THE RUNDOWN
Middle Tennessee (23-22, 12-11) even the weekend series with a 16-8 win over No. 12 DBU (35-12, 19-4) at Horner Ballpark on Saturday. Nathan Humphreys shined with his first career three-home run game, accumulating a total of four hits, five RBI, and three runs.
 
Middle Tennessee's Luke Vinson wasted no time to get on base, hammering a fly ball to left-center field on the first pitch of the game. He would come around to score on a Brett Coker sacrifice fly for the Blue Raiders' first run.
 
With one out in the second, Miguel Santos doubled to set up Nathan Humphreys for a two-run homer that quickly flipped the one-run deficit into a one-run lead for DBU, 2-1.
 
A tally lit up the Horner Ballpark scoreboard for the third straight half-inning when Briggs Rutter lined a home run to left field, tying the game at two.
 
The Patriots found a rhythm in the bottom of the third, as Santos and Humphreys both singled to start the frame before Ethan Mann put DBU back in front with an RBI double. 
 
Kodie Kolden followed Mann's two-bagger with a fielder's choice deep to the left side of the infield that pushed Humphreys across for a 4-2 Patriot advantage.
 
Just as DBU seemed to be pulling away, MTSU found its own beat with a five-run top of the fifth in which the Blue Raiders registered five hits, none of which went for extra bases.
 
Gabe Jennings led off the sixth with a solo shot to left, but the next two Blue Raiders flew out. However, three hits with two outs and a bases-loaded hit by pitch gave MTSU back-to-back multi-run innings and stretched the margin to 10-4.
 
Luck continued to elude the Patriots in the top of the seventh. With a runner occupying each bag, an infield sequent and subsequent error shoved across a pair of runs for the Blue Raiders.
 
Through his first 3.0 innings of work, James Sells kept DBU scoreless, but Nathan Humphreys broke the spell with a solo homer in the home half of the seventh.
 
MTSU answered with a run in the eighth, but Grant Jay followed suit of his teammate Humphreys with a solo shot of his own.
 
The Blue Raiders tacked on another trio of runs in the top of the ninth, but Nathan Humphreys looked to turn the tide late with a two-run home run, scoring leadoff hitter Jace Grady, to make the score, 16-8.
 
Ethan Mann and Grant Jay singled with one and two outs respectively, but they would prove to be the last men to reach base for the Patriots in an eight-run loss.
 
THREE THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW
- The loss snaps a 15-game Conference USA win streak for DBU.
- Saturday was Nathan Humphreys' first career three-home run game.
- Saturday was the Patriots' first loss when scoring at least eight runs this season.
 
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
3 - Humphreys' three-home run day is the second by a Patriot this year (Ethan Mann on April 2 versus Louisiana Tech).
15 - Grant Jay hit his 15th home run of the season on Saturday, extending his team-leading mark and placing him one away from cracking the top 10 list for the program's Division I record for home runs in a year.
84 - The Patriots have now hit 84 home runs this season. The mark is the seventh-most by a team in DBU's Division I era.
 
UP NEXT
The series finale between DBU and MTSU takes place tomorrow afternoon. First pitch is slated for 1:00 pm at Horner Ballpark. Read Full Article