Blue Raider baseball falls on the road to Tennessee Tech

Tuesday, April 21

Cookeville, Tenn.

6 p.m.

Middle Tennessee

21-20

Tennessee Tech

14-27

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	Runs R	Hits H	Errors E
Middle Tennessee	0	0	3	0	0	2	1	0	0	6	7	1
Tennessee Tech	2	0	0	0	3	0	7	0	X	12	17	0

4/21/2026 11:55:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score

By: Willie Phaler, MTSU Athletic Communications

COOKEVILLE, Tenn.- Middle Tennessee baseball (21-20, 8-10 CUSA) fell in a midweek road affair against in-state opponent Tennessee Tech (14-27, 3-12 OVC) 12-6.

After falling behind 2-0 in the bottom of the first, the Blue Raider bats came alive in the top of the third thanks to two home runs.

Brett Vondohlen left the yard for his fourth home run of the season, and second in the last four games, with a solo home run to left-center to get the Blue Raiders on the board. Owen Nowak put the finishing touches on the three-run frame with a two-run home run to right-center, marking his sixth bomb of the season.

The Golden Eagles responded with a two-spot in the fifth, setting the stage for another Blue Raider outburst.

Middle Tennessee got just that in the sixth, with a Cooper Clapp solo home run and a sacrifice fly from Vondohlen to tie things up at five. Dean O'Neill gave the Blue Raiders the lead for the second time in the seventh inning, running out an infield single allowing Nowak to cross the plate.

After Middle Tennessee took a 6-5 lead, the Tennessee Tech bats came out on fire with a seven-run bottom of the seventh.

Cole Cates through a scoreless eighth-inning for the Blue Raiders, while Landen Burch had a notable outing including 2.0 innings and two strikeouts.

By the Numbers:

31: Tyler Minnick extended his on-base streak to 31 games, marking the longest streak for the Blue Raiders since Dustin Delgado's 30-game streak in 2015.

6: Both Cooper Clapp and Owen Nowak picked up their sixth home runs of the year against Tennessee Tech.

8:Tonight's three home run effort from the offense marked the eighth time this season the Blue Raiders have hit three or more home runs in a day.

The Skipper Speaks (Jerry Meyers)

"We couldn't close out the opportunities we had to put up some zeroes on the pitching end," Meyers said. "Especially in the seventh, when they were able to get some separation… We've got to take command of it on the mound, take it over, and continue to put pressure on with our ABs and we needed to have our big inning at that point in time."

Player Perspective (Brett Vondohlen)

"I just changed a couple things, trying to be softer on my front side so I can get behind the ball a little bit better," Vondohlen said. "It's been working out a little bit better for me so I'm feeling good going into the next weekend."

Up next

That next weekend for Vondohlen and the Blue Raiders will be their next Conference USA test, hitting the road to Huntsville, Texas to take on Sam Houston (18-23, 7-11 CUSA). Game one of the weekend set will be on Friday night, with a 6:30 first pitch. The game will be televised on ESPN+ along with a radio and audio stream on WGNS and the Blue Raider Network with Dylan Simmons.