4/17/2026 11:13:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score

By: Willie Phaler, MTSU Athletic Communications

MURFREESBORO, Tenn.- Off the back of David Horn Jr.'s (W, 2-4) career-long 8.1 inning outing, Middle Tennessee (19-19, 6-10 CUSA) took down Delaware (11-27, 1-15 CUSA) 8-7 on Friday night.

Horn tossed arguably the best outing of the season for the Blue Raiders against the Fightin' Blue Hens, striking out nine over his 25 outs worth of work. The senior right-hander's night began by surrendering a leadoff home run to Delaware's Sal Mineo, but he quickly settled in to his first Friday night start of the season.

While the UD bats started on a good note, Middle Tennessee did its best to one up the visitor with a four-spot in the bottom of the first. Tyler Minnick picked up his 14th double of the year to knock in two runs, while Nathan Brewer belted his sixth home run of the year of the Howard and Sally Wall batters' eye.

Minnick and Brewer went on to be the heartbeat of the Blue Raiders' offense on Friday night. Minnick totaled a 2-for-4 day with three RBI after hitting his seventh home run of the year in the seventh inning.

Brewer outpaced the Blue Raider backstop, going 3-for-4 with two RBI, two runs and three extra base hits in the series opener.

Brett Vondohlen made some noise at the plate, hitting his fourth home run of the season on a 407 foot home run in the fourth inning.

With seven runs worth of support behind him, Horn dealt on the mound for the Blue Raiders. After allowing the leadoff home run, the California native was comfortable and composed against the Blue Hens. His nine strikeouts tied a career high, while limiting UD's damage by stranding six runners on base across eight full innings.

Middle Tennessee went to the bullpen with one out in the ninth, opening the door for the Delaware bats. The Hens made it close in the end, picking up an RBI single, bases-loaded walk and a grand slam before right-hander Gavin King (S, 3) picked up his third save in a 10-day span.

By the Numbers:

123: In the career-long outing, Horn threw 123 pitches on the mound for Middle Tennessee.

28: With the 2-for-4 day, Tyler Minnick extended his on-base streak to 28 consecutive games.

99.2: Gavin King's fastball was measured at 99.2 mph in his 0.1 innings of work.

The Skipper Speaks (Jerry Meyers)

"[Horn's] leadership and work ethic with what he does with his attention to detail and his preparation on top of what we require… he goes above and beyond. He has a really good idea of what he wants to do, so his preparation is really good. He means a lot, he brings stability… he's kind of a journeyman for college players."

Player Perspective (David Horn Jr.)

"Getting to a point where I could just pound strikes with all my pitches was big," Horn said. "Fastballs, breaking ball, throwing the change up and I was just able to get ahead and pound the zone."

Next Up

The Blue Raiders and Fightin' Blue Hens will meet up for game two of the series tomorrow. First pitch is scheduled for 12 p.m. due to anticipated weather in the area. Middle Tennessee is projected to start LHP Chandler Alderman on the mound. The game will be televised on ESPN+ with Ethan Marcum and Dylan Simmons, while Dick Palmer and John Callow will bring the Blue Raiders over the radio waves on WGNS with an audio stream on the Blue Raider Network.