MURFREESBORO, Tenn. (April 30, 2024) – The University of North Alabama baseball team dropped the first of back-to-back midweek games to Middle Tennessee by a 9-2 final on Tuesday in Murfreesboro, Tenn. UNA out-hit MTSU, but was unable to capitalize, batting just 1-for-12 with runners on base.
The Lions fall to 14-28 on the season looking ahead to Wednesday's contest with Samford, while MTSU improves to 15-29.
North Alabama tallied 10 hits for the first time in the last eight games but was unable to overcome the Middle Tennessee home run ball in Tuesday's contest. The Blue Raiders pushed across seven of nine runs via the long ball in the first meeting between UNA and MTSU since 1992.
John Allen Stogner opened up the game with three strikeouts, all looking, across two scoreless frames. Stogner has now struck out 16 batters across 19.1 innings in his first season at North Alabama.
Following a single and a pair of walks, Middle Tennessee opened up the scoring in the bottom of the third inning with a grand slam over the left field fence.
Josh Bowerman entered the game and tossed 2.1 scoreless innings before succumbing to a two-out two-run MTSU homer to add to the lead.
The Blue Raiders tacked on another run with a seventh inning solo shot, bringing the lead to 7-0 MTSU.
Gehrig Frei opened up the scoring for North Alabama in the eighth with a solo home run of his own. Frei leads the team with 12 home runs, the most by any UNA batter in the Division I era.
Middle Tennessee pushed across two more runs in the eighth before
David Burton entered in relief and faced the minimum two batters to send UNA to bat.
Dominick McIntyre attempted to ignite a North Alabama by clearing the left field fence with a solo home run to lead off the ninth. After a strikeout,
Jonathan Lane singled through the right side, but a pair of groundouts ended the ballgame.
With the solo home run, Frei extends his reached base streak to 16 games, the longest streak of any UNA player this season.
Pitchers of Record
W - Dylan Alonso (1-1)
S – Justin Lee (1)
COMING UP NEXT
The Lions return to Mike D. Lane Field to take on Samford on Wednesday, May 1 at 4 p.m.
