MURFREESBORO, Tenn. - Middle Tennessee won its first conference series of the season on Sunday, winning the rubber game 9-3 at Reese Smith Jr. Field.
Chad Edwards put together his best outing of the season, going a full eight innings allowing seven hits and two earned runs. Nick Montgomery came in for the final inning, giving up zero hits with one walk.
"When you go into the rubber game of the series, you expect runs to be scored," said Head Coach Steve Peterson. "But Chad was pretty tough today. Once he gets going, he can change up speeds and really locate his fastball well."
Drew Robertson and Justin Guidry each notched two runs batted in. Tyler Burnett went 3-5 at the plate with a pair of runs and an RBI. Blake McDade also had three hits with two runs scored. Middle Tennessee had eight different players record a hit en route to outhitting ULM 13-7.
Middle Tennessee opened up the scoring in the first. Burnett tripled down the left field line to start the inning, scoring later when Guidry hit into fielder's choice.
The Blue Raiders tacked on two more runs in the second. McDade led off with a double down the right line, and he advanced to third on a groundout by Stuart Meinhart. After a Justin Miller strikeout, Ryan Ford earned a walk. Burnett singled, but an errant throw by Caleb Clowers allowed both McDade and Ford to score.
ULM cut the deficit to one in the third with a two-run homer by Clowers.
Middle Tennessee answered in the bottom of the third. Brentz earned a walk before scoring on a Guidry double down the left field line.
Despite loading the bases in the third, ULM could only manage one run in the fourth. Josh Chappell scored on an error to cut the Middle Tennessee lead back to one, 4-3.
The Blue Raiders added another run to their lead in the seventh. Burnett started off with a double, and advanced to third on a Robertson groundout. Burnett would score on a Brentz sacrifice fly to left field.
The Middle Tennessee offense got rolling in the eighth with four runs. Zach Hudson singled and McDade doubled to lead off the inning. A Meinhart single brought home Hudson, and a Hunter Dawson single scored McDade. A Ford walk loaded the bases, and after Burnett reached on a fielder's choice, Robertson singled to plate the last two runs of the game.
The Blue Raiders will hit the road for a four-game swing beginning on Tuesday, March 16 to play in-state foe Lipscomb at Ken Dugan Field in Nashville at 4 p.m.
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