Episode 18 feat. Conner Smith

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[00:00:44] Welcome into the Blue Raider Podcast. I'm your host, Jake Bolden and today is Tuesday, April

[00:00:57] 9th and we are concluding our winter sports actually this afternoon with the last night

[00:01:04] with the NCAA Final Four finally wrapping up and so it's time for the Blue Raider

[00:01:08] Podcast to take our stuff and move on over to the spring sports. So today my guest

[00:01:12] is Connor Smith. He's a writer at the MTSU sidelines newspaper as well as a fellow contributor

[00:01:18] to the Murphys Bro post like myself. It's been a minute but Connor, how's it going?

[00:01:22] Jake, I'm doing all same. How about yourself?

[00:01:25] Not too bad and I know that the main reason I pull you on is about baseball talk and

[00:01:30] Connor has plenty of stuff over on his Twitter and ex account following the baseball program

[00:01:34] but before we get into all that baseball talk, I just kind of want to touch base

[00:01:38] with you and see how your brackets doing and those kind of things by the morning when

[00:01:43] everyone's listening to this will know the winner of Purdue and UConn but you know how'd

[00:01:46] your bracket hold up on the men's side this year?

[00:01:49] You know my realistic one, I was pretty good through the first like two or three rounds

[00:01:54] until it got to the elite. I think I was like 75% complete and then I did not have

[00:01:59] Bama making it because I had them playing Arizona and then I didn't have NC State

[00:02:03] even making it a couple other picks. I went from like 75% to like 25% in one round so

[00:02:09] my bracket is done yet.

[00:02:12] I think a lot of us experienced that that first weekend as they always do but one

[00:02:16] thing that was thought was interesting was you had two one seeds there in the

[00:02:19] final four and that's pretty rare in itself and then on top of that you've

[00:02:23] got your the two top seeds UConn and Purdue made it all the way to the end.

[00:02:27] I don't know that that's ever happened before but for those that are

[00:02:31] following over on the Go Middle tournament challenge that we put together I

[00:02:34] think we had 28 total people over there. We've got it's down to two people so

[00:02:39] unfortunately we're recording this before the National Championship game. We

[00:02:41] got Elon Lee who has UConn winning and then Matt Dossett who is also one of our

[00:02:46] he's one of the editors over there at Go Middle. He has Purdue winning so

[00:02:50] obviously the outcome those are your two winners so congratulations to those

[00:02:53] two. I myself in the event that Purdue wins I would like to pat myself

[00:02:58] on the back and say I knew it all along as I called it so but that's that's good

[00:03:03] stuff. We also saw on the women's basketball side on Sunday conclude Iowa

[00:03:08] defeated or sorry I wish I would defeat it South Carolina because that's what my

[00:03:11] bracket had but unfortunately South Carolina is the tent team all time to

[00:03:15] go undefeated and win a national title. I mean it's incredible stuff and

[00:03:19] you know there's so many storylines that come from that but I think the

[00:03:23] biggest thing is that college women's basketball has grown tremendously and

[00:03:26] especially here in Murfreesboro Connor. Yeah you know and you mentioned that it's

[00:03:31] grown quite a bit I think it was great how Don Staley you know kind of after the

[00:03:35] game when she could have been celebrating with her her own team of course

[00:03:37] she was but she could have been you know just not focused on anyone else but she

[00:03:40] went on the mic and said Katelyn Clark thank you for making our game

[00:03:43] what it is you're gonna continue it. The women's game I think I saw the

[00:03:47] game yesterday had 18.7 million views that's that's an I'm not sure

[00:03:51] whenever I've seen any women's sport like bring that in in a few games like

[00:03:55] combine like that's just it's awesome. I do love to see the numbers that it pulls

[00:04:00] and I remember when they were talking about even the LSU Iowa game how it

[00:04:04] pulled in the crowd that it did compared to last year's NBA finals I think that

[00:04:08] was the a larger viewership and the LSU Iowa which is a sweet 16 matchup then

[00:04:12] the NBA finals so it says a lot about where the women's game is going and

[00:04:16] of course there's a lot to be excited about in regards to MTSU fans because

[00:04:19] I mean we have a really good program here and so we're still waiting on

[00:04:23] some news in regards to the transfer portal we haven't heard anything yet but

[00:04:27] I know that Matt Insul had made a statement at one point in time that they are

[00:04:31] planning to get somebody out of the portal so we're still awaiting all that

[00:04:34] news but today we did have our first news on the men's basketball side about

[00:04:38] their first portal pickup they pick up a young man there out of out of

[00:04:43] Lebanon he was a former player at Tulsa he was heavily recruited out of

[00:04:49] the mid-state area I believe he had offers to Tennessee I know he had offers to MTSU

[00:04:53] Jared Hall I was blanking on the name there for a second but Jared Hall he makes

[00:04:57] his commitment to MTSU via the transfer portal didn't offer many minutes to Tulsa

[00:05:03] last year a pretty I'd say average Tulsa team about 500 but he does make the

[00:05:07] statement that it's his homecoming tour and he's coming back to the

[00:05:10] borough so there's some news and some things I guess to be

[00:05:13] excited about for basketball. Yeah I mean they lost a couple guys Justin

[00:05:18] Porter I can think of his name is Agunda Ogan Deli. Yeah I can never get it right

[00:05:24] they lost him and Justin Porter so I mean even bringing in a guy that's a

[00:05:28] role-player that brings death I mean you never have enough depth so yeah I

[00:05:32] think the one thing about him is you don't have much tape as in Division 1

[00:05:37] I mean he's a hell of a basketball player in high school like I said he

[00:05:39] had some interest from UT so you know there's some things to to be added

[00:05:43] there but you just kind of see what the development that Nick McDevitt's

[00:05:46] able to do with him but we'll roll that conversation over now to what topic at

[00:05:51] hand we're talking about baseball right now there's a lot to be said about

[00:05:55] where baseball is at I know when we did our preseason preview earlier in the

[00:05:59] year back in late January February it was we had we were both pretty

[00:06:04] optimistic about the baseball team we're having you know your first year

[00:06:07] coach or I guess you're he loses the interim tag and it's his first year

[00:06:11] under the helm we feel good about what the where the team is at

[00:06:14] unfortunately lost quite a bit of talent to the draft and those guys are doing

[00:06:19] exceptionally well so maybe we'll get to that later as well but right now

[00:06:22] we're sitting at 11 and 19 overall I think the main thing that I'm focused

[00:06:26] on is where you're at in conference USA you've won three lost six you're

[00:06:31] right now tied for six in conference USA so not where you want to be but

[00:06:35] you're still in that midway point of the season where things could transform

[00:06:37] and I think fortunately three of your last five series are against the

[00:06:42] bottom half of the conference so you still have an opportunity now where

[00:06:46] things could transform and Connor I know you've had the opportunity to see more

[00:06:50] blue-radar baseball than I have so what are kind of some things that you're

[00:06:53] seeing from them that not only you want to see change but they need to

[00:06:57] change in order for this season to end on a positive note yeah I mean that

[00:07:01] first off the offense it's you know as you know it's really really good

[00:07:04] it's going to continue to get get theirs but we saw this weekend a little bit

[00:07:08] with the starters because the pitching in general has been kind of lackless

[00:07:11] this year you're not really sure what you're going to get but the starters

[00:07:14] stepped up big time and showed some flash against Louisiana and Tech they gave

[00:07:17] up five runs through three games which pretty pretty dang good but I'm really

[00:07:23] focusing on the bullpen because I mean I looked at some of the stats and

[00:07:26] numbers if the bullpen was just average just don't ask them to be

[00:07:30] Superman just average we have 10 more wins on the schedule and we're 21

[00:07:35] eight looking like like real you know players for the the CUSA title

[00:07:40] yeah I think you you hit the nail on the head and it's not really much of a

[00:07:43] mystery because at least the the quick numbers that I threw together because

[00:07:47] there's no way you can find on record as far as bullpen era but just looking

[00:07:51] at your guys that do the bulk of your bullpen I have the era at over nine

[00:07:55] and a half so in it's just kind of unacceptable on average again as a

[00:07:59] bullpen it's that's era is based on a nine inning average for those that

[00:08:03] don't know the math behind an era so if you're only pitching four or five

[00:08:06] innings that's roughly about a run and inning so if you're coming in as a

[00:08:10] bullpen guy that's that's four runs a game you can chalk up to the bullpen

[00:08:13] said that's not obviously that's not ideal and the thing that's really I

[00:08:17] guess frustrating as a blue raider fan for those that if you're not at the

[00:08:20] game but your box score watching you're seeing the raiders put up

[00:08:23] tons of runs tons of them and you're losing these matchups and it's

[00:08:27] and it's a head scratcher because you've got you've got great bats

[00:08:31] and we'll talk about

[00:08:33] rudder and we'll talk about guys like Jennings and Snyder and Vincent

[00:08:37] because you've got a pretty good meaty lineup from top to bottom but it's

[00:08:41] hard and it's frustrating really to score eight nine runs and lose these

[00:08:46] games because your back end bullpen just isn't quite there for you.

[00:08:50] I know that he's he's we're mixing up the rotation a little bit.

[00:08:54] I know that he's even thrown cold Torbit there as an opener kind of

[00:08:57] situation before to kind of experiment with what his closing

[00:09:00] role could be more as an opener and then seeing what James cells can do

[00:09:04] down the back end which I believe that they attempted that this weekend.

[00:09:06] So I don't know as far as what you've seen any promise in some of those

[00:09:10] bullpen guys who you may have seen that are getting better from the

[00:09:14] beginning to where we are now.

[00:09:15] Yeah I mean there's certain guys that you can bring in different spots.

[00:09:18] I talked to coach Meyer a few weeks ago and he said that they're just

[00:09:20] they're trying to see what what guys can go in different situations like

[00:09:24] if they can go with a clean in here guys on base because I looked at

[00:09:27] the stats a lot of the guys are just it's not the talent that's not there.

[00:09:30] It's the experience because 12 of the 16 guys that have given us some

[00:09:34] pretty good innings this year are all freshman and sophomores.

[00:09:37] But I think you start to figure that out especially like this weekend

[00:09:40] you had some guys like Ali Akins came in gave us nearly three good innings.

[00:09:44] So I think that's really the big issue is not the talent.

[00:09:46] It's just where you where you can put them and let them develop their

[00:09:49] own but yeah you mentioned you know Torbit started this weekend

[00:09:52] and they threw sales in their cells.

[00:09:55] Sales let the game up the tour it pitched an outstanding game and see

[00:09:59] was torrid Friday and Alderman Saturday and Patrick Johnson on Sunday.

[00:10:05] I think those are your three guys that need to go through the weekend

[00:10:09] and then once you get Matt Skaefel back if he comes back from injury

[00:10:12] you know who'll be a fourth guy in there to throw in.

[00:10:14] Yeah Torbit's an interesting piece because like I said he's done

[00:10:16] pretty well as a closer.

[00:10:18] I think he leads the team and saves but when you throw him

[00:10:20] in that opening role you kind of try to find a way to mix in again.

[00:10:24] Just just try something different and I think that's one thing

[00:10:26] that I do appreciate Coach Myers is doing even in the midway point

[00:10:30] of the season is he's not set in his ways as a coach who has a

[00:10:33] lot of experience especially as a pitching coach they could very

[00:10:36] well get accustomed to a certain way of doing things.

[00:10:40] And so he's still experimenting with it.

[00:10:41] I think James Sells is a pretty good pitcher and as he's shown

[00:10:44] earlier in the year in the non-conference schedule he can

[00:10:47] prove to be effective.

[00:10:48] So you're kind of hoping again he can maybe find his way and

[00:10:51] who knows throw in Torbit and making Sells you know the bulk

[00:10:55] the bulk pitcher in those opening type situations maybe that

[00:10:58] throws his game off I don't know but we saw that this weekend

[00:11:02] where like as you said he kind of gave the game away but

[00:11:05] back to those starters Chandler Alderman he's been a guy that

[00:11:08] has been exceptional this year and I know I had notated here

[00:11:12] that you take out two of his starts against Tennessee

[00:11:15] Martin and Binghamton last weekend he gave up 11 earned

[00:11:19] runs in those two games so those are obviously ones that you'd

[00:11:21] like to throw out and I can sit here and play ifs and buts with

[00:11:24] you but the reality is he's pretty darn good he already threw a

[00:11:27] no-hitter this year if you take out those two games I don't

[00:11:30] think he's given up more than three earned runs in a game

[00:11:34] all season long.

[00:11:35] So exceptional performance by Alderman and he's top 10 in a

[00:11:39] lot of categories and to rattle through some of them you

[00:11:41] know ERA he's eighth in ERA fourth in batting average

[00:11:44] against tenth in strikeout second and hits allowed

[00:11:47] tenth in walks allowed so the guy is stellar and you really

[00:11:51] hope for his sake again you got you got the run support there

[00:11:55] but you just hope for his sake that every weekend he gives

[00:11:58] you an opportunity and we'll talk about some of those

[00:12:00] those matchups that are coming up for the team but

[00:12:03] he's a guy every weekend that you feel good and but

[00:12:05] unfortunately for us when he pitches you've got to win

[00:12:08] those games.

[00:12:09] Yeah I think you know like you just said Chandler Alderman

[00:12:11] if he gets opportunity to win us the game I think he

[00:12:13] can same with Torbett I mean I saw both those guys pitch

[00:12:16] against Alabama earlier in the year and and Bama's no

[00:12:18] scrub they're currently ranked something like like 23 and

[00:12:21] 7 they're really good but he those two went in there and

[00:12:24] gave up I think only two of their runs through seven

[00:12:26] innings and then like sales blew the game later in there

[00:12:30] in the in the game but I think both those guys are

[00:12:33] me Keith rest down the stretch.

[00:12:36] You also look at um I said those matchups in

[00:12:38] particular like he got you you obviously you're

[00:12:40] able to rotate your home in a way schedule is coming

[00:12:42] down the stretch but your next upcoming series is at

[00:12:45] home against New Mexico State this weekend that's a

[00:12:48] team that you're tied with uh they're in the bottom of

[00:12:50] the or actually there they're one game behind but

[00:12:52] they're they're they're tied at eighth that's a

[00:12:54] series you've got to win then you go on the road to

[00:12:57] Huntsville Texas and you face Sam Houston State

[00:12:59] tied for six with you're also tied with them so

[00:13:02] these next two series again could be tell-tale

[00:13:04] for you because if you're able to at least get

[00:13:06] one if not two in Huntsville you get two here

[00:13:09] at home against New Mexico State you know

[00:13:11] your record is then looking at you're nearly

[00:13:14] back to even you're at seven and eight so you have

[00:13:16] an opportunity to kind of transform where you

[00:13:19] where you're sitting and then you in your year two of

[00:13:20] your last three series are against Western Kentucky

[00:13:22] and Dallas Baptist but luckily for us they're at

[00:13:26] home and we tend to play a little bit better at

[00:13:28] home it's always better to go lay your head in

[00:13:30] your own bed um and get ready for games here

[00:13:33] in your home state but as we as we move towards

[00:13:36] those things I think the other um you know

[00:13:39] outstanding outstanding part is again back to

[00:13:41] the bats because when we get against these

[00:13:43] Dallas Baptist Western teams they are well

[00:13:45] rounded so I'm interested to see what your take

[00:13:48] on the batting performance is again we know how good

[00:13:50] they are what's kind of your take on the

[00:13:52] success that they could potentially have

[00:13:54] against tougher bullpens tougher starting

[00:13:56] rotations like Westier Kentucky and um Dallas

[00:14:00] Baptist yeah I mean well both those seems

[00:14:03] that I'm saying pitching so it'll be a big

[00:14:04] challenge for us but I mean we've shown

[00:14:06] we can play with the big dogs quite a few times

[00:14:09] this year so I mean and you're not going to score

[00:14:12] seven eight runs a game like that just every night

[00:14:14] so I'm really excited to see how they're going

[00:14:16] to compete because last year they competed very

[00:14:18] well with both those teams but they lost several

[00:14:20] key pieces for the offense so I think they'll

[00:14:23] compete but it's just a matter of you know

[00:14:25] are you winning your counts are you you're

[00:14:27] making the pitch your work that's worth stuff

[00:14:29] and I think too this last weekend was a good test

[00:14:32] I think Louisiana Tech is the top three team

[00:14:34] perennially in this conference they they provide

[00:14:37] the potential to again test it's a good

[00:14:39] measuring stick going into the western series

[00:14:41] later on and then going into that Dallas Baptist series

[00:14:43] I was pretty impressed given the scores that we

[00:14:45] saw they were in just about every game this

[00:14:47] weekend I know they they they lose two of the

[00:14:50] three but granted you know you don't get

[00:14:52] blown out like you did with FIU you don't get

[00:14:54] blown out with with teams that are lesser than

[00:14:55] you is really the point I'm trying to make so

[00:14:57] you see that this team is able to hang

[00:14:59] but again it just comes back to the bullpen if

[00:15:01] you're able to hang on to three or four more

[00:15:03] runs keep those in your pocket you feel

[00:15:05] really good about that potential so and I

[00:15:07] can sit here and harp on this but I know

[00:15:09] that outside of of Rudder who as I've said

[00:15:12] all along is the second best catcher in

[00:15:13] the conference and you could honestly

[00:15:15] maybe even make the argument that he's

[00:15:16] the best at this point but he doesn't

[00:15:18] kind of have the intangibles but

[00:15:20] he's great you know what who are some

[00:15:21] other guys that that you that have

[00:15:23] impressed you in the batter's box this

[00:15:25] year well besides the bridge I'd say

[00:15:27] number one escaped jeans I mean the guy

[00:15:28] last year batted 216 um he's already

[00:15:32] batting in the high 300s he's already

[00:15:34] he's already surpassed or close to his

[00:15:36] home run RBI total from last year link

[00:15:38] last year he had six and 29 this year

[00:15:39] he's at five and 24 so already halfway

[00:15:42] through the year and he's

[00:15:44] he's already got his stats from a full

[00:15:46] you know nearly 60 games last year

[00:15:47] he's really really impressed me at the

[00:15:49] way he's he's developed you know kind

[00:15:51] of sucks that he's in his last year we

[00:15:53] don't get him for another year but

[00:15:54] as the starters another guy that I'm

[00:15:56] really excited about because I thought

[00:15:58] he would take the next step earlier

[00:15:59] in the year he was he kind of slow

[00:16:02] to to get you know the bats going but as

[00:16:05] of late he's been on fire he's bat number

[00:16:06] 300 and then of course Lou vince you

[00:16:08] know he's just he's that guy he's going

[00:16:10] to give you you know probably 330 average

[00:16:12] good base running good defense

[00:16:14] absolutely absolutely and those guys I

[00:16:16] mean and as you culminate all that

[00:16:19] together I mean you look at where

[00:16:20] this team is collectively as far as top

[00:16:22] three in conference USA and batting

[00:16:24] average um there are top there I would

[00:16:26] guess you could say bottom three and

[00:16:28] strike out so they're not striking

[00:16:29] out a lot and their stolen bases

[00:16:31] are top three in the conference so all

[00:16:33] that to say you're getting guys on base

[00:16:34] your manufacturing runs you're getting

[00:16:36] guys over getting avoiding the double

[00:16:38] play and I guess I think a big stat

[00:16:41] that doesn't necessarily show anything

[00:16:42] in the runs category is a strikeout

[00:16:43] it's important especially in today's

[00:16:45] game that you avoid the strikeout make

[00:16:47] the defense work for their outs and

[00:16:48] again back to the stolen bases

[00:16:50] you're making you're able to

[00:16:50] manufacture move guys around and

[00:16:53] again just kind of beat a dead horse

[00:16:54] at this point with the not so

[00:16:55] bright spots as the pitching your

[00:16:58] bottom three and team me era runs

[00:16:59] allowed hits allowed home runs allowed

[00:17:02] batting average against and then the

[00:17:04] other kind of weird thing is the errors

[00:17:06] the fielding percentage is one of the

[00:17:07] worst in the conference

[00:17:09] um I didn't necessarily see that as a

[00:17:11] weak point going into this season

[00:17:13] but um you know as far as that again

[00:17:15] as someone that's laid more eyes on the

[00:17:17] baseball team than I have

[00:17:19] well you know what you know what

[00:17:20] what's kind of the cause for some of

[00:17:22] this error or fielding mishaps

[00:17:24] that we've had early on in the year

[00:17:27] you know I think the study is

[00:17:28] honestly misleading because you look at

[00:17:30] it and you think dang 30 errors that's

[00:17:32] that's pretty bad

[00:17:33] but if you look at who's committing

[00:17:34] them 14 of those go to play battle

[00:17:36] like by himself so I mean not to say

[00:17:39] that you would get perfect

[00:17:41] fielding from anyone else but just

[00:17:43] looking at even if you had a grand

[00:17:44] siren though he'd probably have a

[00:17:45] couple but two or three is a lot

[00:17:46] better than 14 so you take his 14

[00:17:48] out you're at you know 24 and

[00:17:51] you're um you know one of the best

[00:17:53] in the conference right and it all

[00:17:55] it all is it it just kind of plays

[00:17:58] on like I know when you look at

[00:17:59] shortstop numbers you always think of

[00:18:00] those numbers are incredibly high but

[00:18:02] or less out of the infield for that

[00:18:03] matter

[00:18:04] it's just the hot side of the field

[00:18:06] and that's just kind of how it's

[00:18:06] something that's just kind of how the

[00:18:07] cookie crumbles

[00:18:08] um but as we wrap up the baseball

[00:18:10] talk here

[00:18:12] we've talked about those upcoming

[00:18:13] series

[00:18:14] um I have it you know written down on

[00:18:15] my notes as far as what needs to

[00:18:17] happen here you've got as I've

[00:18:18] already said the new Mexico state

[00:18:19] jackson state series as you're too

[00:18:21] easier the matchups and then you're

[00:18:22] going to end the year with sam

[00:18:23] houston western and in Dallas

[00:18:25] bad just mixed in there

[00:18:27] I just haven't noted that you just

[00:18:28] got to avoid those sweeps you got to

[00:18:30] find a way to at least pick up a win

[00:18:32] in each of those series

[00:18:33] warren olin has the raiders projected

[00:18:35] to finish ninth in the conference

[00:18:36] right now

[00:18:37] and only winning two more games and

[00:18:39] that's against new Mexico state this

[00:18:41] upcoming weekend so by warren

[00:18:42] olin's projections as far as

[00:18:43] conference goes it has you losing

[00:18:46] out after this next weekend

[00:18:47] I hope that's not the case and

[00:18:49] and they've proven to us thus far

[00:18:51] that that's not the case there

[00:18:52] they are able to at least sneak

[00:18:54] a win there on these tough weekend

[00:18:56] battles but um and ninth is way off

[00:18:58] of where we had them you know I think

[00:18:59] when we talk earlier in the year we

[00:19:00] had them at least in the top half

[00:19:02] so they're fifth plus and then we're

[00:19:04] kind of sitting in a situation where

[00:19:05] or basketball was that back in

[00:19:07] January

[00:19:08] so what do you see from from your

[00:19:10] eyes you know what not only what is

[00:19:12] it going to take but where do you

[00:19:14] where do you hopefully see this

[00:19:15] team well when the conference

[00:19:16] tournament rolls around

[00:19:19] yeah I mean I don't want to be a

[00:19:20] dead horse but bullpen is is

[00:19:22] keep bullpen bullpen bullpen because

[00:19:24] as we said earlier you know the

[00:19:25] offense is going to get there's

[00:19:26] offense is going to score most of the

[00:19:28] time five to seven runs of games

[00:19:30] they've been averaging just about

[00:19:32] the starting pitching as of late if

[00:19:33] you if you watch it's not been bad

[00:19:35] like it's honestly been pretty solid

[00:19:37] this weekend it was really really good

[00:19:38] against a team who averages

[00:19:39] about eight runs a game so that impressed

[00:19:41] me

[00:19:41] but even I mean we had leads in all

[00:19:43] three games and then cells and

[00:19:46] trace Phillips gave up the leads

[00:19:48] in game one in game two so I think

[00:19:50] bullpen is is the key if you can

[00:19:51] at least be be decent or like

[00:19:54] slightly above average with the way

[00:19:55] the offense and the starting pitchers

[00:19:57] are going

[00:19:58] this this season could be very very

[00:20:00] interesting you know

[00:20:01] consider where we started up

[00:20:02] yeah I think you hit the nail in

[00:20:03] the head there

[00:20:04] you just like we're not even asking

[00:20:05] for the bullpen to be

[00:20:07] you know

[00:20:07] lockdown we're just asking them to be

[00:20:09] average and being average right now

[00:20:10] would put you I think you said at

[00:20:11] the top was what 10 extra wins like

[00:20:13] that's

[00:20:14] that's pretty significant turn so

[00:20:16] hopefully you know the Raiders are

[00:20:18] able to kind of figure the bullpen

[00:20:19] out it does seem that they're

[00:20:20] they're turning it's the it's the

[00:20:22] midweek games that you might be

[00:20:23] looking at I know

[00:20:24] tomorrow or Tuesday the day that this

[00:20:26] comes out you have a match up in

[00:20:28] Nashville against Vanderbilt pending

[00:20:29] weather

[00:20:30] so you know unfortunately that that's

[00:20:32] not always a great site if you look

[00:20:33] at if you start watching Blue Raider

[00:20:35] baseball today that may not be a

[00:20:36] great measuring stick to see where

[00:20:37] they're really at

[00:20:38] but there's there's potential there

[00:20:40] so you're hoping that again

[00:20:43] the midweek games is your time to

[00:20:44] figure out your bullpen

[00:20:45] and you implement that plan as you

[00:20:47] move into

[00:20:48] the weekend but

[00:20:49] we'll change

[00:20:50] topics here switch gears on over to

[00:20:53] the softball side of things again

[00:20:55] similar to baseball a lot of

[00:20:57] a lot of high hopes for the lady Raiders

[00:20:59] are picked top three in conference

[00:21:01] USA going into the preseason pole and

[00:21:02] they have fallen down to seventh

[00:21:05] and I would to sum it up really like

[00:21:07] much like with baseball it's kind of

[00:21:09] a one thing it's bullpen but with

[00:21:10] with softball

[00:21:11] to sum it all up into one thing

[00:21:12] they're just not getting the timely

[00:21:14] hits and I think the one stat that

[00:21:15] really blew my mind when I was

[00:21:16] doing my research

[00:21:18] for the show

[00:21:19] is the margin uh the run

[00:21:20] differential is

[00:21:22] minus 0.1

[00:21:23] so you know

[00:21:25] safe safe to say that every game is

[00:21:27] essentially a tie

[00:21:28] but you're just missing that one

[00:21:30] extra run and and it's that's tough

[00:21:32] that's a really tough pill to swallow

[00:21:33] because this team is so good

[00:21:35] and to know that you're

[00:21:36] you're literally just one timely

[00:21:37] hit one timely rbi away

[00:21:39] from being

[00:21:40] from seventh all the way up to

[00:21:41] potentially fourth third place

[00:21:43] because it's a tight conference so

[00:21:45] you know I know you spend more

[00:21:47] energy and effort on the baseball

[00:21:48] side but from the softball side

[00:21:50] you know what are kind of some

[00:21:51] areas that you see that this team

[00:21:53] is good or where they could be

[00:21:54] improving in

[00:21:56] I think they're honestly they've

[00:21:57] shown flashes in just about every

[00:21:59] area the bullpen

[00:22:01] like baseball is is probably the

[00:22:02] weak spot

[00:22:03] offense the the strong point of the

[00:22:04] team

[00:22:05] but I mean like like you said

[00:22:06] they're not getting timely hits

[00:22:07] that's been kind of the thing all

[00:22:08] your along I mean I'm sure you

[00:22:09] remember back the first week or so

[00:22:11] how

[00:22:12] yes the bullpen would give up the

[00:22:13] games in the last few games and

[00:22:15] they'd lose like four to three but

[00:22:16] also if you score three runs

[00:22:18] and give it four well if you go and

[00:22:20] give it four runs in college softball

[00:22:22] you want to win a lot of your games

[00:22:23] they just weren't hitting the ball

[00:22:25] at the time of spots so I mean it's

[00:22:28] it's unfortunate but this team is

[00:22:29] very very talented I think they're

[00:22:30] the same

[00:22:31] same way as baseball how they can get

[00:22:33] things clicking and just play

[00:22:34] consistent softball

[00:22:35] they can make a run for for the

[00:22:37] conference championship

[00:22:39] yeah it's tough this last week they

[00:22:41] got swept on the road in Huntsville

[00:22:43] Texas against Sam Houston State who

[00:22:44] is bottom of the conference so you

[00:22:46] you know that's not promising

[00:22:48] when you get swept by the worst

[00:22:49] team in conference USA and

[00:22:51] unfortunately for the ladies that

[00:22:52] test that road schedule doesn't get

[00:22:55] any easier for and they go into a

[00:22:56] series with the number one team in

[00:22:57] liberty who was picked to win the

[00:22:59] conference USA

[00:23:00] then you're on the road and bowling

[00:23:01] green against west or Kentucky and

[00:23:02] then you wrap the season up at home

[00:23:04] against New Mexico State who's tied

[00:23:05] for third so

[00:23:07] all that your last three contests

[00:23:09] are against the top three teams

[00:23:09] of conference USA so

[00:23:11] safe to say the road doesn't get

[00:23:13] any easier from here

[00:23:14] and as as you already touched on

[00:23:17] you know the big thing is with

[00:23:18] pitching is the hits runs allowed

[00:23:20] walks batting average against and

[00:23:22] walks all all of those categories

[00:23:23] are bottom three in conference USA

[00:23:25] but unfortunately

[00:23:27] Cameron Carcich is one of the

[00:23:29] better pitchers in conference USA

[00:23:31] I think she's second in the

[00:23:32] conference and in total wins

[00:23:34] she's pitched more than anybody by

[00:23:36] a long shot in conference USA so

[00:23:38] coach Breedon's leaning heavily on

[00:23:40] Carcich as we assume that she

[00:23:41] would she's second in the

[00:23:43] conference and wins fifth in

[00:23:45] strikeouts and eighth in ERA so

[00:23:46] she's she's done her job as you

[00:23:48] say holding teams to three four

[00:23:50] runs you should be winning those

[00:23:51] games but the ladies just they

[00:23:53] just kind of seem to lack

[00:23:55] that timely hitting to kind of

[00:23:57] produce behind their their pitcher

[00:23:58] Carcich and Mary Martinez is

[00:24:00] another one who she's a transfer

[00:24:02] from Louisiana Tech still a young

[00:24:04] player but she's shown some flashes

[00:24:07] of being a good pitcher but

[00:24:09] it's tough as a pitcher to hold

[00:24:10] the team to three four runs and

[00:24:12] you just don't get that run

[00:24:12] production behind you when you

[00:24:13] need it

[00:24:14] yeah I mean and as you say you

[00:24:18] know the pitching has not been

[00:24:19] it's not been great by any

[00:24:20] stretch of the imagination but like

[00:24:22] you said they've shown flash

[00:24:23] we have good pitches on the roster

[00:24:25] it's just I think the big thing that

[00:24:26] hurts us is we lost so many

[00:24:28] veterans from last year's team

[00:24:30] that some of these younger

[00:24:31] younger girls or women whatever you

[00:24:33] want to say are having to be

[00:24:35] thrown in to the fire so to speak

[00:24:36] and just just see what you can do

[00:24:39] instead of just develop their arms

[00:24:40] I think that will probably help them

[00:24:41] in the long run but right now

[00:24:43] it looks bad on them which I feel

[00:24:45] sorry for honestly

[00:24:47] yeah the the show's trying to throw in

[00:24:48] Claire Woods right now as far as

[00:24:50] pitching she's getting some action

[00:24:52] and then as well as Jesse and Espinall

[00:24:54] who played both of which those girls

[00:24:56] played on the team last year so

[00:24:57] they're still

[00:24:59] I guess you're trying your best to

[00:25:01] still work with what you got I know

[00:25:03] like I said that Carstas just

[00:25:05] throwing more innings than anybody

[00:25:06] and conference USA by a long shot

[00:25:08] but for and breed and sake that's

[00:25:10] what you got to do if you want to

[00:25:11] win these ball games you got to throw

[00:25:13] your most experienced pitcher up there

[00:25:14] and hope that she can give you the

[00:25:16] quality outs that you need but on the

[00:25:17] backside you got to be able to produce

[00:25:20] some of those names though as far as

[00:25:21] as as those batters go you've got

[00:25:23] Ansley Blevins who's been

[00:25:25] exceptional she is the team leader

[00:25:26] in RBI six in the conference in OPS

[00:25:28] and second in home runs so she is

[00:25:30] kind of your your catalyst if you

[00:25:32] will on the offensive side of things

[00:25:34] because she can she can absolutely

[00:25:35] rake and then Amaya Harris who

[00:25:38] is also tied for the league

[00:25:39] tied for the team lead in RBI's

[00:25:41] she's fourth in the conference and

[00:25:42] hit send doubles and so you got some

[00:25:45] production there but outside of that

[00:25:46] year again I we beat that same dead

[00:25:49] horse so we talked about with bullpen

[00:25:50] baseball it's just the hitting

[00:25:52] that's all it is when you get the

[00:25:53] when you get the girls on

[00:25:54] you roll that runner over

[00:25:56] as far as that season outlet goes

[00:25:58] for the ladies right now again tied

[00:26:00] for the their war Nolan has them

[00:26:02] projected tied for seventh in conference

[00:26:04] USA

[00:26:06] you got three series left

[00:26:08] New Mexico State Liberty and

[00:26:10] Western Kentucky so where do

[00:26:13] Connors interested to hear your input

[00:26:15] as far as what do you think for the

[00:26:17] ladies at this point at this juncture

[00:26:19] you're sitting low in the conference

[00:26:20] but a win and one of these series

[00:26:22] could certainly flip flip the season on

[00:26:24] its head

[00:26:25] yeah well I mean as we saw nearly in

[00:26:27] in the men's bracket for conference

[00:26:29] USA you know empty issue they were

[00:26:30] to beat Western and win that one

[00:26:33] and they're going to the conference

[00:26:34] or the NCAA tournament so I mean

[00:26:36] there's there's so lots to look at

[00:26:38] in the season and I mean these these

[00:26:40] girls are good softball players I mean

[00:26:42] a lot of them were here last year when

[00:26:43] the offense but was so good I know you

[00:26:45] lost some girls like rich and me and

[00:26:47] a couple others but so a lot of the

[00:26:48] bulk of last year is here so I mean

[00:26:50] I think the big thing is just

[00:26:52] like you said hitting hitting timely

[00:26:54] balls and you know playing good good

[00:26:56] defense and just playing collectively

[00:26:58] well and you can make a run you

[00:27:00] never know

[00:27:01] yeah absolutely and I mean we saw it

[00:27:02] last year when they made their run

[00:27:04] into the NCAA tournament and I mean

[00:27:06] breeding was admittedly on his season

[00:27:08] preview about how you know maybe they

[00:27:11] weren't necessarily the best team but

[00:27:12] they were the best team when it mattered

[00:27:13] and that's what kind of what what

[00:27:15] baseball and softball or funny sports

[00:27:16] like that you don't always have to be

[00:27:17] the best team

[00:27:18] but sometimes you're once swing at

[00:27:20] the bat away from changing the game

[00:27:21] and that's kind of what they

[00:27:22] experienced in last year's conference

[00:27:24] tournament as well as when they got

[00:27:25] to the NCAA I mean they were a

[00:27:27] game away from going into the super

[00:27:29] regionals so and again I would

[00:27:32] argue that this team is more

[00:27:33] talented than that one so if all

[00:27:35] that if all that is correct then you

[00:27:37] know you're still plenty of time to

[00:27:38] switch it around but

[00:27:39] unfortunately for the ladies you only

[00:27:41] have three weekends to get it right

[00:27:42] whereas you know the men they've so

[00:27:44] got five weekends to go

[00:27:46] but still still time excited to see

[00:27:48] where they go and again the series this

[00:27:51] weekend is paramount to their success

[00:27:52] coming up with New Mexico State you

[00:27:54] got to find a way to bounce back

[00:27:55] from San Houston State getting swept

[00:27:58] there but I would say that there is

[00:28:00] something to I guess a wake-up call

[00:28:02] if you will because if you lose that

[00:28:04] series getting swept not just not just

[00:28:05] losing a series but getting swept by

[00:28:07] Sam Houston State

[00:28:08] maybe that's a wake-up call I think if

[00:28:09] you turn around and you play a really

[00:28:10] good team your next weekend maybe you

[00:28:12] lock in a little bit better

[00:28:13] you take your practice swings a little

[00:28:15] bit more seriously you take your bull

[00:28:16] pins a little bit more seriously maybe

[00:28:18] things are able to to turn around for

[00:28:19] the ladies this weekend

[00:28:21] yeah I mean it's really funny how

[00:28:23] how you know the ties can turn like

[00:28:25] that I mean we saw it with

[00:28:27] teams even basketball being a

[00:28:29] Baymouth fan which it hurt but

[00:28:31] whenever Kentucky lost to LSU on

[00:28:32] that buzzer beer they went in there

[00:28:34] and just run fire until they got into

[00:28:35] the SSE tournament but

[00:28:37] I mean maybe they can use that as

[00:28:38] motivation Coach Breeden can

[00:28:40] can tell me every day you know you got

[00:28:41] swept in the series don't let it

[00:28:42] happen again

[00:28:43] and they can go out there and make

[00:28:44] some out of the season

[00:28:46] absolutely yeah still time to turn

[00:28:47] turn the tides but

[00:28:49] last topic of discussion here just a

[00:28:51] little exciting news as far as what's

[00:28:53] coming up this weekend is the MTSU

[00:28:54] football spring game I know that a

[00:28:55] lot of people have been waiting

[00:28:57] or you know because stocks still

[00:28:58] had gone gone away with it for

[00:28:59] years and I don't know that it's

[00:29:01] should be a big a big deal it is it is

[00:29:04] exciting to finally kind of see what

[00:29:05] the culmination of your spring

[00:29:07] practices are

[00:29:08] but those rosters are out they are

[00:29:09] up on go blue raiders calm and I'll

[00:29:12] credit Sam Dalton for his write-up

[00:29:14] as far as the draft that happened

[00:29:16] this last week but I'm pretty excited

[00:29:18] I do plan to be in attendance this

[00:29:19] Saturday and for those that don't know

[00:29:21] it is at Floyd Stadium and the

[00:29:24] admission is entirely free baseball

[00:29:26] is also playing I believe this

[00:29:27] weekend same time so that you have

[00:29:29] the ability to buy a ticket to baseball

[00:29:32] you have free admission over into the

[00:29:33] end of the spring game so there's a

[00:29:34] lot to be excited about is anything

[00:29:36] you kind of keeping an eye out for

[00:29:37] Connor yeah I mean well I mean obviously

[00:29:40] everyone's looking forward to seeing

[00:29:41] new a coach and and Derrick Mason I

[00:29:43] guess you could probably slogan the

[00:29:44] blue collar work ethic I'm really

[00:29:46] excited to see you know how the guys

[00:29:48] have responded to that because from

[00:29:50] what I've seen on social media and

[00:29:51] heard around around the program he's

[00:29:52] been pushing pretty hard so I'm excited

[00:29:54] to see you know how they're looking

[00:29:56] also excited to see Holden Willis

[00:29:57] because they moved him to tight end

[00:30:00] kind of where you moved your best

[00:30:01] receiver to tie in but he's got the bill

[00:30:03] for it I mean and he'll be a mismatch

[00:30:05] problem so I want to see you know the

[00:30:07] new coach obviously with his new system

[00:30:10] Holden Willis and look at the offensive

[00:30:11] line because they lost several pieces

[00:30:13] from last year off the off at O-line

[00:30:15] that wasn't great they brought in

[00:30:17] they brought in a transfer too and

[00:30:18] they have some other guys that can

[00:30:19] step up so I'm really excited to

[00:30:21] see those three things yeah the

[00:30:23] the tight end listing on Willis was

[00:30:24] something that was interesting

[00:30:26] because as you said is the best wide

[00:30:27] receiver I don't know if coach reader

[00:30:29] plans to do more spread I know when we

[00:30:31] spoke to Derek Mason earlier on in the

[00:30:32] year with Austin Lewis that his plan

[00:30:34] was they're going to try a lot of

[00:30:35] different things so I don't know that

[00:30:37] I read into Willis being a tight end

[00:30:39] he may be more of a slot guy that

[00:30:40] they bring into block I don't I don't

[00:30:42] know what kind of schemes that they

[00:30:43] plan to use but that was it's

[00:30:45] certainly was in my opinion a

[00:30:47] calculated reason to put him as a

[00:30:48] tight end for whatever reason I

[00:30:49] don't know that you know Tennessee

[00:30:51] Tech and any of these other teams

[00:30:53] that were playing this Memphis is

[00:30:54] looking at our Duke is looking at our

[00:30:56] roster to see where Holden Willis is

[00:30:58] but it's still as interesting to see

[00:31:00] but some things that just kind of know

[00:31:02] you got your blue team with Nick

[00:31:03] Vadiotto who I think this spring has

[00:31:06] kind of been set clear that he is the

[00:31:07] number one I think going into December

[00:31:09] we thought there might be a one two

[00:31:11] battle between him and Luther Richardson

[00:31:13] but I think that Vadiotto has kind

[00:31:15] of made it has made some separation

[00:31:17] or at least put some push those

[00:31:19] claims a little bit but of course

[00:31:21] it's always exciting to see because

[00:31:22] Nick will be on the blue team

[00:31:24] Richardson the junior college transfer

[00:31:26] from California will be on the white

[00:31:28] team as well as some of those SEC

[00:31:32] name transfers that came in this last

[00:31:34] year Omari Kelly will be on Vadiotto's

[00:31:36] blue team and then you got Gammarian

[00:31:37] Carter from Vanderbilt on the white

[00:31:39] team and they have equally dispersed

[00:31:42] all these new offensive linemen that

[00:31:43] you kind of alluded to throughout

[00:31:45] both of the teams so to be exciting

[00:31:47] I'm really honestly excited because

[00:31:49] I didn't have the ability to go to

[00:31:50] any of the open practices thus far

[00:31:52] but I'm really excited to see the size

[00:31:54] on these guys I think as you mentioned

[00:31:56] the offensive line like we've kind of

[00:31:58] moved away from those guys and now

[00:32:00] we're getting huge I don't think we're

[00:32:01] we're bigger than conference USA is for

[00:32:03] the most part and I think that's

[00:32:04] something that I'm excited to see

[00:32:06] that come to fruition at here at the

[00:32:08] end of spring

[00:32:09] yeah we're definitely getting bigger

[00:32:11] from what I've seen I mean especially

[00:32:12] Ellis Adams I looked at his his

[00:32:15] like his build oh my I think he's

[00:32:17] something like like six foot eight

[00:32:20] three sixty like that that's bigger

[00:32:22] than a lot of the big 10 and sec linemen

[00:32:24] like that dude is massive right and I

[00:32:26] think from from the few scouts that

[00:32:28] I've heard over at go middle that have

[00:32:30] been able to watch him I think he has a

[00:32:31] lot of raw talent my biggest question

[00:32:33] is he came from was it ten yeah

[00:32:35] Tennessee Tech like how does a guy

[00:32:37] like that get passed over just from

[00:32:39] sheer size alone so I know he's got

[00:32:41] some raw talent that's got to get

[00:32:42] kind of worked around smooth out those

[00:32:44] edges a little bit for him but yeah

[00:32:45] there there certainly is a lot to

[00:32:47] be excited about with him Jamela Knox

[00:32:49] is another guy who a huge frame I think

[00:32:52] he's listed at 320 pounds I think he's

[00:32:55] also at 6465 a little bit shorter but

[00:32:58] massive human being nonetheless but

[00:33:01] excited that kickoff is at one I know

[00:33:03] that they made the announcement this

[00:33:05] week that the gates will open at 12

[00:33:07] they're gonna have food trucks

[00:33:08] there's gonna be tons of food

[00:33:09] there is going to be a kid zone for

[00:33:11] those that want to bring their

[00:33:12] kids so it'll be an event for the

[00:33:14] whole family and don't worry it's

[00:33:15] not going to take up all day I

[00:33:16] know that they're doing four quarters

[00:33:18] 15 minutes just like a typical football

[00:33:20] game but it'll be a running clock

[00:33:21] except for the final two minutes so

[00:33:23] I think it'll be great if you're into

[00:33:25] MTSU football to come out support the

[00:33:27] team I know they're also doing

[00:33:28] giveaways for season ticket buyers and

[00:33:30] all that great stuff so I don't want

[00:33:32] to miss any of those plugs for those

[00:33:33] that are excited about football you

[00:33:35] should be excited about football we're

[00:33:37] finally seeing the change that we've

[00:33:38] all been asking for and Derek's a

[00:33:40] great coach to get behind not only

[00:33:41] a great coach but I should also say

[00:33:43] he's a great guy so I think there's

[00:33:44] a lot of reasons that you should

[00:33:45] back up your program back up MTSU

[00:33:48] as a university and of course back up

[00:33:49] the the young men that put on the

[00:33:51] pads for us every Saturday so

[00:33:53] um Connor I appreciate you coming

[00:33:56] coming back on to the show to talk more

[00:33:58] baseball with me hopefully

[00:33:59] things turn around for the baseball

[00:34:01] program and we can extend our

[00:34:02] relationship here and talk more about

[00:34:04] it going on to the postseason but

[00:34:06] Connor I know that you're still

[00:34:07] a student in MTSU go ahead and

[00:34:09] plug us those socials for so we can

[00:34:11] find your work

[00:34:13] yeah my Instagram is

[00:34:14] theconnersmith04 and then my

[00:34:17] ex twitter whatever you want to call it

[00:34:19] I'll call it twitter is just Connor

[00:34:20] Smith04 pretty basic but I mean

[00:34:23] it's all right easy to find right and

[00:34:25] then you're still doing you're still

[00:34:26] working for MTSU sidelines that's

[00:34:28] right yes sir yep and all their work

[00:34:31] you can find that online I believe

[00:34:32] it's just you you can search MTSU

[00:34:34] sidelines as well as his work

[00:34:36] over for the Murfreesboro post and

[00:34:38] main street media

[00:34:39] um covering still high school

[00:34:41] athletics I imagine which is in full

[00:34:43] swing right now in spring fling

[00:34:44] coming up so Connors Connors a

[00:34:46] busy man as well as going to

[00:34:47] school I lived that life so I bless

[00:34:49] him tremendously for his work ethic

[00:34:51] he's going through right now but

[00:34:52] Connor I appreciate it man

[00:34:58] and it's time to move into the

[00:34:59] blue raider wrap up portion of the

[00:35:00] episode but I will top off the

[00:35:02] segment with a new exciting

[00:35:04] announcement for the blue raider

[00:35:05] podcast as we have joined a new

[00:35:07] community called the college huddle

[00:35:09] the college huddle has quickly

[00:35:10] become the largest independent

[00:35:11] college sports community on the

[00:35:12] internet as middle tennessee's

[00:35:14] lone representative we are excited

[00:35:15] for this opportunity not only for us

[00:35:17] but for you the listener slash fan of

[00:35:19] the blue raider podcast

[00:35:20] here's what you can expect as a part

[00:35:22] of this community more opportunities

[00:35:24] to collaborate with other like-minded

[00:35:25] independent fan driven podcasts

[00:35:27] giving you the ability to interact

[00:35:29] with other fan bases and learn about

[00:35:30] future opponents and what they bring

[00:35:31] to the table our podcast will have an

[00:35:33] opportunity to have a more national

[00:35:35] platform which will connect us with

[00:35:36] even more blue raider fans from

[00:35:37] around the globe as a part of the

[00:35:39] college huddle we now have an

[00:35:41] abundant amount of resources in which

[00:35:42] to aid in this continual growth

[00:35:44] and production of our podcast

[00:35:45] which in turn will only bring more of

[00:35:47] the same opportunities to you the

[00:35:48] listener of this content

[00:35:49] the possibility of better audio

[00:35:51] visuals and graphics are all something

[00:35:53] that the college huddle offers through

[00:35:54] a continual growing library of

[00:35:56] educational materials for us

[00:35:57] podcasters and content creators

[00:35:59] it's a win-win for you and the fans

[00:36:01] finally after being part of a

[00:36:03] community that has a vision of

[00:36:04] cutting-edge growth in college

[00:36:05] sports which seemingly is changing

[00:36:07] overnight

[00:36:08] we'll make sure that no matter

[00:36:10] what changes might happen in college

[00:36:12] realignment the blue raider

[00:36:13] podcast would not be left behind

[00:36:15] we will change right along with the

[00:36:16] sport and the college huddle makes

[00:36:17] those changes easier for us as a show

[00:36:19] so i'm extremely excited about this

[00:36:23] this collaboration with the college

[00:36:24] huddle especially moving into

[00:36:25] football season as we get as it

[00:36:26] already states with those

[00:36:27] collaborations of other

[00:36:30] like-minded podcasts g5 as well as

[00:36:32] the bigger schools so lots to be

[00:36:34] excited about this collaborative

[00:36:35] effort

[00:36:36] with 68 other schools across the

[00:36:38] country and i'm glad that the

[00:36:39] college huddle picked the blue

[00:36:40] raider podcast to represent mtsu

[00:36:43] other news that was also announced

[00:36:45] after my recording with connor

[00:36:46] the lady raiders made a signing with

[00:36:49] mississippi gatorade player of the

[00:36:50] year macy fifer absolutely

[00:36:53] astonishing news for the lady raiders

[00:36:54] we already had a signing last week

[00:36:57] with carcens swainey from heritage

[00:36:59] east tennessee and then you also

[00:37:01] add the 511 junior wing

[00:37:04] this is a class of 2025 just like

[00:37:06] swainey is average 20.1

[00:37:08] points per game 6.1 rebounds

[00:37:10] this season

[00:37:11] and let her high school team to their

[00:37:12] third state title in the last four

[00:37:15] years so again this 2025 signing

[00:37:17] class is really coming together

[00:37:19] with the adding with the additions

[00:37:21] of carcens swainey and now macy

[00:37:22] fifer i know that fifer's one that

[00:37:25] insulin company have really fought

[00:37:26] for for quite a while

[00:37:28] like she has over i think it's

[00:37:30] 12 division one offers and she

[00:37:32] chose him to issue over the likes

[00:37:34] of louisiana tech and in-state

[00:37:36] opponent lipscomb so a lot to really

[00:37:39] again be excited about there for

[00:37:40] murphy's center and what's coming

[00:37:42] as i alluded to in the episode i

[00:37:44] don't know that we have anything

[00:37:45] yet as i'm recording this on

[00:37:46] monday night with transfer portal

[00:37:49] but i do expect things like that

[00:37:50] to be coming down the chute pretty

[00:37:52] soon as we start to see names into

[00:37:54] the portal neither the season's

[00:37:55] officially over

[00:37:56] and we even see some names coming

[00:37:57] off i think as of now the portal

[00:37:58] has it had 80 exits thus far so

[00:38:02] they're starting to roll in over

[00:38:03] a thousand names still left in the

[00:38:04] portal

[00:38:06] but now we move into the true

[00:38:07] rate of wrap up portion of the

[00:38:08] episode as we get into last week's

[00:38:12] act

[00:38:12] action men's tennis had their match on

[00:38:15] tuesday canceled with vanderbilt due to

[00:38:17] weather but they will wrap up their

[00:38:18] regular season this sunday i know it

[00:38:20] was a week early last week but it

[00:38:22] actually

[00:38:22] that will wrap up this sunday the

[00:38:24] 14th at home and they will face

[00:38:25] two lane at 11 a.m and then they

[00:38:28] will finish a double header that

[00:38:29] afternoon against u n c ashville at

[00:38:32] four

[00:38:33] the lady raiders tenants did have

[00:38:35] two matches this week against

[00:38:37] liberty and ut southern as a makeup

[00:38:39] they lost to the liberty match up

[00:38:40] zero to four

[00:38:41] and then as a makeup as i said

[00:38:43] their

[00:38:44] match with memphis was canceled and

[00:38:46] then ut southern

[00:38:48] formerly known as martin method is

[00:38:49] filled in the gap there and the lady

[00:38:50] raiders swept

[00:38:51] ut southern firehawks by a score

[00:38:53] of seven to zero

[00:38:54] and i'll give a

[00:38:56] shout out to shah the junior who

[00:38:58] picked up her first singles win on

[00:39:00] the season

[00:39:01] and then the lady raiders tennis

[00:39:03] program will wrap up their regular

[00:39:04] season this week also on two or

[00:39:06] excuse me on wednesday they are in

[00:39:08] bowling green to face off against a

[00:39:10] lady hill toppers and then on saturday

[00:39:12] at home

[00:39:13] they will wrap up the season with a

[00:39:15] finale against the sam highton state

[00:39:16] lady bear cats and that match will

[00:39:18] begin at the outdoor tennis complex

[00:39:20] at 11 a.m and it's also part of the

[00:39:23] saturday showcase going on

[00:39:25] in murphy's bro

[00:39:27] men's golf had a great weekend

[00:39:30] that just wrapped up at the mason

[00:39:31] rootoff championship where they

[00:39:32] finished fifth out of 14 teams

[00:39:35] owens tamper finished tied for ninth

[00:39:37] at one stroke under par marcus

[00:39:39] vargin tied for 16th at one stroke over

[00:39:42] kevin jaggers tied for 27th at four

[00:39:44] strokes and shelden mcnight

[00:39:46] tied for 44th at eight strokes over par

[00:39:50] the raiders golf team will finish

[00:39:52] their regular season at the mossy

[00:39:53] oak collegiate down in west point

[00:39:55] mississippi hosted by mississippi state

[00:39:57] university

[00:39:58] and that will tee off next or this

[00:40:01] coming monday the 15th and conclude

[00:40:03] that tuesday afternoon

[00:40:06] lady raiders they are currently in

[00:40:08] chattanooga taking part in the

[00:40:09] chattanooga classic as things sit of

[00:40:11] recording after the monday's session

[00:40:13] second round the ladies are in 13th

[00:40:16] place at a 16 and a big shout out to

[00:40:19] lauren gilchrist who picked up a

[00:40:22] hole-in-one ace on hole 355 yard par

[00:40:26] three um she shot a one under round

[00:40:28] today but which moves her up into

[00:40:30] tied for 50th place at nine strokes

[00:40:32] over and lanie cambell who shot a one

[00:40:35] over round today putting her tied for

[00:40:38] 26th at five strokes over and through

[00:40:40] the first two rounds so they will wrap

[00:40:41] up the chattanooga classic tomorrow

[00:40:44] afternoon next we'll move on to the

[00:40:47] raiders outdoor track and field as

[00:40:49] they return from noxfield this past

[00:40:50] weekend a lot of top finishers

[00:40:52] especially on the women's side and a

[00:40:54] huge shout out to the women's four

[00:40:55] by 100 team that ran a season best

[00:40:57] and first place finish in the four

[00:41:00] by 100 um consisting of leona bow

[00:41:03] laquisha smith lay la roudoff and tamila

[00:41:06] waters uh it also was enough to finish

[00:41:08] 53rd fastest in the country this year

[00:41:11] that same team minus one ran the four

[00:41:14] by 400 relay in place second with a

[00:41:16] time of three minutes and 44.42

[00:41:18] seconds again that was bow laquisha

[00:41:21] smith tamila waters and then replace

[00:41:26] lay la roudoff with pamela malano

[00:41:29] leona bow also continued her excellent

[00:41:31] on the weekend with a fifth place

[00:41:33] finish in the women's 200 meter with a

[00:41:34] time of 24.14 seconds and then in the

[00:41:38] triple jump laura odiri placed third

[00:41:40] with a mark of 11.97 meters and then

[00:41:44] on the men's side you got carmelo

[00:41:46] kenazaro who placed seventh in the

[00:41:47] men's 1500 meter with a time of three

[00:41:49] minutes 54.15 seconds and then

[00:41:52] brady dangels finished fifth in the

[00:41:54] men's 200 meter with the personal

[00:41:55] best time of 21.54 seconds and then

[00:42:00] they will move on both men's and women's

[00:42:03] team their next competition is at the

[00:42:05] brian clay invite that is coming up

[00:42:07] this weekend from the 11th through the

[00:42:09] 13th and that is it for the blue

[00:42:11] raider wrap-up portion i appreciate

[00:42:13] everyone sticking on through as we are

[00:42:16] able to uh talk a lot of baseball

[00:42:18] softball with connor smith i'm

[00:42:20] always great to have him on he's a

[00:42:21] great resource for that so again

[00:42:23] don't forget to follow him on all

[00:42:24] of his socials and don't forget to

[00:42:25] follow the blue raider podcast and all

[00:42:27] of our socials as well

[00:42:28] we're on tiktok instagram twitter at

[00:42:31] blue raider pod we are for those that

[00:42:33] are listening on their favorite streaming

[00:42:34] services don't forget that we do have

[00:42:36] a visual presentation over at youtube

[00:42:39] that youtube account is at blue raider

[00:42:42] podcast and of course we do have a

[00:42:44] website where we will hold all of

[00:42:46] our recordings at blue raider

[00:42:47] podcast.com don't forget to follow

[00:42:49] me i always forget to plug my own

[00:42:51] stuff uh don't forget to follow me

[00:42:53] over at twitter at jakeboldonmp and

[00:42:56] lastly i would like to plug the go

[00:42:58] middle.com website where our forums are

[00:43:00] open to discuss all things happening

[00:43:02] blue raiders um the recent signings

[00:43:05] baseball softball of course the blue

[00:43:07] and white game that's coming up this

[00:43:08] saturday so don't miss out on all

[00:43:10] those just topics of discussion over

[00:43:12] there. I appreciate everyone sticking

[00:43:14] on through and i look forward to

[00:43:15] next week's episode as we recap the

[00:43:17] blue and white series as well as

[00:43:19] comments from derrick mason and his

[00:43:21] post spring game presser and we'll have

[00:43:23] austin lewis back on to talk about x's

[00:43:26] and o's and of course what we were able

[00:43:27] to layer eyes on this upcoming saturday

[00:43:30] and for those don't miss out again

[00:43:31] that is at one p.m at floyd stadium and

[00:43:33] it is entirely free to come so i hope

[00:43:36] to see you all there and of course

[00:43:38] as always go blue