Rutherford Times

Middle Tennessee baseball jumped out to an early lead and continued to build on it on Tuesday, taking down Southeast Missouri 8-3 at Reese Smith Jr. Field to open the 2023 home slate.  
 
The Blue Raiders (2-2) scored four runs in the game's first three innings, chasing the Redhawks' (1-3) starting pitcher after just one and a third innings. A DJ Wright homer to left off the concourse of Floyd Stadium highlighted the early MTSU rally, giving starting Bryant Beranek, making his first collegiate appearance on the mound, all the run support he'd need through his five scoreless innings.  
 
Aided by strong defense from Wright and first base, Gabe Jennings at third base and Brett Coker at shortstop, Beranek cruised in his first career start, making way for Justin Lee in the sixth inning, who earned the four-inning save in relief.  
 
The Blue Raiders combined for 10 hits on Tuesday, four off the bat of Jeremiah Boyd, who hit a home run in the eighth inning for his sole RBI while also scoring two runs. Luke Vinson drove in the first run of the game while also scoring a run, scoring from second on a wild pitch. Wright finished the afternoon 2-for-4 with two home runs, including a 432-foot blast over the Lee Victory Wall of Champions in left field. Briggs Rutter also recorded two hits, doing so in just three at-bats.  
 
By the Numbers  
 
8: Total bases for DJ Wright against SEMO. The senior first baseman hit two towering home runs to left field, driving in three runs for the Blue Raiders in the No. 3 spot in the MTSU lineup.  
 
5.0: Scoreless innings for Bryant Beranek. The Spring Hill, Tenn. native allowed just one hit while striking out two Redhawks, pitching just 64 pitches across his five frames to earn his first collegiate win in his first collegiate start.  
 
4-for-4: Jeremiah Boyd's day at the plate on Tuesday. The Presbyterian College transfer hit his second home run as a Blue Raider in the eighth inning, pushing a towering fly ball past the scoreboard in right-center field.  
 
Blue Raider Notes  
 
The Blue Raiders played error-free baseball for the second time this year, after previously doing so against Coastal Carolina (Feb. 18).
 
Wright was the second Blue Raider to hit two home runs in a game this season, after Coker previously did so against VCU in the season opener (Feb. 17). 
 
MTSU moved to 21-14 all-time against SEMO and 6-1 in its previous seven home openers. 
 
In going 4-4 Tuesday, Boyd has had at least one hit in each game this year. 
 
The Skipper Speaks  
 
"Bryant Beranek was outstanding. Sometimes you travel on the road and you come back and it's the first Tuesday game, you've got to get in that rhythm, you're hoping there's not any type of lull. You see that happen sometimes on Tuesdays after road trips. We didn't see that at all," head coach Jerry Myers said.  
  
"It was a good sign that we played really tenacious defense. We made some really good plays defensively, Gabe Jennings, Coker in the ninth when we needed to get some outs with a young guy out there who's trying to finish it out, never been in that situation before. We had some really good at-bats, we tacked on some runs and applied some pressure to them. It was an outstanding effort all the way around." 
 
Player's Perspective – DJ Wright  
 
"I've been playing this game for a long time and this is probably the first year I've actually cemented an approach. I don't think I had to make adjustments, I was sitting fastball anything before two strikes. After that, I'm shifting the field. I got ahead early, got the fastball out front and put it out of here."  
 
Up Next  
 
The Blue Raiders have their first weekend home series of the season this weekend, playing host to St. Bonaventure at Reese Smith Jr. Field. The first game of four this weekend is scheduled for Friday afternoon, with first pitch on ESPN+ and the Blue Raider Radio Network set for 3 p.m. 

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