Going into a weekend round robin at Reese Smith Jr. Field, Middle Tennessee baseball (6-5) won its last five games; sweeping Fairleigh Dickinson (0-10), winning a midweek nailbiter against Austin Peay (8-4) and securing a comeback victory Friday afternoon against UT Martin (4-6).
The Blue Raiders rode a hot streak into the tournament before coming to a crashing halt on Saturday and Sunday.
In each of those wins, the Blue Raider bats put up at least six runs and hit double digits in three of the five games. The offense excelled in this stretch, picking up 23 extra base hits including 12 home runs.
Redshirt sophomore Brett Vondohlen accounted for a huge part of the offensive output, including two home runs against UTM. Vondohlen belted a grand slam to tie things late at 11, and then a walk off solo home run in the tenth inning to cap it off.
Even more impressive of MTSU’s offense is that key contributors Trace Phillips and Keaton Ray weren’t in the lineup for the majority of this stretch. Ray, the opening day left fielder, has been nursing a back injury since the series finale against FDU, head coach Jerry Meyers said. Phillips has dealt with a nagging hand that has kept him from hitting, although he did make his regularly scheduled start Friday against UTM.
“Trace Phillips’ hand was bothering him and [I] felt like it was a good time to give him a break,” head coach Jerry Meyers said after completing the sweep over Fairleigh Dickinson on Feb. 23.
Although the pair haven’t produced much for Middle Tennessee to this point, as Phillips hit .125/.125/.300 and Ray held a slash line of .208/.208/.375, their absence was notable.
MTSU’s pitching staff was solid throughout the winning streak, holding opponents to 5.2 runs a game, with an ERA of 4.77 across the staff.
The five-game stretch from FDU to UT Martin was a great run for the offense, but scoring 10 or more runs 60% of the time like they did in that timeframe isn’t sustainable.
The Blue Raider offense found that out facing St. Bonaventure (7-3) pitcher Michael Salina. Salina sports a fastball that touches 101 mph but sat at 97 mph against MTSU while clocking in as high as 98 mph at times. Salina went six innings for the Bonnies, striking out nine while allowing one unearned run.
Salina’s performance was a driving force in ending MTSU’s five-game win streak, as the Bonnies took down the Blue Raiders 13-3 in a run rule victory in seven innings.
On Sunday the MTSU bats were once again silenced, as Old Dominion (3-7) lefty Blake Morgan went 7.2 innings, surrendering only two earned runs to the Blue Raiders. MTSU amassed seven hits against Morgan, albeit scattered throughout the outing. Limited foot traffic on the bases led the Monarchs to a 5-3 win.
Along with the bats going quiet, MTSU ran into trouble on the mound. In the three games across the round robin this past weekend, the staff allowed 30 runs: 12 against UTM, 13 against SBU and five to ODU.
“We didn’t do a very good job on the mound staying ahead,” Meyers said. “We were constantly trying to get back into counts… They were constantly able to do some damage because of that.”
With nine games left prior to their first conference series against No. 21 Dallas Baptist, the Blue Raiders sit at an intriguing crossroads. After ripping out the five-game winning streak, they lost their last two with the run-rule to SBU and defeat to an underachieving ODU.
MTSU hosts Oakland in Murfreesboro this weekend, looking to bounce back after the two-game round robin skid.
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