Lady Raiders Fall to FIU; Drop to Losers Bracket in Sun Belt Tournament

LAFAYETTE, La. - Middle Tennessee (32-22), the No. 3 seed, fell to the losers bracket in the Sun Belt Tournament with a 2-1 loss to No. 2 seed Florida International (30-32) Thursday at Ragin Cajun Park.

The Lady Raiders moved to the quarterfinal game with FIU when Crystal Bobo tossed a three hit shutout to lead the Middle Tennessee to a 3-0 victory over New Mexico State in the first round of the Sun Belt Tournament. Bobo notched the eighth shutout of the season improving to 16-11 allowing just three hits and fanning four.

Senior designated player Angie Huebner broke open a scoreless game off a solo homerun over the left field wall in the bottom of the second inning. The Lady Raiders added two runs in the fourth as Cortney Mitchell got it started with a single up the middle. Brittany Herald added another single and advanced Mitchell to third. Melissa Weiland hit an RBI bunt to score Mitchell and advance Herald to second. An RBI single by Brandy Davis plated Herald for the second run of the inning.

Middle Tennessee jumped out to the early lead against FIU when Kristina Hieb hit a double to the left field wall. Candis Littrell scored when she came in to pinch run for Hieb off a Panther miscue to make the score 1-0.

After FIU's Jennifer Powell drew a walk and advanced to second from a sacrifice bunt by Brittany Witherow, she moved to third thanks to a Middle Tennessee error. Powell scored from an RBI single by Tabitha Embry.

Florida International took a 2-1 lead in the bottom of the sixth inning. Panther Yarah Otero reached on a Lady Raider error and advanced to second on the throw. Cindy Turek's RBI double plated Otero and proved to be the winning run.

Middle Tennessee will play Western Kentucky Friday at 11 a.m.

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