The Weekend Recap: Softball sets home run record while baseball gets swept by Liberty

Recapping MTSU athletics action from Friday to Sunday.

Sidelines staff • April 7, 2025

It’s dinger time.

There was no shortage of longballs from the Blue Raiders this weekend as MTSU softball set its single-season home run record with its 45th homer of the year. Meanwhile, Kenny McKinley of MTSU baseball hit a bomb of his own against Liberty, sending a ball 444-feet.

While the home run excess didn’t necessarily equate to wins, it’s safe to say that there won’t be a need for torpedo bats in Murfreesboro anytime soon.

Without further delay, here’s everything that happened across Blue Raider sports over the weekend. Brett Walker

Freshman Jana Want at the plate against Kennesaw State at Blue Raider Softball Field on March 29, 2025.

Softball steals a game against No. 24 Liberty and sets homerun record

Middle Tennessee softball (18-21, 7-8 CUSA) picked up its second ranked win of the season in a series defeat against No. 24 Liberty (33-8, 13-1 CUSA) in Lynchburg, Virginia over the weekend.

The Blue Raiders began the series on Friday with a bang as they took down Liberty by a score of 8-2 and handed the Flames their first conference loss of the season. Jana Want and Leila Ammon were once again the highlights of the victory for Middle Tennessee. Want hit two three-run home runs for six RBI’s, two runs and two hits. Ansley Blevins also added a two-run home run to give the Blue Raiders an 8-0 lead.

Leila Ammon had a great showing for Middle Tennessee on the mound as she pitched six innings while only giving up one earned run to a Liberty team averaging seven runs per game. MTSU pitcher Mary Martinez subbed in to relieve Ammon and close out Middle Tennessee’s series opening victory.

On Saturday, Liberty took both games of the double header by scores of 8-4 and 5-4. In the first game of the day, the Flames took an early lead with a solo home run in the first inning. Middle Tennessee later tied it up after Ava Tepe hit a solo home run of her own.

Liberty then opened up the scoring with four runs in the third inning and three more in the fifth to take an 8-1 lead into the sixth. The Blue Raiders then scored three runs over the last two innings as freshman Macie Harter hit her conference leading fifth triple of the season.

In the second leg of the doubleheader, Liberty opened up the scoring early with four runs in the first three innings. Middle Tennessee then earned their first run of the game as Blevins hit an RBI single to bring the deficit to three.

Then in the sixth inning, outfielder Anyce Harvey came to the plate as a pinch hitter and hit a three-run home run to tie it up for Middle Tennessee. With Harvey’s three-run shot counting as MTSU’s 45th homer on the year, the Blue Raiders broke their single-season home run record and extended their home run streak to 21 games.

Despite the record-breaking rally, Liberty scored one run in the bottom of the sixth to take its second victory of the day and the series.

Heading back to Murfreesboro, the Blue Raiders will begin a seven-game homestand with a matchup against Lipscomb (19-19) on Wednesday, April 9 at 6:00 p.m. David Cassman

Baseball swept by Liberty in road series

Will Jenkins pitches against FIU at Reese Smith Jr. Field on March 28, 2025. (Ephraim Rodenbach)

Middle Tennessee baseball (15-16, 2-7 CUSA) was swept on the road against Conference USA opponent Liberty (22-11, 5-4 CUSA).

Friday night marked a rough outing for the Blue Raiders, as the Flames secured a 13-3 run-rule victory in eight innings.

Senior right-hander Will Jenkins made a spot start in place of the usual Friday starter, Trace Phillips. Across four innings, Liberty’s offense tagged Jenkins for nine runs, all of which earned.

Liberty’s Dylan Mathiesen made the Blue Raider offense nonexistent. Mathiesen only allowed three hits and walked one while punching out six MTSU batters on the way to six scoreless innings.

Designated Hitter Kenny McKinley provided all three runs for Middle Tennessee on Friday, with a three-run home run in the seventh, bringing the score to 10-3 and pushing the run rule off for the time being.

Liberty’s offense proved to be too much for a full nine innings to be played, as it produced three runs in the seventh and eighth to force the run-rule to end the ball game.

The Flames took game two over the Blue Raiders in walk-off fashion with a solo home run from Seth Christmas to lead to a 5-4 win in 10 innings.

Drew Horn made his first start on the mound since March 16, and shined for MTSU. Over five innings, the hard-throwing righty extinguished the Flames to the tune of three hits and five strikeouts. Horn ran into pitch count issues early, however, as he walked four during the outing.

McKinley got the scoring going once again for the Blue Raiders, tagging a ball 444 feet for a two-run home run in the fifth inning.

Liberty’s bats found success against left-handed reliever Collin Kerrigan in the eighth, pushing across four runs. Nick Barone drove in two with a double to left center, and Camden Troyer picked up two RBIs with a single to center to give Liberty a 4-2 lead.

MTSU tied it in the ninth, courtesy of a Clay Badylak double to center that knocked in one and a Keaton Ray SAC fly to score Badylak.

In the bottom of the tenth, Christmas hit the walk off home run to center against Ollie Akens to win it for the Flames.

Game three mirrored game one, as Liberty run-ruled MTSU 12-2 in eight innings.

Chandler Alderman made the start on Sunday for Middle Tennessee and gave the Blue Raiders 4.1 IP while allowing six runs (four earned).

Liberty then tagged each MTSU reliever for at least one earned run, as Landen Burch gave up four (three earned), Cole Torbett allowed one unearned run and Matthew Driver surrendered one run in 0.1 IP.

Tyler Minnick provided all of the scoring for the Blue Raiders, as he hit a solo home run in the fourth along with an RBI single in the fifth. The home run was Minnick’s fourth of the season.

Eston Snider recorded a hit in each game this weekend and extended his hitting streak to 27 games.

The Blue Raiders will hit the road for a midweek contest against North Alabama (8-20, 5-6 ASUN) before returning to Murfreesboro to host Louisiana Tech (20-12, 6-2 CUSA) for a weekend series. Willie Phaler

Men’s tennis splits two-match homestand

Karim Al-Amin prepares to serve against Vanderbilt on Feb. 5, 2025 at the Adams Tennis Complex. (Caitlyn Hajek)

After a near month long road trip, MTSU men’s tennis returned to Murfreesboro to face No. 28 South Florida and Eastern Ilinois over the weekend.

Middle Tennessee (12-10) dropped its first match of the weekend, losing to No. 28 USF, 5-2 on Friday.

The Blue Raiders were swept in doubles play to begin the match. Hugo Car and Ettore Danesi beat Karim Al-Amin and Ondrej Horak 6-4. On the second doubles court, USF’s Ben Hudson and Toto Llanes bested Rostislav Halfinger and Kristian Thomas 6-2.

In singles play, Halfinger came out hot earning a 6-4, 6-3 win over USF’s Gughi Verdese. Al-Amin also picked up a solid win on court one for the Blue Raiders, besting No. 54 Hugo Car 4-6, 6-4, 10-6. Al-Amin handed the ranked Car just his second singles loss of the season.

Unfortunately for the Blue Raiders, the Bulls charged their way to wins on the remaining courts, including a tough 4-6, 7-6, 8-10 loss by Horak, and took the overall match 5-2.

On Saturday, Middle Tennessee redeemed its loss on the previous day with a 7-0 sweep of Eastern Illinois.

In doubles play, the duo of Al-Amin and Horak scored a dominant 6-1 win early over Pieke Bouman and Ludolph Wiggett. Igor Mandou Berranger and Shu Matsuoka also picked up a win, beating William Hayes and Zach White 6-3, as the Raiders cruised to clinch the doubles point.

Horak kept the momentum going with a 6-2, 6-0 win over White. Al-Amin continued his winning ways with a 6-2, 6-3 win over Bouman.

Halfinger then defeated Wiggett, 6-2, 6-1, to put the Blue Raiders up 4-0.

Berranger took the court five win, 6-2, 6-4 over the Panthers’ Duarte Trocado. Thomas, in just his third appearance of the season, had a strong performance as he bested Gui Cauvilla 6-3, 6-1.

Matsuoka was the final Blue Raider to finish, fighting through for a 7-6 (7-3), 6-0 win over Alex Aldaz to complete the MTSU sweep.

Next up for the Blue Raiders is a trip to the bluegrass state to take on Louisville on April 10. Alex Wittke

Women’s tennis preps for senior day against Western Kentucky

Alessia Truden prepares to serve against Louisville at the Adams Tennis Complex on Jan. 24, 2025. (Vanessa Hamel)

Last weekend MTSU women’s tennis added wins over Conference USA foes Kennesaw State and Jacksonville State to extend its win streak to four matches.

After having the weekend off from play, the Blue Raiders look to extend it further in a senior day rivalry matchup against Western Kentucky.

First serve for the 100 Miles of Hate is set for Tuesday, April 8 at the MTSU Outdoor Tennis Complex at 4:00 p.m.

Following the WKU match, MTSU will go on the road to face Sam Houston and Rice to close out the regular season. Gary Davis

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About the Contributor

Brett Walker, Sports editor

I lead sports coverage for MTSU Sidelines. I’m the biggest football fan you’ll ever meet, even though I played tennis in high school. In my free time, you can catch me with my family, going to church or losing to my friends in Madden.