Warren Hits for the Cycle in 12-5 Victory

MURFREESBORO, Tenn. - Middle Tennessee's Adam Warren hit for the cycle and Michael McKenry collected his 10th home run of the season, leading a 12-5 victory over Lipscomb Tuesday night at Reese Smith Field.

Warren became the first Blue Raider (19-17) to collect a single, double, triple and home run in the same game in recent memory. The junior singled and doubled in the fourth, homered in the seventh and tripled in the five-run eighth, part of Middle Tennessee's 16-hit attack.

The Bisons (17-23) led 4-0 after three-and-a-half innings before the Blue Raiders scored six times in the fourth, capped by McKenry's three-run homer down the leftfield line.

Tommy Sterritt (1-3) tossed three-plus innings of relief to pick up his first career victory, allowing one run on four hits with four strikeouts. Nick Marrs struggled in the eighth but got the side out in the ninth, collecting his first save of the year. Jeff Kasser started, giving up four runs on seven hits in four innings.

Lipscomb starter Brandon McClurg (2-1), the first of five Bisons hurlers, took the loss, allowing five runs on seven hits in 3.1 innings.

Warren drove in three runs in the contest and scored three times, while McKenry was 3-for-5 with two runs scored and three RBIs. Jeff Beachum, Nathan Hines and Rawley Bishop all added a pair of hits.

Lipscomb's Ryan Mitchell doubled with two outs in the first and scored two batters later on a single to right from Justin Sanders for an early lead.

The Bisons scored twice more in the third after leadoff singles from Allen Bolden and Mitchell. A balk moved the runners to second and third before an RBI groundout by Zac Miller and a run-scoring single from Sanders put the visitors ahead, 3-0.

Whit Reed's solo homer with two outs in the fourth gave Lipscomb a 4-0 edge. The Blue Raiders stranded a pair of runners in the first but finally got to McClurg in the fourth. Warren laced a double to leftcenter to leadoff and after a groundout and a hit batter, Josh Horn singled to rightcenter, plating Warren.

Beachum extended his hitting streak to 14 games with an RBI single to center before a Hines run-scoring single down the rightfield line chased McClurg from the contest. Two batters later McKenry ripped a three-run homer just inside the leftfield foul pole for a 6-4 Middle Tennessee advantage.

Warren's solo homer to center in the seventh gave the Blue Raiders a 7-4 edge.

In the Lipscomb eighth Miller and Sanders both singled before Nathan Sensing singled to center, but Todd Martin gunned down Miller at the plate. A walk to Tadd Brewer loaded the bases and a free pass to Reed forced in a run for the Bisons.

The Blue Raiders added five runs in the bottom of the inning on six hits, starting with a leadoff single from Beachum. After a groundout Wayne Kendrick singled to right and Beachum scored on an error by Sensing.

McKenry then singled to right and Martin doubled off the centerfield wall, scoring a run. Warren followed with a two-run triple to rightcenter, completing the cycle, and Bishop tripled down the rightfield line for the final run.

Middle Tennessee continues its current five-game homestand Wednesday with a 7 p.m. contest against Tennessee Tech.

GAME NOTES
Nathan Hines extended his hitting streak to seven games with a double in the first ... Michael McKenry extended his hitting streak to six games with a single in the third ... Jeff Beachum extended his hitting streak to 14 games with a single in the fourth ... Chase Eakes extended his hitting streak to seven games with a single in the seventh ... Tommy Sterritt picked up his first career victory with three-plus innings of work while Nick Marrs got his first career save ... Middle Tennessee won the home-and-home series with Lipscomb and improved to 10-4 all-time at Reese Smith Field in the series.

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