Feb. 20, 2010
Game 1
Box Score | Game 2 Box Score
NASHVILLE, Tenn. - With two
one-run victories over Evansville on Saturday at a picturesque
Shelby Park, Belmont baseball began the 2010 season with a series
sweep to improve to 3-0.
Game one featured four players
with three hits or more, including a career high in hits for
sophomore Dylan
Craig after a 5-for-6 performance with two RBI. With 18 total
hits Belmont matched a 2009 season-high of 18 hits set against ETSU
on March 13.
Junior Nate Woods scored the
game winning run the bottom of the ninth in what unfolded as an
unorthodox walk-off finish. With two on and two out freshman Judah Akers
struck swinging but advanced to first on a passed ball by the
catcher, allowing Woods to score from third.
Jon Ivie entered the
game in the ninth inning with the score tied at 12 and struck out
one of two batters faced. Despite finishing with just seven pitches
Ivie was credited with the win after Belmont scored the go-ahead
run in the bottom of the ninth.
With a 2-4 deficit earlier in
the game, Belmont took the lead with a seven-run fifth inning.
Craig drove in the seventh run of the game his first triple of the
season after ranking second in the nation in three-base hits as a
freshman. Evansville answered with a five-run sixth, but was unable
to regain the lead for remainder of the game.
Game two showed a promising
glimpse of the potential that the Belmont freshmen hold this season
as Chase
Brookshire was credited with the win on the mound and second
baseman Drew
Turner went 4-for-4 at the plate with two RBI.
Brookshire lasted six innings
in his first collegiate start, striking out seven and allowed just
three earned runs.
Much like the first game, the
majority of Belmont's runs were scored in one inning: the fifth.
All but one of Belmont's hitter reached base in the inning, with
two retired on the base path and one striking out. Two of Turner's
four hits came in the fifth while driving the two go-ahead runs to
give Belmont a 7-3 lead.
Junior college transfer Tim Egerton
withheld the Purple Aces' last surge by strikingout two in the
final inning to receive the save.
Belmont has shown an early
knack for offensive ability after hitting .357 with 40 hits in the
first series. The Bruins have also recorded a homerun in each of
the first three games.
The 3-0 start in the first
since 2007, when Belmont set a program record of 34 wins and
advanced to the A-Sun Tournament finals.
The Bruins will face Western
Kentucky on Wednesday at 3 p.m. at Shelby Park. After earning the
programs first automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament in 2009, the
Hilltoppers have received votes in the 2010 Preseason USA Today
Top-25.
The game can be heard on the
Bruin Sports Network with Rich Tiner at play-by-play.
