Blue Raiders Fall to Commodores 4-3 in 10 Innings

Middle Tennessee dropped a heartbreaker to Vanderbilt 4-3 on Tuesday night as the Blue Raiders closed out the home schedule in a dramatic 10-inning game.

With the Blue Raiders' leading 2-0 as the game moved into the eighth inning, the Commodores provided the first major drama of the game with a solo homer from Sean Luellwitz off of reliever Chris Mobley in the top half of the inning to draw his team within a run at 2-1.

The Commodores took the lead in the top of the ninth with a two run outburst, but the real dramatics came in the bottom of the inning.

With one out in the inning, second baseman Chad Cooper drove a pitch from Vandy starter Steven Faulkner over the left field wall to knot the score at 3-3 and send his teammates streaking from the dugout to meet him at home plate.

The Commodores seemed unshaken by the events of the bottom of the ninth as the extra frame began.

Luellwitz singled to left off of reliever Marshall Nisbett, who had come in to relieve Mobley in the ninth. A second single from Mark Shapiro sent Luellwitz to third, but a Blue Raider miscue allowed him to continue to the plate and score the go-ahead run.

The Blue Raiders held the Commodores at bay for the rest of the inning, but could not muster a final rally in the bottom of the tenth and dropped the game 4-3.

Middle Tennessee starter Chase Swing turned in a solid performance, working five strong innings allowing no runs on only three hits. Nisbett took the loss in the game to fall to 0-4.

Faulkner, who was knocked out of a weekend game against Kentucky after working only 2/3 of an inning, picked up the complete game win, ringing up nine strikeouts in the process.

Seven Blue Raiders had one hit each to make up the offensive output for the team.

The Blue Raiders will close out the regular season at Florida International over the weekend, beginning with a 6 PM game on Friday night. The series will continue with 1 PM games on Saturday and Sunday.

The team will then travel to Mobile, Ala., without returning to Murfreesboro for the Sun Belt Conference tournament which will begin on the following Wednesday.

Follow the Blue Raiders on Twitter @MTAthletics for continued updates.