MURFREESBORO, TENN. – Two weeks, eight games and six conference games remain in Middle Tennessee baseball's regular season. Tomorrow the Blue Raiders will play their final midweek home game before heading to play Rice for their final road series of the season Friday - Sunday.
WEEK SCHEDULE
May 10 vs. Tennessee Tech - 6 p.m.
May 13 at Rice - 6:30 p.m.
May 14 at Rice - 2 p.m.
May 15 at Rice - 12 p.m.
After dropping its first contest of last weekend to FIU, MT bounced back by winning the final two games of the series Saturday and Sunday in Miami to complete a 3-1 week. The Blue Raiders are tied for fifth in the conference at 25-20 overall and 14-10 in conference play.
JT Mabry became the first Blue Raider to record six hits in a game since 1986. Mabry had two doubles, and four singles while stealing two bases and drove in a run. The junior infielder followed his performance with a two-hit day May 7 and finished the weekend 9-for-17. Mabry leads Middle Tennessee in several categories, including hits (40), doubles (11) and stolen bases (13).
Prior to Mabry's six-hit game, Jackson Galloway was a hard fire to put out during the weekend series vs. UTSA. In the final two games of the series, Galloway was 7-for-8 including two home runs, two doubles, two RBI, two runs scored and a walk. This included a streak of six straight plate appearances with a hit and a 5-for-5 game April 30.
That's not the only storyline that came out of the weekend vs. the Roadrunners. The May 1 win over UTSA marked head coach Jim Toman's 400th career win as a collegiate head coach. In four seasons at MT, Toman has won 74 games. Toman previously served as Liberty's head coach and won 329 games leading the Flames.
Looking at the 2022 roster, 16 members of the 2022 Blue Raider roster came to Murfreesboro through the junior college level. Ten of them are playing in their first seasons wearing blue, black and white. After standout seasons at Johnson County CC, Galloway and Wyatt Morgan are teammates once again in the 'Boro. Both student-athletes are contributing to this season's Blue Raider team. Galloway has hit seven home runs, two of which were grand slams and is batting .346. Morgan is batting .302 with two home runs, 13 RBI and has an on-base percentage of .419.
Both players have contributed to an improvement in offensive results. MT's bats have scored 10-or-more runs in a game seven times this season, including an 11-run performance most recently against FIU. The Blue Raiders have scored in bunches in those games, scoring 11 runs in their final two innings vs. Old Dominion March 20, nine runs in the sixth inning vs. Charlotte, scoring nine runs in the sixth and seventh at FIU May 8, eight runs in the first two innings at Auburn March 11, seven runs in the final two innings vs. Western Carolina March 2 and an 11-run seventh inning vs. Illinois Feb. 26. All of those games have resulted in Blue Raider wins.
Following the saying "Champions win on Sundays," Middle Tennessee has won six straight games on Sundays and is 8-4 overall on the day of the week this season. Six of the Sunday victories have clinched series wins.
Middle Tennessee has emerged as the conference leader in stolen bases with 68, holding a five SB lead over second-place Charlotte. The Blue Raiders stole seven bases at FIU May 6 and six at Georgia State May 4.
ANOTHER IN-STATE BATTLE Middle Tennessee defeated Tennessee Tech 8-4 back on March 29 in Cookeville. Since then, the Golden Eagles are 8-13, including a win over top-ranked Tennessee April 12 and a four-game losing streak vs. UT Martin, Lipscomb and Eastern Illinois. Tennessee Tech comes to Murfreesboro falling twice in three games to SIUE.
Tennessee Tech continues to hit home runs. They rank fourth in the nation and first in the conference in home runs per game (1.95) and eighth in the country in total home runs (86). The Golden Eagles are first in the OVC in batting average (.299), runs (352), slugging percentage (.510) and scoring (eight runs per game).
Jason Hinchman is fifth in the nation and first in the conference entering Tuesday with 21 home runs. Hinchman's .778 slugging percentage is ninth in the country and the second spot in the country.
On the other side of the ball, Brock Myers is 4-1 in 16 relief appearances out of the bullpen. Eric Newsom has the lowest ERA among qualifiers as he posts a 2.53 ERA through nine appearances. Teams are hitting .280 off TTU's staff.
RESEARCHING RICE Rice won just two games in its first 11 games. Right before conference play, the Owl offense exploded for 19 runs vs. Stephen F. Austin and 13 against Sam Houston.
Rice carried the upward trend into the conference opener vs. UAB, winning 8-7, before dropping the next three games. Rice won its series vs. Marshall but was swept in back-to-back C-USA series against FAU and at La Tech.
The Owls were recently swept at Charlotte May 6-8 and host Louisiana for two games before playing MT.
Nathan Becker and Guy Garibay Jr. are the two Owls hitting above .300 (min. 100 AB). With nine home runs and 35 RBI, Austin Bulman is batting .266.
Through 18 outings, Matthew Linskey has 43 strikeouts, four saves and an ERA of 1.74. No Owl pitcher has won more than three games.
Tuesday is 90s night at Reese Smith Jr. Field. The first 200 fans will receive themed t-shirts while 90s trivia, 90s music and $2 tickets, hot dogs and soft drinks are all in store.
