Rutherford Times

Middle Tennessee baseball responded well to an early six run deficit, pulling within one run late in Sunday's matinee, but could not get those final runs across the plate, falling 11-7 to Toldeo at Reese Smith Jr. Field.  
 
The Blue Raiders (6-6) trailed 6-0 after one and half innings of play, but quickly responded with a three-run home run in the bottom of the second off the bat of Gabe Jennings to halve the lead for the Rockets (5-4). JT Mabry's fourth inning two-run blast responded well to Toledo's two-run top of the inning, as MTSU stayed in the game with sharp relief pitching from James Sells.  
 
MTSU cut the lead to one run, 8-7, with a Jeremiah Boyd home run after the seventh inning stretch, but the Rockets tacked on another run in the top of the eighth and two more in the top of the ninth to pull away late and earn the series sweep.  
 
By the Numbers 
 
3-for-4: Jackson Galloway's day at the plate, helping the right fielder nearly double his hits this season in one game. Galloway also had an outfield assist, nailing the streaking Rocket at home plate in the third inning.  
 
4: RBIs for Gabe Jennings, three coming on his second inning home run. The fielding maestro at third base has shown power early on in the 2023 campaign, blasting three home runs through 12 games, tying for the second most on the team.  
 
1: Runs, out 18 combined between the two clubs, plated by plays other than a home run. Gabe Jennings RBI groundout in the bottom of the fifth was the sole run scored on a play that wasn't a home run.  
 
Blue Raider Notes  
 
Boyd went 2-5 on the day with his homer and extends his hitting streak to 12 games. 
 
Eston Snider was 2-4 Sunday and has reached base safely in each game this year.  
 
Mabry had a 7-12 weekend at the plate, highlighted by his fourth-inning homer. The second baseman logged four extra base hits across the three-game series, with three doubles in Saturday's doubleheader. 
 
The Blue Raiders averaged just under 10 hits per game across the series.  
 
The Skipper Speaks  
 
"Even getting down six, after having that happen to us twice yesterday, getting down both games where we were still in the ball game the first four or five innings, we I guess would categorize that as not responding very well. And today, I thought they responded, especially after you get to the bottom of the second and its a 'here we go again' kind of deal. The at-bats continued to get a lot better, we got back in, Gabe hit the big homer," head coach Jerry Meyers said. 
  
"But we weren't able to get the job done. We're not happy about the result. It was a better response today, but that's only going to do us any good if we learn from it. That's a good hitting team, there's some older hitters there that can adjust. And obviously, we made mistakes, they didn't miss them today. That was the difference in the ball game." 

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