Blue Raider softball heads to Florida State

MURFREESBORO, Tenn. - Middle Tennessee softball concludes non-conference tournament play with four games at the Florida State Invitational this weekend. The Blue Raiders face off against Liberty, Bethune-Cookman and #25 Florida State.

Middle Tennessee looks to extend their season high three-game win streak after a second-place finish at the War Eagle Invitational in Auburn, Ala. two weekends ago. The squad picked up wins against Winthrop, previously-ranked Purdue and Austin Peay.

"This is an important weekend for us and we need to keep the momentum that started at the tournament in Auburn," Head Coach Sue Nevar said.

"The challenge for the team is to come out Friday better than we played in our last game against Austin Peay. They need to maintain that intensity and carry it over to Liberty, Bethune-Cookman and onto Florida State "

The Blue Raiders began play in Tallahassee, Fla., with the Liberty Flames on Friday. Opening pitch is scheduled for 9 a.m. CT.

Liberty comes into the Invitational on a three-game winning streak after dropping their first six contests of the season. The Flames have had a very competitive schedule out of conference and have matched up against four ranked teams already this season - #17 California, #14 Fresno State, #24 Long Beach State and #9 Tennessee.

The Lynchburg, Va. team returns six starters to a team that finished 20-40 and in fourth place in the Big South Conference. Sophomore pitcher Tiffani Smith is the current conference pitcher of the week after throwing her first career no-hitter in a 2-0 shutout of Delaware State on February 28.

"This is the last weekend of 'warm-up ball' for everyone across the country with teams beginning their conference schedules next week," Nevar said. "We have to use this to catapult us into Sun Belt play on Tuesday. "

The Blue Raiders open conference play with a doubleheader against Troy on Tuesday afternoon.

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