With an overhauled roster featuring 23 new players, Middle Tennessee baseball looks to build off a 2024 season that saw the Blue Raiders finish 16 games under .500.
Finishing with an overall record of 20-36 and an abysmal 8-16 in Conference USA play, the Blue Raiders secured an eighth-place finish in the league.
The losses of everyday catcher Briggs Rutter and starting left fielder Jackson Galloway to graduation left the Blue Raiders looking to replace the production of two staples of the Middle Tennessee offense.
The graduation of Rutter is a gaping hole for the team as he was a key cog in the lineup. Rutter started all 56 games for Middle Tennessee either as the catcher or designated hitter and led the team in runs, RBI, home runs, slugging percentage and walks.
The coaching staff has turned to the transfer portal to find a way to fill these key gaps, including bringing in catchers Jaxon Junnila (Daytona State College) and Tyler Minnick (Georgia Tech), along with left fielder Keaton Ray (Walters State Community College).
“What we tried to do when we brought some transfers in was to get some guys that had a little bit of experience under their belt,” head coach Jerry Meyers said.
Junnila had a standout year in 2024, hitting .329 in 30 games behind the plate for the Falcons while Minnick, the former No. 2 ranked catcher in the state of Georgia, had a slash line of .250/.339/.375 in 96 at-bats over two seasons.
“I’m pleased with Jaxon’s progress offensively,” Meyers said. “He wasn’t as offensive coming in as Tyler was. I like where we are at with that position right now and obviously one’s probably going to get the bulk of the work, but the other one’s going to be super important when he catches.”
Ray comes to MTSU after hitting .354 across two seasons at WSCC while patrolling left field for the Senators. Ray had an error-free 2024 as a defender and looks to be the new everyday man to play in Reese Smith Jr. Field.
Along with picking up six bats from the portal, Middle Tennessee has added seven pitchers from the transfer portal, hoping to improve an atrocious pitching staff that gave up over seven runs per game in 2024.
“That whole group of guys coming in are going to have some possible opportunities to come in and make an impact for us,” Meyers said.
Among the standout arms Middle Tennessee grabbed from the transfer portal is Drew Horn. Horn, a graduate of Siegel High School, returns to Murfreesboro from WSCC. The redshirt sophomore put up an ERA of 3.24 across 16 appearances and 25 innings for the Senators while featuring a fastball that touched up to 97 miles per hour in the MTSU Fall World Series.
Another new arm that could have a big impact for the Blue Raider pitching staff is Landen Burch, a right-hander transferring from Florida SouthWestern Community College. During his time in the junior college circuit with the Buccaneers, Burch slotted in as the ace of the staff with a 3.56 ERA that garnered him a spot on the all-Citrus Conference second team.
“He’s poised and he knows how to pitch,” Meyers said.
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Even with the massive roster turnover, Middle Tennessee is bringing back many contributors from last year’s team including three members of the CUSA preseason all-conference team: Chandler Alderman, Eston Snider and Trace Phillips.
Alderman, a left-handed starting pitcher led the Blue Raider pitching staff in ERA, WHIP, starts, innings pitched, strikeouts and batting average against, while being the Friday night ace for much of the season. Alderman added the fourth no-hitter in MTSU history, blanking conference opponent Liberty across eight innings of work while earning All-CUSA freshman team and second-team honors in 2024.
“[I’d like to be] more consistent than last year, just be at my best stuff more consistently and be dominant on the mound,” Alderman said.
Along with Alderman, expect to see an impact from redshirt junior Jalen Wirtz. The 6-foot, 5-inch right-hander missed all of 2024 and took a medical redshirt. In his first two seasons in Murfreesboro, Wirtz pitched a 5.33 ERA across nearly 50 innings, including a 3.86 in his freshman season.
“I’m the only pitcher on the staff that’s been here for four years,” Wirtz said. “I just try to be somebody that they can come to when I’m not on the mound, and when I am on the mound just lead by example.”
Offensively, the Blue Raiders will have two major returners in the outfielder Snider and two-way first baseman Phillips.
Snider, dubbed the ‘team leader and captain of captains’, by Meyers, was the team’s everyday right fielder for the past two seasons. Hitting in the leadoff spot for most of 2024, Snider held a .313 batting average while being second on the team with 70 hits.
Snider will continue in the leadoff spot, albeit from a new position, as the senior will see the majority of his reps in center field this spring.
“It gives me a lot of free reign, I like running around out there,” Snider said. “It gives me more room and it is a lot of fun.”
Phillips will bring the thump to the Middle Tennessee lineup, as the sophomore slashed .303/.360/.547 last year while being second on the team with 13 home runs in 2024 and tied for the team lead with 47 RBI.
To match his success in the batter’s box, Phillips took the mound for the Blue Raiders 13 times, including 9 starts. Pitching 41.2 innings, Phillips was fourth on the team as a freshman while striking out 27 hitters. The right-handed flame thrower struggled to keep the ball in the yard, as he gave up nine home runs to go along with 33 earned runs total, working himself to a 7.13 ERA.
Phillips looks to improve on his lackluster results on the mound from 2024, as he has seen a jump in fastball velocity from around 90-92 to touching 97 in the fall.
“We’re grooming him towards a starting role,” Meyers said. “He has some starts under his belt as a freshman who was coming on pretty good at the end of last year.”
The increase has caught the eye of professional scouts, as Phillips has been tabbed the 80th-ranked prospect for the 2025 MLB Draft, according to MLB Pipeline.
“You have more expectation with it,” Phillips said of his preseason honors. “You obviously can’t take that with you, and I haven’t proven anything this year, so I got to go at it like that.”
The Blue Raiders will begin the season with 23 games prior to CUSA play, with 21 of them at home.
“We did it by design, hopefully getting some comfortability and playing a little bit better early on because we are at home and getting our fans engaged,” Meyers said.
Middle Tennessee will hit the road to begin conference play against pre-season No. 20 Dallas Baptist on March 21-23. Other schedule highlights include a midweek trip to the University of Alabama on Feb. 18th, a one-off matchup with pre-season No. 16 Vanderbilt on April 22 and the 100 Miles of Hate rivalry with Western Kentucky on April 18-20.
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