Featured photo by Preston Todd
Story by Conner Smith
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MURFREESBORO, Tenn- Middle Tennessee baseball had an exciting, yet long day Friday afternoon when it not only had to battle St. Bonaventure, but also the rain. The game had its start time changed twice, but it didn’t matter as the Blue Raiders took care of business, winning 6-4 over the Bonnies.
“We had to change our schedule a little bit when it came to scouting reports and batting practice,” MTSU head coach Jerry Meyers said. “I always tell the guys you’ve got to be ready to play no matter what, so I thought they did a good job of that.”
The opening game of the series started off slow on offense as both starting pitchers were dealing early. MTSU was finally able to plate two runs and led 2-0 entering the fifth inning.
Things seemed to be heading the same way as they had all game long. That was until Gabe Jennings had something to say about it. The Blue Raiders’ star slugger launched a solo shot right off the Lee Victory Wall in left field to extend MTSU’s lead to three runs.
Jennings, who has been raking at the plate all year long, has made great development and is on pace to crush his numbers from a season ago.
“I did a lot of mechanical adjustments to my swing in the offseason,” Jennings said. “Another major part is confidence. I was able to get a lot more at-bats under my belt. I didn’t have the season I wanted last year but I’m playing much more confident now and letting the game come to me.”
The very next inning was the first time MTSU pitcher James Sells faced any trouble as the Bonnies had two runners on with no outs. Sells did allow one run but got help from his defense as Clay Badylak and Cale Vinson turned a beautiful double play to end the chance for any added damage to the inning.
Following that frame, Sells’ day was done after a fantastic rebound start following a couple of rough outings. The righty ended the game after six innings pitched, surrendering just one run, one hit and two strikeouts.
“I had a game plan going in, trying to mix pitches in certain locations,” Sells said. “I watched some video and me and Coach Wiz (Wisniewski) got a game plan on how I wanted to attack, and I was able to go out there and execute. Fastball command wasn’t the best early, but around the fourth inning I started adjusting. Just tried to live down in the zone and help teammates make plays and that’s exactly what they did.”
In the bottom of the seventh, the Blue Raiders had an opportunity to bust the game wide open with runners at the corners and Brady Holloway at the plate. Holloway then launched a mammoth home run over the right- field wall that landed on the MTSU football practice field. The distance on that ball was 460 feet, and from then on it looked like the Blue Raiders would cruise to a victory.
However, St. Bonaventure refused to go down without a fight. The Bonnies were able to tack on three in the ninth but Cole Torbett was able to put out the fire as MTSU grinded out a 6-4 win in the opening game of the four-game set.
“I thought Sells did a really nice job. He threw strike one and we’ve been talking about racing to two strikes,” Meyers said. “It was big to get quality innings and depth from our guys today. That really helped us preserve some arms rather than have to get three or four guys up in the ‘pen.”
Conner Smith is a sportswriter for MTSU Sidelines. For more news, visit www.mtsusidelines.com. Also, follow us on Facebook and Instagram @mtsusidelines, or on X @MTSUSidelines.
