Middle Tennessee welcomed the No. 1 ranked Vanderbilt Commodores to Reese Smith Jr. Field Tuesday night and did their very best to keep things interesting to the until the last pitch in the 1-0 Raider loss.

Pitching was phenomenal for both teams, led by two freshmen, Vandy’s sensational T.J. Pecoraro, who entered the game with a 1.74 era and a 5-0 record, and Middle’s Paul Mittura, making his first start after spending the season in the bullpen.

Mittura gave Middle four strong innings, allowing only three hits and one walk to a line up filled with batters averaging over .300 at the plate.

The only time Mittura really go into trouple was the fourth inning. With a man on first and second, Mike Yastrzemski bunted the runners over, and a hit batter loaded the bases with one out.

Vandy attempted a squeeze play, with the batter laying down a bunt and the runner on third heading home on before contact.

The bunt, by Vanderbilt’s Riley Reynolds, was popped up down the third baseline. Raider catcher Tyler Acker made a diving catch for the out then fired the ball to third for a double play to end the inning and keep the game scoreless.

“It was a great play by our catcher,” Raider coach Steve Peterson said. “It kept us in the game.”

Middle only managed two hits against the Commodores starter. One hit came from Justin Guidry in the first inning, just before Will Skinner hit a bomb to left field that looked as though it would make its way out of the park. However, the ball was caught in the wind blowing back into the field and caught cleanly at the wall.

The Raider would strand its share of runners in the game, with seven left on base, four of those left on in scoring position.

“We played well,” Middle’s freshman third baseman Hank LaRue said. “But at the same time, we had a lot of opportunities we let slip by.”

Vanderbilt’s bullpen was strong on the day, with four pitchers covering as many innings, none facing more than five batters.

Middle’s bullpen was strong as well, the only run given up by Matthew Drake, who was also the designated hitter for the Raiders Tuesday night.

“We did a good job throwing strikes through nine innings of baseball,” Mittura said. “They’ve got a solid lineup and there are no real holes. It comes down to confidence and it comes down to strikes. We have a good defense behind us you know is going to make plays.”

The run came with two out and one batter on in the sixth. Yastrzemski hit a double just out of the reach of a diving Trent Miller, scoring Anothony Gomez.

Joey McClung finished the game for Middle from the bull pen, with a strong two and one-third inning performance, allowing only two hits.

Vandy closed out the game with Navery Moore, a junior from Franklin, Tenn., who entered the game with a 0.48 era.

“Obviously, you’re playing the No. 1 team you better have some pitching or you’ll get blown out of your own house,” Peterson said.

Peterson expressed disappointment in the team’s inability to capitalize on hitter-friendly counts and stressed the importance of the pitching staff coming away from the game with confidence.

The Raiders take the field again Wednesday night at 6 P.M. against Tennessee Tech and will have a three-game series at home against Troy April 15 through April 17 before hitting the road to take on Memphis.