Featured Photo by Luke Larkin
Story by Conner Smith
The Middle Tennessee baseball team decimated St. Bonaventure 17-1 in the third game of the series. The team continues to look outstanding under new head coach Jerry Meyers. It has been rocking behind the insanely talented offense.
The Bonnies scored their first and only run of the ballgame in the first from a double. MTSU answered with a Jeremiah Boyd single that drove in Brett Coker. From that point on it was all Blue Raiders.
In the third DJ Wright scored off a wild pitch and Boyd tagged and scored on a sacrifice fly. Catcher Briggs Rutter was the star of the fourth inning when he drove in a run via a double and scored on a fielder’s choice. That capped off a three-run fourth by MT to widen its lead to 6-1.
DJ Wright has been off to a blistering hot start at the plate. Wright currently claims a .462 batting average with four home runs, and 11 RBIs. He continued his dominance today when he slugged a three-run home run.
Junior pitcher Eriq Swan was relieved in the seventh after an outstanding day on the mound. Swan threw six innings, one earned run, one walk, and seven strikeouts.
“The biggest difference from my last start to today was I threw more strikes and commanded the zone,” Swan said. “The slider for me was huge today. I had one walk, and that comes from not being afraid to go after hitters and use my stuff because I know it works.”
Even though it held an 11-1 lead, MTSU was not content, scoring six more in the eighth. Austin Peay transfer Gino Avros got his first knock of the season when he pinch-hit.
Sophomore Jared Vetetoe yanked a two-run triple into right. Vetetoe has been tearing the cover off the ball in his last three games with six RBIs and a batting average of .364. He’s making it hard for the coaches to keep him on the bench.
“For the most part, we’re playing good defense,” MTSU head coach Jerry Myers said. “Behind the plate, we’ve been great so that makes everyone else’s job a lot easier. We’ve won four in a row, but we don’t want to think about that, it’s better than the alternative but we want the wins to roll off us like the losses.”
Conner Smith is a sports reporter for MTSU Sidelines. If you have information for a story, you can contact him at [email protected].
