By Mike Lehman, TTU Sports Information
Tennessee Tech Baseball Midweek Preview (May 9)
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. – The Tennessee Tech baseball team makes a visit to long-time, in-state rival Middle Tennessee Tuesday evening, squaring off with the Blue Raiders in Murfreesboro in a 6:00 p.m. CT affair at Reese Smith Jr. Field. The contest is slated to be streamed on CUSA.TV.
The two sides faced off in Cookeville bacon on Mar. 29, with the visiting Blue Raiders picking up an 8-4 victory over the Golden Eagles. Middle Tennessee scored twice in the first inning, three times in the second, and twice more in the third to take a 7-0 advantage. After making it an 8-0 lead, Tech rallied with four runs in the eighth and ninth frames, including a three-run bomb from left fielder Jason Hinchman.
The Golden Eagles come into the weekend after a 1-2 showing at SIUE. After securing the series opener with a 10-9 victory, the purple and gold fell in a 4-3 heartbreaker in 11 innings on Saturday. The Cougars took the series with a 6-4 win on Sunday.
Sluggers Jason Hinchman and Ryan Guardino have paced the Golden Eagle offense, ranking fourth and seventh nationally with 0.48 and 0.44 home runs per game, respectively. Hinchman's 21 dingers on the year rank fifth in the country. Hinchman currently owns the Ohio Valley Conference record for round-trippers with 65 and ranks among the all-time Tech career leaders in slugging percentage (third), walks (fifth), RBI (seventh), runs (tied for ninth), hits (19th), and on-base percentage (tied for 20th).
This season, the purple and gold rank fourth nationally in home runs per game (1.95), eighth in home runs (86), and 17th in slugging percentage (.510). Tech ranks in the top three in the league with a .299 batting average (first), .510 slugging percentage (first), .396 on-base percentage (second), 352 runs (first), 478 hits (second), 321 RBI (second), 86 home runs (first), 816 total bases (first), 224 walks (second), 49 hit-by-pitches (second), and 24 sacrifice flies (first).
Middle Tennessee enters play after winning the final two games of a three-tilt series at Florida International over the weekend and claiming a midweek contest at Georgia State. The Blue Raiders took a 9-7 decision on Wednesday over GSU before falling to FIU in the series opener 5-4 in 11 innings. They bounced back for 5-1 and 11-5 victories over the Panthers on Saturday and Sunday.
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Tennessee Tech at Middle Tennessee | Tuesday, May 10, 6:00 PM
Murfreesboro, Tenn. | Reese Smith Jr. Field (2,100)
TENNESSEE TECH GOLDEN EAGLES
2022 Record: 23-21
2022 OVC Record: 7-11
Head Coach: Matt Bragga
TTU: 469-413-2 (16th Season)
Career: 520-489-3 (19th Season)
STATS LEADERS
AVG: Jason Hinchman (.378)
2B: Gabe Lacy (11)
3B: Austin Turner (3)
HR: Jason Hinchman (21)
RBI: Jason Hinchman (57)
R: Jason Hinchman (45)
BB: Austin Turner (37)
SLG%: Jason Hinchman (.778)
OB%: Jason Hinchman (.475)
SB: Ed Johnson / Austin Turner (5)
ERA: Peyton Calitri (4.99)
W: Peyton Calitri (5)
APP: Colt Taylor (17)
IP: Peyton Calitri (70.1)
K: Peyton Calitri (49)
BAA: Peyton Calitri (.270)
SV: Jackson Berry (2)
MIDDLE TENNESSEE BLUE RAIDERS
2022 Record: 25-20
2022 CUSA Record: 14-10
Head Coach: Jim Toman
MT: 74-96-1 (4th Season)
Career: 403-301-2 (13th Season)
STATS LEADERS
AVG: Jackson Galloway (.346)
2B: JT Mabry (11)
3B: Jackson Galloway / Luke Vinson (2)
HR: Fausto Lopez / Mason Speirs (8)
RBI: Jackson Galloway (26)
R: Fausto Lopez (29)
BB: Fausto Lopez (22)
SLG%: Jackson Galloway (.586)
OB%: Wyatt Morgan (.419)
SB: JT Mabry (13)
ERA: James Sells (1.83)
W: Peyton Wigginton (5)
APP: Trent Seibert (18)
IP: Zach Keenan (70.1)
K: Jaden Hamm (65)
BAA: Jaden Hamm (.215)
SV: Jaden Hamm (2)
Photo by Jim Dillon
