In a retread of the 2024 season, pitching depth has worn thin for Middle Tennessee baseball as the season carries on.
The Blue Raiders’ pitching staff has allowed 8.6 runs per game in their last eight games. MTSU has gone 2-6 during this stretch, including five conference losses.
With this recent poor pitching display, the Blue Raiders find themselves in a rough spot. They have slipped in the conference standings with five straight conference losses and now stand at 17-20 and 3-9 in Conference USA. The pitching staff’s ERA has ballooned to 6.06, good for seventh in CUSA.
The struggles started on the mound with the Friday night starters. Trace Phillips started the year in this spot and looked phenomenal through February with two outings that included six innings of shutout ball and eight or more strikeouts to begin the year.
Since his hot start, however, Phillips has battled the injury bug. The six-foot-three righthander has missed three starts this year, including March 14 against UAB, and the last two Fridays against Liberty and Louisiana Tech.
Phillips is out “indefinitely” with an undisclosed injury, head coach Jerry Meyers said. Due to a wrist impingement, Phillips has missed time at the plate consistently this season and sits with only 27 at-bats in seven games in the batter’s box.
“It [the starting rotation] doesn’t look the same as it did opening weekend,” Meyers said. “With a couple of bullpen guys in [Colin] Kerrigan and [Will] Jenkins that we had to try and put in the rotation.”
Each of the arms Meyers mentioned have made one Friday night start to begin a conference series thus far. Kerrigan started most recently, going five innings while giving up five runs to LA Tech on April 11.
Jenkins got the nod against Liberty and had a rough go as the Flames piled up nine runs against the redshirt senior as part of a run-rule rout against MTSU. Jenkins has shown success in some starts this season, though, including a spot start against Dallas Baptist that turned out to be a career day for the right-hander.
The inconsistencies in the Friday starting rotation spill into Saturday and Sunday for the Blue Raiders. At the onset of the season, sophomore lefty Chandler Alderman was the Saturday man, while Walters State transfer Drew Horn got the nod on Sundays. This remained the case until Horn went down with an upper body injury and missed two starts against DBU and Florida International.
Horn’s return to the mound prompted Meyers to switch Horn to the game two spot, with Alderman getting the ball for game three. This change has paid off so far for both pitchers.
“You still got to go out there and pitch your best every game,” Alderman said. “No matter who is coming in the day before or the day after you.”
In Alderman’s two Sunday starts, the preseason All-CUSA selection produced good numbers so far, including a complete game against LA Tech where he gave up only three runs which was his best start of the year.
“I started this season off trying to do too much,” Alderman said. “Out there [against LA Tech] I went back to last year and just said I’m going to go out there and throw.”
Horn also continues to provide good outings since the rotation shakeup in what has been a breakout year for the Siegel High School product. He is currently third in CUSA with a 1.96 ERA as of April 17. Since his return from injury and the move to Saturdays, Horn has combined for 12 innings while allowing three runs, and striking out nine hitters against Liberty and LA Tech.
With the changes in the Blue Raider rotation, it will have a significant impact on the bullpen, Meyers said.
“One of them has got to probably stay in the rotation,” Meyers said. “Obviously that dilutes our bullpen a little bit.”
Meyers concern was justified in one of the losses last weekend against LA Tech. The Blue Raiders led 8-3 heading into the ninth, prior to a seven-run inning that saw Cole Torbett give up four runs, Ollie Akens charged for three and Landen Burch tagged for one. The meltdown at the backend of the bullpen led to a 10-8 loss.
Middle Tennessee’s arms will look to right the ship as it heads into the 100 Miles of Hate rivalry against Western Kentucky on a two-game win streak. A starter has yet to be announced for game one, Kerrigan and Jenkins seem to be the favorites to get the nod to start the series against the Hilltoppers.
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