MURFREESBORO, Tenn. -- Middle Tennessee outfielders Will Skinner and Bryce Brentz combined for seven hits and eight RBIs, as the Blue Raiders took a 20-8 win over visiting New Orleans on Saturday.
Skinner was 3-for-3 with a double and five RBIs, while Brentz was 4-for-6 with three RBIs, as the Blue Raiders (32-19, 16-10 Sun Belt Conference) won for the second straight day.
MT, which entered the weekend ranked second in the Sun Belt in batting average, had 22 hits overall. Seven different Blue Raiders tallied at least two hits.
Chad Edwards (6-2) was the beneficiary on the mound, as the right-hander gave up two runs and scattered seven hits in six innings.
John Pivach (0-8) took the loss for UNO (12-36, 2-25), as the right-hander struggled -- surrendering 14 hits and 14 runs in 5 2/3 innings. He walked five and struck out three.
Kyle Maldonado hit a two-run home run for UNO, his third of the year, while
Nick Schwaner and
Ryan Eden each tallied three hits. Maldonado also added an RBI single in the ninth -- part of a four-run inning.
The Privateers, who were shut out on Friday, recorded 16 hits overall.
Maldonado hit his two-run blast in the second inning to give UNO a 2-1 lead. But the Blue Raiders answered with eight runs over the next three innings to grab a 9-2 advantage in the fourth.
MT put the game away with a five-run sixth, highlighted by a two-run single by Brentz. The Blue Raiders scored at least one run in seven of their eight at-bats.
The two teams will wrap up the series at 1 p.m. on Sunday.
