Middle Tennessee baseball (5-3) defeated in-state rival Austin Peay (5-4) 10-9 Tuesday night at Reese Smith Jr. Field.
The weekday matchup turned out to be a bullpen game as 12 different pitchers appeared between the two sides. Jonny Stevens earned the win for MTSU, going 4.1 innings as he carried the Blue Raider pitching staff into the ninth.
Brett Rogers led the MTSU offense, as the redshirt freshman went 4-4 at the plate with two doubles and three RBIs.
“[Rogers] has been one of the most improved guys since he’s been here,” head coach Jerry Meyers said. “He’s only been here a year and a half and redshirted last year. He got more physical.”
Hayden Miller started the scoring for the Blue Raiders in the second inning, belting a two-run home run for his third homer of the season over the right field wall.
Austin Peay struck right back in the top of the third, scratching four runs across against MTSU starter Landen Burch. Kyler Proctor, John Bay and Cameron Nickens all picked up RBIs in the inning for the Governors.
Middle Tennessee took the lead in the bottom of the third, as Nathan Brewer laced a 108 mph double down the right field line, scoring Matt Wolfe. With runners on second and third, Cannon Rice entered in relief for the Govs. After inducing a ground ball to Kenny McKinley, Rogers broke through with a single up the middle to score two, giving the Blue Raiders a 5-4 lead.
“We were just trying to see the ball up all day, and when I got fastball, I just tried to stay above it,” Rogers said.
APSU tied it back in the fifth after a two-out error by Wolfe which allowed Proctor to score his second run of the night.
MTSU took the lead once again in the bottom half of the inning, as Brewer hit a two-run home run over the right field wall for his second and third RBIs of the night. The home run for Brewer marked his second of the season.
“My first at-bat he threw me five straight sliders, and then the second at-bat he threw me two more sliders, and that pitcher threw me two more sliders,” Brewer said. “I had an approach for sure.”
APSU got one run back in the sixth inning, as Bay scored on a passed ball that got by Tyler Minnick.
Eston Snider stayed hot against the Governors, as he picked up three hits. Snider stole second in the bottom of the sixth and advanced to third on the play due to an error. Wolfe picked up Snider with an RBI single, pushing the MTSU lead to 8-6.
MTSU added an insurance run in both the seventh and eighth innings. McKinley hit a one-out triple, followed by an RBI double from Rogers. In the eighth, Clay Badylak scored on a wild pitch.
The Blue Raiders held a 10-6 lead going into the ninth inning, with Stevens looking to get through five innings of work. The Governors worked across a walk and an RBI double from Gus Freeman to knock Stevens out of the game.
Will Jenkins attempted to shut down the late rally but did not record an out as he walked two, hit a batter and allowed a run.
“I’ll bring Jenkins in that scenario 99 times out of 100,” Meyers said. “He’s a big-time strike thrower… He just didn’t quite get it.”
Bryant Beranek entered as the third pitcher of the inning for MTSU, and after allowing the ninth run to score, secured the victory for the Blue Raiders.
“I didn’t want them to feel like they kept getting momentum, so [we] went to Beranek,” Meyers said.
MTSU will host three different teams this weekend in Murfreesboro, as Old Dominion, St. Bonaventure and UT Martin will all face off with the Blue Raiders.
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