Murfreesboro, Tenn. – MTSU baseball was on a hot streak after its series sweep over the weekend. Austin Peay was the next team in line, and it would not be easy as the Govs are an underrated mid-major team. Middle Tennessee came out hot and had a multi-run lead for most of the ballgame until a near disaster happened in the ninth, and they gave up three runs. However, the Blue Raiders stood firm and survived with a 10-9 victory, improving to 5-3.
“We had to overcome some things today. We gave them a little bit, they gave us a bit, it was back and forth, but I thought we responded well,” says MTSU head coach Jerry Meyers. “We got sloppy at the end. Will Jenkins has it 99 out of 100 times, and today, he didn’t, so we went to Bryant Beranek to close the game. We had good at-bats when needed, and I thought we competed well. But I’d like to see us player cleaner and close it out better.”
Eston Snider led the game off with a single, but MTSU couldn’t do anything with it and stranded the slugger at first base.
Brett Rogers got on base with a one-out double to start the second inning, followed by a Hayden Miller homerun the next at-bat to put the Blue Raiders on the board first, 2-0. MTSU couldn’t get anything else going after recording two straight outs, but they would take the early lead.
Austin Peay would answer the next half inning when they got runners at first and second with one out. The Govs would rattle off three consecutive hits and score a run on an error to plate four runs and take the lead. Landen Burch would be pulled mid-inning after 2 1/3 frames, allowing five hits and four runs. Cole Torbett would relieve him and get out of the jam with a double play.
The Blue Raider offense didn’t let the APSU lead last for long. Matt Wolfe walked, and Brett Vondohlen reached on an error, followed by a Nathan Brewer double to score Wolfe. After a fielder’s choice where Vondohlen was tagged out on the third-base line, Brett Rogers delivered with a clutch two-run single up the middle of the infield, allowing the Blue Raiders to reclaim the lead 5-4.
Austin Peay put up another run at the top of the fifth to tie things up until Jonny Stevens came in and retired the final two batters of the inning. APSU had tied the game, but it again did not last long. Tyler Minnick laced a ball 108 mph through the middle of the infield to lead the inning off before Nathan Brewer mashed a ball over the trees in right field to put Middle Tennessee back on top.
“My first at-bat, they threw me five sliders. The next at-bat, he threw me two more sliders, then the new pitcher who came in threw two more, so I had an approach for sure,” Brewer said. “I was trying to see it high because if you see that pitch low, you won’t hit it. So I looked for it high, and I got it.”
Stevens got into trouble in the sixth after an error and single put runners at the corners. A run would score on a passed ball and a throwing error by Minnick, but Stevens forced a groundout to end the frame.
The Blue Raider bats would return to work in the bottom of the inning when Eston Snider collected a one-out single. He would then advance to third on a stolen base and throwing error by the catcher. Wolfe would drive him in on a single to shallow left field, extending the lead to 8-6.
Rogers followed that with an RBI double in the seventh to score Kenny McKinley following his leadoff triple. Rogers finished his day going 4-for-4 with three RBI.
“We were trying to see the ball up all day, and when they threw me a fastball, I tried to stay above it,” said Rogers. “Coach Nichols emphasizes at least putting the ball in play with runners in scoring position, seeing it up, and getting that over with, and that’s what I was trying to do.”
The Blue Raiders would tack on two more to go up 10-6 heading into the ninth to try and close out a midweek victory. Stevens recorded two outs to begin the inning, but that’s where things turned south. He allowed a walk and then an RBI double to give up his first earned run of the night before he was pulled after 4 1/3 innings of one-run baseball. Will Jenkins came in but did not record an out but allowed two runs on walks and hit batters.
Bryant Beranek would then enter but tossed a wild pitch to let another run come in to make it a 10-9 game. However, he would strike out the final Gov to end the game after a near disaster in the ninth as the Blue Raiders extended their win streak to four.
“We’ve just got to continue competing [this weekend]. The first weekend and the first midweek, it was like we were trying to play baseball against somebody,” says Meyers. “Last weekend and even tonight, it felt like we were not just playing baseball but trying to compete. Hopefully, we can combine it and be consistent.”
The Blue Raiders will be back in action this weekend in a four-team round-robin event at Reese Smith Jr Field. MTSU will play UT-Martin on Friday at noon, Saturday against St. Bonaventure at 4 p.m., and then Old Dominion on Sunday at noon.
