Middle Tennessee softball (5-9, 0-0 CUSA) picked up three wins over the weekend, adding to head coach Jeff Breeden’s win total.
Breeden reached his 300th win in his 14th season at MTSU, with two Conference USA Championships highlighting his tenure in Middle Tennessee.
“We’ve been lucky to have some pretty good players, and I’ve had some pretty good assistant coaches along the way,” Breeden said in a statement on Monday.
The Blue Raiders’ two conference championship victories came in a five-year span, reaching the NCAA regionals with each of their conference championships.
MTSU secured its most recent trophy in 2023, as Middle Tennessee posted a total record of 42-20, earning the No. 6 seed in the CUSA tournament.
The Blue Raiders made their way through the tournament, defeating top-seeded Charlotte University and ultimately taking down North Texas University by one run in extra innings.
Five years prior, Middle Tennessee was listed as the No. 6 seed in the 2018 CUSA tournament, where they defeated Florida Atlantic University, hoisting the CUSA trophy.
The conference tournament wasn’t the end of the road for the Blue Raiders, as they were selected to play in the NCAA tournament, where they lost to the University of Alabama in the regionals.
Over his 14 years at MTSU, Breeden has made the Blue Raiders a resilient team and shown they can reach the conference and NCAA tournaments without being among the top-seeded teams.
“It’s not just a me thing, it’s about our players,” Breeden said. “It’s about how good you can recruit and how much you can develop them once they get here, and I think we’ve done a pretty good job with that.”
Over the weekend, Middle Tennessee’s offense showed in their victories outscoring their opponents 19-4 with a few newcomers making a huge impact.
Freshman right fielder Mady Pint put up five RBIs and two homeruns, while senior transfer Onnika Spencer had four RBIs of her own and matched Pint’s homerun count.
The Blue Raiders struggled in their only two losses of the weekend as they were shut out twice by the No. 6 University of Florida (19-0).
The Blue Raiders will play Akron University at 11 a.m. CDT on Friday for their first home game of the season as they kick off the Blue Raider Classic.
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