Middle Tennessee capitalizes on wild eighth inning to steal an 8-3 win over Miami (OH)
MURFREESBORO, Tenn.—Things looked rather bleak for Middle Tennessee baseball late on Saturday, as it found itself down 3-1 and had stranded 10 runners going into the bottom of the eighth against the Miami at Reese Smith Jr. Field.
But the Blue Raiders (3-3) never quit and grinded out several tough at-bats, plating seven runs to take the lead and even up the series in an 8-3 win. MTSU scored a total of five runs with two outs in the inning, including one on a throwing error, one on a passed ball, a pair on wild pitches before the Blue Raiders got some important RBIs out of Jackson Galloway and Eston Snider to provide plenty of insurance for Cole Torbett to come in and shut things down in the ninth.
Miami (1-5) scored first in the top of the second inning by plating a pair of unearned runs on a Ty Batusich single through the left side with two outs and the bases loaded to give the Redhawks a 2-0 advantage. In the fifth, Miami was able to get runners to second and third with one out and get another run across via an Anthony Zarlingo sacrifice fly to make it a 3-0 game.
Down 3-1 in the eighth inning, Middle Tennessee tied the game when late-game replacement Trace Phillips scored on a passed ball. After MTSU loaded the bases on three straight walks, the Blue Raiders took the lead on a wild pitch when Bryce Symlar scored with Briggs Rutter at the dish to make it a 4-3 game. Luke Vinson, Gabe Jenning, Briggs Rutter and Jackson Galloway all came around to score with two outs to cap off the inning.
Blue Raider starter Matt Schepel worked 3.0 innings and didn’t allow an earned run and only gave up one hit before giving way to sophomore Ollie Akens, who gave up one run in 1.2 innings. Luke Earnhardt, Patrick Johnson and Justin Lee followed up Akens by keeping the game within reach through the first eight innings, as Middle Tennessee never trailed by more than three runs before Torbett entered in the ninth inning to finish off the Redhawks. Lee picked up his first win of the season as the pitcher of record, tossing 1.1 innings of scoreless ball across the seventh and eighth frames.
Luke Vinson reached base four times, going 2-for-3 with two walks hitting in the two-hole of the Blue Raider lineup. Gabe Jennings had two hits, two stolen bases and an RBI. Jackson Galloway had a pair of RBIs and a stolen base off the bench, while Eston Snider added an RBI of his own in the seven-run eighth inning.
By the Numbers
14: The team-high in hits through six games recorded by third baseman Gabe Jennings following his two-hit output this afternoon.
6: Stolen bases for the Blue Raiders in today’s game, a season-high.
7: The number of runs scored by MTSU in the eighth inning to secure the win after trailing 3-1 to begin the frame.
The Skipper, Jerry Meyers, Speaks
“(The comeback) was big. We want to see how guys in the dugout respond. We were starting to run out of innings and tried to stay competitive. We didn’t do a real good job to capitalize on some situations, but we stayed with it. The deficit was only 3-0. If it gets to four or five, that game becomes a whole lot harder. The good thing we did do was made enough pitches and got out of a few jams to keep the game at 3-0 to be able to give ourselves a chance. We’re trying to play hard all the time, no matter if it’s up or down. If we’re down three with nine outs to go, we have to make something happen. Today, we did.”
Next Up
Middle Tennessee wraps up the series with the Redhawks tomorrow at Reese Smith Jr. Field at 1:00 p.m. The game will be broadcast on ESPN+ with audio streaming of the radio broadcast on GoBlueRaiders.com/watch.
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