MURFREESBORO, Tenn. —Middle Tennessee (6-5) made it interesting, late, but was unable to put together another late-inning comeback in a Sunday matinee, falling 5-3 to former Conference USA foe Old Dominion (3-7). After six scoreless innings, the Blue Raiders were able to get within two runs in the eighth inning and get the winning run to first in the ninth.

Middle Tennessee didn't waste any time getting to work. Starter Drew Horn struck out the side to begin the ballgame and third baseman Brett Vondohlen clubbed his team-high sixth home run of the year, his third of the weekend, to give Middle Tennessee a 1-0 lead before Nathan Brewer's single to right field brought Tyler Minnick in to score on an error to make it 2-0 at the end of one.

Old Dominion was able to get a run in the second, but Horn was able to up his strikeout total to five through two full innings. The Monarchs tied the game 2-2 in the fourth with another unearned run. With the bases loaded and one out in the fourth, Middle Tennessee went to the bullpen to spell the end of the line for Horn, who struck out eight and gave up three earned runs in 4.1 innings.

Junior Ollie Akens came in and limited Old Dominion to just one run and got a pair of strikeouts to leave the bases loaded and leave Middle Tennessee within striking distance at 4-2.
Monarch starter Blake Morgan settled down after the two-run first inning. The lefty tossed six straight scoreless innings, allowing just two Blue Raider hits to help Old Domininon hold a 5-2 lead heading into the seventh inning.

Eston Snider doubled off the wall in left-center field in the eighth inning to extend his hitting streak to seven games prior to Vondohlen's second RBI of the game that brought Snider around to score to make it 5-3, ODU, ending Morgan's day with two out in the eighth.

Akens did his job out of the bullpen to keep the Blue Raiders in the mix, striking out a career-high seven in 3.2 innings of work.

Offensively, both Vondohlen and Brett Rogers had two-hit afternoons and both Tyler Minnick and Snider had a hit and scored a run. Nathan Brewer singled with one out in the ninth and Rogers reached base for the third time with two outs. Pinch-hitter Hayden Miller walked to load the bases, but Old Dominion reliever Bailey Matela got a loud pop-out to left to earn the save.

By the Numbers
7: Strikeouts for reliever Ollie Akens, a career-high.
6: Home runs for Brett Vondohlen, a team-high.
12: RBIs for Vondohlen, also a team-high.
16: Strikeouts for the Blue Raider pitching staff. Eight for Horn, seven for Akens and one for Landen Burch. 

Up Next
Middle Tennessee will head north on I-24 Tuesday night for a game with Austin Peay. First pitch is scheduled for 4:00 p.m.