Martin, Kendrick Each Drive in Two in 7-2 Victory

MURFREESBORO, Tenn. - Todd Martin homered and drove in two runs and Wayne Kendrick scored twice and had two RBIs in Middle Tennessee's 7-2 victory over Tennessee Tech Wednesday night at Reese Smith Field.

Martin had a two-run homer in the first and Kendrick drove in runs in the first and third innings, giving the Blue Raiders (20-17) a 5-1 lead. Nathan Hines, Adam Warren and Chase Eakes all added a pair of hits for Middle Tennessee in the win.

Middle Tennessee starter Peter Mantzanis (1-0) struggled through the first inning but finally settled down, working a career-long five innings in his first start to pick up the victory. He allowed one run on a hit, walking four, striking out three and hitting three.

Four Blue Raider relievers allowed one run on two hits in four innings of work, striking out three.

Tennessee Tech (14-28) starter Brandon Bornstein (0-4) suffered the loss, allowing five runs on seven hits in three innings. The Golden Eagles used five pitchers in the contest, with the bullpen giving up two runs on four hits in five innings of work.

The Golden Eagles scored once in the first without a hit, as Mantzanis hit three batters and walked one. Brian Sprowl scored on a groundout from Brantley Kilgore for an early 1-0 TTU lead.

The Blue Raiders answered with three runs in the bottom of the inning after a one-out single from Hines. Kendrick's double to righcenter scored Hines and Martin followed two batters later with his 10th home run of the season, a two-run shot to leftcenter.

Hines singled to leadoff the third, stole second and scored on Kendrick's single to center. A wild pitch and a fly out moved Kendrick to third and he scored on Warren's two-out infield single for a 5-1 Middle Tennessee lead.

Tech finally broke up the no-hitter with a two-out single to center from Steve Soper in the fifth, but the visitors stranded a pair of runners in the frame and seven through five innings.

In the sixth Warren singled to leadoff and Eakes doubled down the leftfield line, plating Warren. Rawley Bishop followed with a single before Jeff Beachum's sacrifice fly gave the Blue Raiders a 7-1 edge.

The Golden Eagles got a run back in the seventh when Ryan Wardlow led off with a single and Sprowl's double down the rightfield line plated the run.

Beachum's 14-game hitting streak came to an end with an 0-for-4 effort.

Middle Tennessee hosts Arkansas State in a three-game series starting Friday at 7 p.m. Senior Day is Saturday at 4 p.m. and Optimist Little League Day is Sunday at 1 p.m.

GAME NOTES
Peter Mantzanis drew the first start of his career, going a career-long five innings to get the first victory of the season ... Nathan Hines extended his hitting streak to eight games with a single in the first ... Chase Eakes extended his hitting streak to eight games with a single in the second.

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