HOUSTON – No. 7 seed Middle Tennessee upset No. 2 seed UTSA 5-1 in the second game of the 2023 Conference USA Baseball Championship on Wednesday afternoon from Reckling Park in Houston on the campus of Rice University.
 
Middle Tennessee starter Eriq Swan was dominant for the Blue Raiders, striking out nine over six innings of three-hit ball, allowing just one run. Middle Tennessee’s bullpen was just as effective, as Koda Sato tossed a pair of shutout innings for MTSU, striking out a pair, while Jaden Hamm worked out of a jam in the ninth to shut the door.
 
Middle Tennessee jumped out in front early, as JT Mabry hit a leadoff home run to left field to open the scoring.
 
The Blue Raiders extended their lead in the top of the third inning when DJ Wright knocked in a run on a fielder’s choice, and they went up 3-0 on a Briggs Rutter sacrifice fly to right.
 
UTSA got on the board in the bottom of the sixth when Matt King crushed a solo homer to deep left-center field to cut the MTSU lead to 3-1.
 
Middle Tennessee pushed its lead to 5-1 in the top of the eighth when Wright blasted a two-run shot over the left-centerfield wall. Wright finished the day 2-for-4 with the home run and three RBI for the Blue Raiders.
 
Middle Tennessee is set to take on Louisiana Tech, who won earlier on Wednesday, at 12:30 p.m. CT on Thursday, while UTSA is slated to play No. 3 seed Charlotte at 9 a.m. CT in an elimination game. Both can be seen on ESPN+.