Murfreesboro, Tenn. – After its midweek against Austin Peay was canceled, MTSU rolled into Friday to open a three-game set with the Oakland Golden Grizzlies. The Blue Raiders got a solid outing from Trace Phillips, then a big fourth inning offensively, which helped them down the Grizz by a score of 8-4.
“It was a well-played game by both sides. We did enough offensively, but I feel we left too many on base, four guys or whatever the box score says, but we had the one big inning,” says MTSU head coach Jerry Meyers. “Trace [Phillips] gave us a quality start for the most part, and both guys out of the ‘pen did a decent job.”
Phillips started his outing strongly with back-to-back strikeouts to open it up. However, two consecutive hits from Brandon Nigh and Matthew McGann plated the first run of the ballgame and put Oakland on the board. Phillips would record another strikeout to end the threat.
Brett Vondohlen got on base with a one-out single in the bottom of the first. Then he was driven home on a Tyler Minnick two-run homer that went over the left-center field wall, giving MTSU the lead.
That lead would not last long as Carter Hain came up in the fourth inning with two outs. He battled back and forth with Phillips, but on the payoff pitch, he sent it over the center field wall to tie things. Oakland would return in the fifth inning and get runners on first and second with two outs again and McGann at the plate. He came up clutch for the Golden Grizzlies with an RBI single through the middle of the infield to score Ben Clark.
After that frame, Phillips would be pulled following five innings of three-run ball, including seven strikeouts. Jonny Stevens would take his spot.
Vondohlen led off the sixth with a double, followed by a Minnick single. Then, Nathan Brewer decided to join the hit party when he roped a ball to the left-center field wall to score both runners and give Middle Tennessee the lead. Kenny McKinley came up to the plate and, on the second pitch of his at-bat, sent the ball over the center field wall to extend the lead to 6-3.
“I saw a breaking ball early that I just missed, so I was hoping he’d throw it again, and he did. I was on time, stayed on top of it, and it went over the wall,” says McKinley.
After striking out a Golden Bear to begin the seventh, Stevens allowed base runners on a hit batter and a walk, then was pulled for Landen Burch. Stevens finished his day going 1 1/3 innings with two strikeouts and no earned runs given up.
Oakland tried a double steal, but Minnick hosed the runner at second base to end the half-inning.
Cale Vinson reached on a single to begin the bottom of the seventh inning and advanced in the next at-bat, an Eston Snider bunt-single. MTSU bats would record two consecutive outs, which led to a double steal call.
It worked out perfectly, and then some, as an errant throw by the Oakland catcher, allowed Cale Vinson to come home easily to put the Blue Raiders up 7-3. Middle Tennessee would tack on another via a Clay Badylak sac fly the next inning.
Burch came back for the top of the ninth and quickly retired two batters before allowing an RBI single by Nigh to cut the lead to four runs. He put it past him and struck out McGann on four pitches to end the ballgame and put MTSU back into the win column with an 8-4 victory.
“They [Stevens and Burch] filled up the zone. Both need to do a better job of finishing some pitches. They have a few walks and haven’t commanded it as well as they’re capable of, but they did a nice job for us, and we trust them both,” Meyers said. “They can pound the zone and mix up their pitches, and both have multiple pitches they can use.”
MTSU will be back at it tomorrow for the second game against the Golden Grizzlies. First pitch is at 1 p.m., and Chandler Alderman is the Blue Raider starter.
