Photo by Brent Beerends / MT Athletics Communications
The Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders (20-26, 7-16) lost their fifth straight game on Saturday afternoon, losing 14-7 at UT-San Antonio.
This was a tale of two games as MTSU played really well in the latter innings, outscoring the Roadrunners 6-4 from the fourth inning on.
The solid play was too little too late however, as UTSA held an 8-1 lead on Middle Tennessee after three innings of play and ultimately held on to win 14-7.
Rough start puts Blue Raiders in too deep of a hole
The game started off with a Riley Delgado single to left field, but that was all that MTSU was able to achieve.
UTSA put two runners on base early after a hit batsman and a walk. These two runners made it around the base paths and put up the first two runs of the game.
The second inning saw the Blue Raiders attempt to dig into their two run deficit, as Drew Huff hit a home run to cut the score to 2-1.
This would end up being the closest the game would be, as UTSA tacked on two more runs in the bottom of the second.
MTSU followed up in the third by getting their bases loaded, but the Blue Raiders weren’t able to tack on any runs in the effort. The Roadrunners, however, pieced together a huge inning offensively that put UTSA out of MTSU’s reach.
The inning started out with back-to-back singles followed by a walk to load the bases. A two-run double put the score at 6-1. An RBI single added another run to the lead and after yet another walk, the Roadrunners stroked another double to score two more runs for an 8-1 lead.
When all was said and done, the Roadrunners ended the inning with a commanding 10-1 lead, one that was just too much for the Blue Raiders.
Middle Tennessee didn’t go down quietly, putting up five runs of their own in the fourth, but they were only able to get one run in the rest of the game following that.
What’s next?
The Blue Raiders look to end their losing streak and avoid back-to-back sweeps in their series finale tomorrow at UTSA, with first pitch scheduled for 12 p.m.
Follow MTSU Baseball beat writers Anthony Fiorella (@A_Fiorella74) and Ryan Nixon (@RNixon32) on Twitter for more coverage.
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To contact Sports Editor Rusty Ellis (@RustyEllis13), email [email protected].
