Birmingham, Ala.- The Middle Tennessee softball team survived a late rally by UTEP to advance to the second round of the C-USA Softball Tournament. The Raiders (28-26, C-USA 11-13) were led by superb pitching from freshmen Kailey Ahlstrom, as she struck out eight UTEP (17-33, C-USA 10-14) batters.
The game was highlighted by great back and fourth pitching from UTEP's Julia Wright and Raiders' starter Kailey Ahlstrom. The two hurlers began the game by trading goose eggs on the scoreboard for the first three innings.
The Raiders would strike first in the bottom of the fourth with a squeeze bunt from Brooke McClure that would plate Savanah Freeman and give the Raiders a 1-0 lead.