Blue Raiders sweep Red Wolves

Senior Nathan Hines ended the day a single short of the cycle as he led the Blue Raiders (13-2, 5-1) at the plate throughout the game. Hines went 3 for 4 with a double, triple, home run, six RBI and scored two runs.

"It is very, very difficult to sweep anyone. I have to tip my hat to the team. Today, Nathan Hines was by far the star of the game. Nathan has caught fire in this series and thank goodness we play two in the midweek because you want hot hitters to keep swinging the bat when they are hot," head coach Steve Peterson said.

It is the first time since May 2005 the Blue Raiders have swept a home conference series.

Sophomore Tyler Burnett had the only other multiple hit day as he was 2 for 5 with an RBI and scored a run. Middle Tennessee had 11 hits on the day with Hines hitting all three of its extra base hits.

Arkansas State (6-9, 2-4) had nine hits on the day with Todd Baumgartner hitting two solo home runs but was only able to bring in three runs leaving 11 runners on base.

Senior Chad Coley took the win on the mound as he allowed no runs or hits in two-thirds of an inning after relieving starter sophomore Jud Stoltz.

Stoltz worked 4.2 innings allowing one run on five hits. Senior Brett Smalley, freshman Justin Guidry and junior Tyler Hyde worked 3.2 innings in relief allowing two runs on four hits between them.

"I hated to take Stoltz out there but I didn't want to take a chance with the left-handers coming up. Brett threw well today they just hit a couple of bad pitches but he threw well the whole series," Peterson said. "I was also very please with Guidry. He came in and kept the fastball down and could have thrown in the ninth but I wanted to get Tyler Hyde in there."

Hines hit a triple in the bottom of the second to bring in runners from first and third and take a 2-0 lead with no outs in the inning. Bishop then hit a sacrifice fly bringing in Hines from third and putting the Blue Raiders up by three.

The Red Wolves added one run of their own after a solo shot to left field by Baumgartner in the third. ASU hit another solo home run in the top of the seventh cutting the Blue Raider lead to one.

Darlington hit a blooper just behind first base to scored Bishop from third and extend the lead to three, 5-2. Middle Tennessee then broke the game open scoring three on a double to center field by Hines. The Blue Raiders took a 10-2 lead after scoring six runs on six hits in the bottom of the seventh inning.

Middle Tennessee will be back in action on Tuesday, March 17 at 3 p.m. when it plays host to Southern Illinois in the first game of a two-game series. Live stats and audio will be available on goblueraiders.com for both games.

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