Murfreesboro, Tenn. – Coming off a series loss to arch-rival Western Kentucky, the MTSU Blue Raiders had built up frustration with No. 9 Vanderbilt coming up. While it was a David vs Goliath game, Middle Tennessee felt it could get the job done. Bryant Beranek set the tone with four good innings of work while getting solid run support.

The Blue Raiders got Vandy to its final out in the ninth, with runners at the corners. But they persevered and struck out the final batter, giving Middle its first top-10 win since 2016, also against Vanderbilt.

"They did an excellent job. Eston [Snider] set the tone, but regardless, I feel like we played the game the right way with the right demeanor," MTSU head coach Jerry Meyers says. "[Bryant] Beranek gave us some mileage after he settled in a little bit, started throwing more strikes, and gave us an opportunity. Matt Wolfe was outstanding; he sparked some things for us at times. I felt it was a good team effort all the way around."

It wouldn't take long for either team to score, as on the game's third pitch, Eston Snider mashed a ball that carried over the left-field wall to give MTSU the early lead. The Blue Raiders would record back-to-back outs after that leadoff shot, but Tyler Minnick collected a two-out single to keep the inning alive.

The next batter was Keaton Ray, who put a good charge on the first pitch of his at-bat, but it was caught at the warning track to end the inning.

Bryant Beranek had trouble finding his command in the bottom of the first, walking Riley Nelson and hitting Brodie Johnston. But the Blue Raider hurler got back on track and forced three consecutive groundouts to end the inning with no damage.

Former Vanderbilt player Matt Wolfe walked to lead off the top of the second. He advanced to third base off a Brett Rogers double to shallow left field. Wolfe was initially ruled out via the tag at third, but it was reviewed and overturned. He came into score the next at-bat after Hayden Miller grounded out to first base, allowing the shortstop to stroll home and put Rogers at third base.

Snider came back up to the dish, looking to do more damage with a man 90 feet away. He hit a hard ground ball to the left side of the infield, but Johnston fired a rocket over to first base, just getting Snider out to end the frame.

The Commodores finally got on the board in the bottom of the third inning after Rustan Rigdon launched a solo homer over the right-field wall to cut the lead to 2-1. Beranek started the next at-bat against Braden Holcomb down 3-0 but fired three consecutive strikes to punch out the batter and end the inning.

Wolfe continued to find success in his return to Nashville with a ground-rule double in the top of the fourth inning.

“I’m not going to lie, it was weird [returning to Hawkins Field] just because you spend so much time here; I spent two years at Vanderbilt,” Wolfe says. “It was weird coming in the other side to see some of my best friends from the last few years. Very weird, but it was a lot of fun.”

He came around to score two batters later when Miller smacked a single into left field. The play at the plate was extremely tight, but Wolfe was ruled safe after he pulled out a swim move to avoid the tag. Eston Snider lined out to end the frame, but the Blue Raiders had extended their lead to 3-1.

In the next inning, Beranek would be pulled for Cole Torbett after allowing a leadoff single to Mike Mancini. On the day, Beranek tossed four innings, allowing two hits, one run, and three walks.

“It was big [for Beranek to set the tone], especially when he got through the first inning after getting into trouble. Putting a zero in the first was huge; he had to step up and make some pitches,” said Meyers. “Not only that inning but the next couple to keep them at bay, and he did an outstanding job of that, he just kept competing.”

Torbett tossed 17 pitches against the Commodore bats, going 1-2-3 with a strikeout to end the inning, with Middle Tennessee leading 3-1.

Holcomb drew a leadoff walk to start the bottom of the sixth inning before Vastine collected one a few batters later. Mac Rose approached the dish, looking to do damage with a pair of Dores on base with one out. He did just that with a single to right field, allowing Holcomb to score from second base.

Jacob Humphrey was the next batter, and he flew out to deep right field. However, an errant throw by Cooper Clapp trying to nab the runner at second base got past Wolfe and into the outfield. That allowed a runner to score and tie things at three apiece. Torbett would punch out Mike Mancini to end the inning, but a two-run Blue Raider lead had evaporated.

Torbett gave up back-to-back singles in the next inning and was pulled for Ethan Imbimbo. His final line was two innings pitched, three hits allowed, one earned run given up, and three strikeouts. Imbimbo did walk Rigdon but was able to get out of the inning unscathed.

A pitch hit Tyler Minnick in the top of the eighth inning, then advanced to second and third base on wild pitches. Ray didn’t keep his catcher at third for long as he smacked an RBI single into shallow right field, putting the Blue Raiders back on top.

Wolfe singled up the middle, his second hit of the game, which moved Ray to third base. The Commodores changed pitchers, but Brennan Seiber tossed a ball to the backstop. That mistake let Ray stroll home to extend the Blue Raider lead to 5-3.

The Blue Raiders threatened in the top of the ninth inning by putting two runners on, but Minnick grounded out to bring Vanderbilt to its final three outs.

Imbimbo got the Commodores to its final out, but Rigdon and Holcomb strung together back-to-back singles to put runners at the corners with Colin Barczi coming to the plate. But Imbimbo locked in and tossed three straight strikes to lock up a midweek victory for the Blue Raiders over No. 9 Vanderbilt.

“We’ve got to try and keep playing baseball. Today was a win, and it was fun,” Meyers says. “But we’re just trying to build and get better, more consistent, and see if we can keep playing our best baseball down the stretch.”

The Blue Raiders will be back on the diamond this weekend for a three-game set against New Mexico State. First pitch on Friday is at 7 p.m.