March 16, 2010
Box
Score
NASHVILLE, Tenn. - Allowing
four runs in the first inning proved to be fatal on Tuesday
afternoon as Belmont suffered a sixth straight loss at the hands
Cleveland State, 8-7, at Shelby Park.
"In the end, our kids did a
valiant job of putting runners on base to make it a one-run ball
game," Head Coach Davis Jarvis said. "I'm pleased with a lot of
things - I'm not totally distraught because I know we saw their one
and two pitchers today. We just need to eliminate some of the silly
mistakes - hit batters and walks - that we are making."
Belmont (10-6) was led by
catcher Matt Zelbo at the plate, going 3-for-5, with a two-run
single in the bottom of the ninth to put the Bruins within one run
at 7-8.
Cleveland State (2-8) leadoff
batter Alex Johnson went 3-for-5, including a double in the first
inning which led to a two-run homerun from Ryan Franks. The Vikings
scored two more runs in the first on two RBI-singles to take a 4-0
lead.
Belmont answered with two runs
in the second and third innings. Freshman Jared Breen drove in
one run on a double deep to right-center field that scored Zeblo,
while Matt
Hamann reached home on a fielding error in center field on the
same play.
In the third, junior Nate Woods put Belmont
within two, down 4-6, with his fifth homerun of the season deep to
left field to score Dylan Craig who
led-off the inning with a walk.
Junior Derek Hamblen
burned the base paths with a stand-up triple to lead off the fifth
inning. From there, it was like clockwork as Craig extended his
hitting streak to eight games with an RBI single to
right-centerfield.
Cleveland State cushioned its
lead in the sixth with two unearned runs for an 8-5
lead.
In the bottom of the ninth the
Bruins loaded the bases on three free bases; two hit batters and a
walk to bring up Zeblo and Tim Egerton - a pair
that went a combined 12-for-21 at the plate against Jacksonville
last weekend. Zeblo singled to drive in two runs and became the
winning run on the base path. With two on and two out, Egerton
turned in a quality at bat but a well-hit ball to right-center was
chased down to end the game, 7-8.
The Vikings threw two of its
top starters in Coty Bates and Anthony Sambula (2-1). Bates started
the game, going four innings and allowing three runs while Sambula
threw 4 2/3 innings of relief with eight strikeouts to receive the
win. Travis Miller faced two batters in the ninth to hold off
Belmont's comeback effort and earn his first save of the
season.
Cleveland State's four early
runs were given up by junior Tyler Graskewicz
(0-1) who received the loss in his first start of the season. Dane
Swinehart and Hamann pitched the last eight innings in relief.
Hamann switched from designated hitter to pitcher in the seventh to
throw three scoreless innings with two strikeouts.
"We are in the middle of a
tough streak right now, but that's just baseball," Jarvis said. "We
are anxious to come out and play tomorrow. At the end of the day we
have to focus on doing things right way rather than getting caught
up in winning and losing."
Belmont and Cleveland State
conclude a two-game series tomorrow at 3 p.m., at Shelby Park.
Junior Dalton
Bell will take the mound for the Bruins in his long-awaited
first start since 2007.
