Middle Tennessee Enters Bracket Play Fourth at Capitol Classic

SACRAMENTO, Calif. - Middle Tennessee softball (11-12) fell 4-2 to Nevada-Las Vegas (15-16) in the third game of the second day of the Capitol Classic on Friday.

The score was tied 2-2 until the Rebels pushed two runs across in the top of the seventh inning. Lady Raider hurler Amanda Kendall had five strikeouts and three earned runs, and falls to 0-3.

Martinez threw six innings of shutout softball, only allowing one hit, to help the Lady Raiders to a 6-0 win over IUPUI in the second game of the day. Senior Amanda Kendall came into to finish the game in the seventh.

Middle Tennessee's six run effort was highlighted by freshman Danni DeCamino's first career homerun, with a two RBI effort in the fourth. The Lady Raiders put together four more runs in the top of the sixth, and had doubles by Lindsay Azevedo, DeCamino, Erica Buhl, and freshman Leah Grothause.

Grothause's pinch hit double was the first extra base hit of her career at Middle Tennessee. DeCamino finished the game 2-for-4 with four RBI and two runs scored.

Middle Tennessee fell 4-3 to host Sacramento State to start the day. Junior Stayc Preator pitched 6.1 innings, and with her six strikeouts, she moves to second place all time in career strikeouts with 344.

The Lady Raiders were tied with the Hornets 3-3 in the seventh inning, but a single by Nicole Deathrage sent home Jillian Bivert for the win by Sacramento. Amanda Kendall, who entered the game in the seventh inning, picked up the loss and falls to 0-2 on the year.

Middle Tennessee enters bracket play on Saturday. The Lady Raiders enter as the fourth seed in pool C and will face No. three seed Kansas from pool A at 11 a.m. PT.

Friend of the Blue Raiders? Like us on Facebook and become part of the True Blue army today.