Murfreesboro, Tenn. – After a series victory against UAB over the weekend, MTSU was back at Reese Smith Jr Field for some midweek action against Southeast Missouri State. True freshman Logan Bingham would get the start, but after a rough first inning and some inconsistent Middle Tennessee bats, the Blue Raiders would drop the contest 11-7.

“We just didn’t do enough in the first five innings. Their starter pounded the zone, and we didn’t do enough. We may have tried to do too much because we got down early,” says MTSU head coach Jerry Meyers. “We tried to make it a ballgame late, but it was too late at that point.”

Bingham started the game strong by striking out a batter and forcing a groundout, but that’s when trouble would strike. A two-out double by Michael Mugan began a rally in which the Redhawks put five consecutive batters on and scored four runs to take an early lead.

Bingham would finally get out of the frame, but not without creating an early hole that MTSU would have to dig out of. The Blue Raiders went 1-2-3 in the bottom of the inning, and then Bingham would be pulled for Bryant Beranek.

SEMO would start the top of the second with a walk-and-single, followed by an RBI knock by Mugan to extend the lead. Beranek would bounce back quickly with consecutive strikeouts to end the frame. MTSU put up another 1-2-3 spot on offense and had yet to record a hit through two innings.

Beranek would turn things around quickly by retiring the side in the third on just seven pitches, bringing Brett Rogers, Cooper Clapp, and Clay Badylak up. They couldn’t get anything going, and through the first three innings, MT was 0-for-9 with five strikeouts.

SEMO juiced the bases on a single, double, and hit-by-pitch in the fourth before Beranek was pulled for Cole Torbett. Beranek finished his day going 2 1/3 innings and allowed a run.

Torbett’s second pitch was roped into shallow right field and scored two runs, putting the Redhawks up 7-0. The left-handed hurler would record two more outs to end the threat.

Eston Snider led off the fourth inning, being hit by a pitch to end Caden Kickhaefer’s perfect game, followed by a two-out walk from Brett Vondohlen to put runners at the corners. However, Nathan Brewer popped up on a 0-0 count to end any scoring threats from the Blue Raiders.

Following a shutout frame, the MTSU bats returned to try and score its first run. Matt Wolfe led the inning with a single to end Kickhaefer’s no-hitter. Badylak delivered with a two-out hit to put runners at the corners with Snider due up.

He battled back and forth and, on a 3-2 count, sent a ball deep into left field, but Ty Strauss made a great play at the wall to keep it in the yard and steal multiple runs away from Middle.

Kickhaefer would be pulled in the bottom of the sixth inning after five fantastic frames of shutout baseball, including six strikeouts.

Tyler Minnick would take advantage of the pitching change by going deep to dead center field, putting the Blue Raiders on the board. Vondohlen followed it by going back-to-back and cutting the Redhawk lead to 7-2.

MTSU loaded the bases shortly after, courtesy of two singles and a walk before Badylak drew another walk to score Nathan Brewer. Snider then hit a ball up the middle of the infield but was able to leg out an RBI single to cut the lead to just three runs. Keaton Ray grounded out to first, but the damage had already been done as it was now a 7-4 game.

SEMO got part of the runs back when Carson Schrack walked, and then Shea McGahan drove them both in on a two-run homer over the left field wall. After that, MTSU reliever Ethan Imbimbo would be pulled for Garrett Sims.

Wolfe walked, and Hayden Miller singled to start the eighth inning before Kenny McKinley came to the plate to pinch-hit for Cooper Clapp. McKinley mashed a home run over the left-center field wall, his third of the year, which cut the lead to 9-7.

“They [the coaches] were telling me for a few innings to be ready, and when that reliever came in, coach told me that was my guy, and I knew I’d have good pitches to hit,” McKinley says. “He threw a first-pitch slider, which was fine. He then threw a fastball, and I was very late on it, so I knew he would throw it again, and I got it.”

After that homer, Matthew Driver came into the ballgame in the ninth to make his second appearance of the season. He began it well by retiring the first two batters but then gave up back-to-back homers to put the lead back at seven runs.

Driver would be able to get out of the inning, but the Blue Raider bats went down without a fight as they would go to 12-8 after a midweek loss to Southeast Missouri State, 11-7.

“We will continue to assess what we have and some guys getting back from injury. We’re going to improve on some things we know we can be better at,” Meyers said. “Pretty much focusing on playing cleaner, better, and more consistent baseball.”