Blue Raiders fall to Skyhawks on Wednesday

Photo by Tyler Lamb / Sports Editor

The Middle Tennessee Blue Raider softball team took a tough loss on Wednesday, as they were defeated by the UT-Martin Skyhawks by a final score of 5-3.

The Skyhawks struck blood first as they scored two runs on three singles in the bottom of the second inning to take a 2-0 lead. Martin continued to put runners on base, but double plays in both the second and third inning allowed MT to escape and  trail only 2-0 after three innings of play.

In the top of the fourth, the Blue Raiders started to wake up as Precious Birdsong led off the inning with a walk and advanced to second on a ground out. Kristin Uselton followed by roping a ball between third and short to bring Birdsong around to score. Keely McGee then crushed her third home run of the year on the first pitch of her at-bat to give MT a 3-2 lead.

The lead for MT did not last long however, as the Skyhawks came right back and scored three runs of their own in the bottom of the fourth to take a 5-3 lead. The score remained at 5-3 in favor of UT-Martin going into the top of the seventh, as the Blue Raiders had one more shot to make a comeback.

MT started the top of the seventh with a single to left center from Dani Munoz, but a double play turned by UTM on a ball hit back to the pitcher followed by a ground out to second base ended MT’s chance at a comeback.

The Blue Raiders took the loss in this one by a score of 5-3, with Pattie Ruth Taylor receiving her first losing decision of the year (1-1).

WHAT’S NEXT?

Up next for the Blue Raiders is a three-game weekend series at conference opponent LA Tech. A doubleheader is scheduled for Saturday starting at 2 p.m.

Follow MTSU Softball beat writers Cody Strickler (@CodyStricklerSL) and Nick Hardin (@nlhardin2) on Twitter for more coverage.