Middle Tennessee baseball (16-16, 5-7 CUSA) dropped a Conference USA weekend series to Jacksonville State University (27-6, 12-0 CUSA), in two close losses and a walk-off loss in the second game.

Game 1

The Blue Raiders dropped the series opener to Jacksonville State 6-5, despite leading for most of the game. Middle jumped out to a 3-0 lead by the fourth inning, led by two RBIs from designated hitter Layne Akers.

Chandler Alderman was able to keep the Gamecocks bats at bay for the first four innings before three straight Gamecocks reached base in the fifth to force Alderman to hand the ball over to Gavin King. Jax State pushed one runner across on a throwing error by Tyler Minnick, and another run came across on a groundout, cutting MTSU’s lead to 3-2.

“I’ve always had the philosophy to give everything you’ve got for two innings,” pitcher John Michael Pickens said on WGNS radio. “You kind of have to mitigate that and use it to your advantage.”

The Blue Raiders extended their lead in the sixth inning, with doubles from Brett Vondohlen and Owen Nowak to push the lead to 5-2. Jacksonville State scored four runs over the next two innings off Pickens to push the Gamecocks in front and secure the first game of the series.

Game 2

The Blue Raiders raced out to a hot start in the second game of the weekend. The first three MTSU batters reached base, followed by a bases-clearing triple from Akers to push the Blue Raiders ahead 3-0.

Recent Saturday starter, Drew Horn, was scratched before the first pitch, and with the scratch, Cole Torbett received the nod on the mound. Jax State scored two runs off Torbett in the bottom of the first, but the redshirt junior pitcher rebounded in the following two innings, allowing no runs.

Torbett handed the ball off to Bryant Beranek in the fourth inning after the first two batters reached base for Jacksonville State. Beranek escaped trouble en route to retiring 13 consecutive Gamecock batters.

The Blue Raiders added three more runs, with an RBI groundout from Nathan Brewer and a single from Brett Vondohlen in the fourth, followed by a double from Brewer in the sixth inning, to push the score to 6-2 for the Blue Raiders. Beranek handed the ball over to Colin Kerrigan in the eighth inning after three consecutive batters reached on two outs for Jacksonville State.

Jacksonville State’s Greg Lachance then launched a grand slam over the left field wall, knotting the game at 6-6.

“They’re tough, you just gotta figure out ways to rebound,” MTSU graduate assistant Grayson Munyon said on WGNS radio. “We’ve got to get back to doing what we know to do.”

The Blue Raiders failed to score in the top of the ninth, as Jacksonville State walked off the game on a wild pitch, taking the second game 7-6.

Game 3

The Blue Raiders dropped the series finale 3-1 to Jacksonville State, marking their fourth consecutive loss.

“It was a rough weekend, we battled really well, we just need to do a little bit better job,” Munyon said.

David Horn Jr. got the nod on the mound, allowing two runs over six innings while striking out six. The Blue Raiders struck first in the fourth inning off a Dean O’Neill single, putting MTSU up 1-0.

The Gamecock bats came to life in the sixth inning, as the first three reached base to tie the game at 1-1, before a sacrifice groundout from Grayson Ashe scored a runner from third, pushing Jacksonville State ahead 2-1. The Blue Raiders had an opportunity to rally in the eighth inning, loading the bases against Jacksonville State’s Skyler Hutto, but failed to score.

Jacksonville State pushed another run across in the eighth inning on a groundout, increasing its lead to 3-1, which held for the rest of the Sunday series finale.

The Blue Raiders return home for a midweek matchup on Tuesday against Lipscomb University (14-14, 7-5 ASUN) at 6:00 p.m. CDT, before traveling to take on Louisiana Tech University (17-16, 6-6 CUSA) for a weekend series. First pitch is set for Friday at 6:00 p.m. CDT.

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